OK Senator Dr. Randy Grellnar; We Shouldn’t Expand The Scope Of Practice For Nurses (HB2298/SB569) And Other Healthcare Topics
Wednesday, March 12th, among other things, Dr. Randy Grellnar spoke with us about his thoughts on SB569 and the House companion bill (HB2298) which would allow nurses an expanded scope of practice to include prescribing medication. You can find the full video on our YouTube and Rumble channels.
Dr. Grellnar and I started speaking about the scope of practice bills at about 13 minutes. I suggest you tune in if possible. It is a very interesting topic. We neglected to mention (I think) that one of the ways we know that leadership (not the people) want a bill is that the bill is introduced as BOTH a House Bill and a Senate Bill. This is kind of a bet hedge. If the bill falls in the Senate, it could pass in the House and if it passes in the House, then Senate leadership will get the caucus on board so it’ll pass the second time around. Yes, it’s gross, but this game is played quite consistently with bills leadership wants to pass.
I wonder if the Oklahoma Medical Association is behind this bill. They are a huge lobby at the Capitol and leadership tend to push the bills lobbyists want. Who knows – but this is a bad bill. Here are just a couple reasons why:
- Governor Stitt vetoed the bill last year, why bring it up again?
- The authors are asking for the ability of nurses to give Schedule II drugs – which are opioids – with no oversight. Didn’t we just try to stop the opioid crisis in our state, and stop pill mills. If this bill passes, overnight there will be hundreds more prescribers.
- The bill’s authors also ask for nurses to be able to prescribe schedule III-V drugs as well.
- some of these can kill unborn babies
- ARNP’s and certified midwives will have to carry 3 million in malpractice coverage per year at 1 million/incident because in 2019 the Supreme Court found unconstitutional the 350K cap on pain and suffering adjudicated during Oklahoma’s torte reform legislation. What nurses can afford that?
- Why have a State Medical Board if the legislature is just going to pass laws for doctors to follow? This bill usurps local control of health care.
Please, tell your Senator and your Representative to vote NO on these bills.
Dr. Grellnar also gave us some great, conservative thoughts during the podcast that more legislators at the state capitol should share.
This was my favorite – check it out – “the only way to protect freedom is to choke off the government”. YES!
Here, Dr. Grellnar talks about how important it is to take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR HEALTH, but people aren’t because, well, ‘science’. Today, so many Americans treat science as if it’s a God. How many times during COVID did you hear something stupid like, “respect the science”? Here, Dr. Grellnar talks about that.
Don’t forget to call your Senator and Representative about these bills and keep watching…we’re almost halfway through the session already!