An Act relative to benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepine hypnotics

This bill amends Massachusetts laws regarding benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepine hypnotics to improve patient safety and education. It requires pharmacists to include bolded warnings about long-term risks on prescription labels and to provide educational pamphlets to patients at the time of dispensing. The legislation also mandates that doctors obtain written informed consent before prescribing these drugs and limits written prescriptions to less than a ten-day supply to prevent refills. Additionally, the bill directs the Department of Public Health to create guidelines for safely tapering off these medications and establishes a nine-member commission to study safe discontinuation protocols.