SB 641 Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Office-based buprenorphine treatment; Board of Medicine to amend regulations.

Summary

Board of Medicine; office-based buprenorphine treatment; counseling. Directs the Board of Medicine to amend its regulations regarding office-based buprenorphine treatment to require providers to offer counseling or referral to counseling to each patient as clinically necessary and mutually agreed-upon. The bill specifies that a patient's refusal of counseling does not preclude the patient from receiving office-based buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care and is identical to HB 712.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Feb 2026

Signed into Law

Apr 2026

Introduced Jan 14, 2026 Signed Apr 6, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled → Chaptered · 1 edit

MINOR

The bill was formally enacted into law as Chapter 208 of the 2026 Virginia Acts of Assembly. The substantive policy text remains identical to the enrolled version, requiring the Board of Medicine to mandate counseling or referrals for patients receiving office-based buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder.

Scope change

The scope of the law remains unchanged; the bill applies to all providers offering office-based buprenorphine treatment in Virginia.

TECHNICAL

The text was converted from a draft legislative bill to an official enacted statute, adding the chapter number, approval date, and formal enactment language.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 6, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 24, 2026

How they voted

38–0

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 39

Feb 6, 2026

D Democratic20

20 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican19

18 Yea 1

94% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 6, 2026

Signed into law

Approved by Governor-Chapter 208 (effective 7/1/2026)

executive

Feb 26, 2026

Upper · Passed

Signed by President

upper

Feb 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

Signed by Speaker

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Upper · Passed

Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB641ER)

upper

Feb 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed House (98-Y 0-N 0-A)

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Health and Human Services (21-Y 0-N)

lower

Feb 13, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services

lower

Feb 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)

upper

Feb 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Education and Health (14-Y 0-N)

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Assigned Education sub: Health Professions

upper

Jan 14, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Education and Health

upper

1 primary · 12 co-sponsors