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Bill to Broaden Prescription Law Renewed

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Times Staff Writer

An Orange County assemblyman and the California Medical Assn. squared off Tuesday in a renewal of a running battle over a bill to let nurse practitioners prescribe non-narcotic drugs in licensed clinics and hospitals with the approval of a supervising physician.

Assemblyman Richard Robinson (D-Garden Grove) reintroduced his legislation, killed on the Senate floor with medical association help last year, claiming that it would result in patients receiving improved health care at a lower cost.

David Horner, medical association president, said the measure overlooks a basic principle of medicine: The ability to diagnose must be present before a person can be considered qualified to prescribe treatment, he said.

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Robinson and the doctors, who have one of the most powerful lobbies in the Capitol and make large campaign contributions, are long-time enemies in the turf war over who should and should not prescribe drugs.

Nurses Back Bill

The bill is sponsored by the California Nurses Assn., which gave Robinson $15,000 last year, when he was running for reelection in a tough race. The medical association gave $20,000 to Richard E. Longshore, his Republican opponent, and local doctors pitched in with $15,000 more for Longshore.

Robinson won reelection by a razor-thin 256-vote margin after a recount.

Fifteen states allow nurse practitioners, who receive more training than registered nurses, to prescribe drugs on a limited basis, and Robinson said there have been pilot programs in California that have produced no problems.

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“The reason for pilot projects is to see if a concept works before making it law,” he said.

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