Implication of Executive Order 16-09

Running head: IMPLICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 16-09
Implication of Executive Order 16-09
Phuong Phan
Walden University

IMPLICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 16-09 1
Title of Paper
Part 1
Washington is currently facing the opioid overdose and abuse issue, which includes
prescribed opioids and heroin. The death rates resulting from opioid overdose has
significantly increased in the past years. As much as 700 deaths were reported in the year
2015 for overdose of opioid (Governor.wa.gov., 2019). Also, it has been observed from a
survey that 57% of the clients who inject heroin with the help of syringe claimed that they
were subjected to prescription opiates before they started using heroin. The purpose of this
project is to understand the legal, ethical and policy implication of the Executive Order 16-09
addressing the Opioid Use Public Health Crisis, which was developed to combat the issue of
overdose of inappropriate opioid prescribing and its abuse. This project analyses the legal,
ethical and practical implication of this policy. The policy maker is Jay Inslee (Doh.wa.gov
2018)
Legal and Ethical Implications
The doctors will be facing more challenges while prescribing opioid and heroin as a
result of Executive Order 16-09. As opioid and heroin are used to treat chronic pain, the
resources of the medical treatment for the health care agencies will be limited to treat the
issue. The reduction in the availability of opioids will not ensure its misuse or abuse. The
policy lacks the measure to restrict the chances of overdose of such drugs rather it discusses
the measures to recover from such overdose. The health care agencies may also face the
chilling effect of the policy and might refrain from prescribing opioids as a measure to treat
chronic pain. The healthcare organizations have a major role to play in the context of
increased overdose of opioid. This is so because the policies and procedures are not in place
and apart from this, any strict action is not taken against the chemist or the agents who

IMPLICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 16-09 2
provide these drugs without any valid prescription. Also, there are no stated guidelines on
when and how much to use opioids which pose a challenge in front of the doctors.
Policy Implications
However, the efforts to reduce opioid and heroin abuse are well intended in the policy
as it may help in preventing overdose deaths and associated risks. The objectives of this
policy also comply with the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 as well as
the Healthcare Quality Improvement Act of 1986. The policy has also helped in spreading
awareness regarding best practices of opioid prescribing. The consequences of opioid
overdose have been promoted through the policy. The illegal practices of drug supply will be
regulated with the help of the proposed strategies. The strategies of Executive Order 16-09
spread awareness regarding the medication that can be used by persons who are victims of
opioid abuse (Stopoverdose.org. 2018). This policy makes provision for the use of opioid in
order to treat the disorder in the criminal justice system. Pregnant women are made aware of
the opioid misuse and the process to recognise a victim of opioid overdose is also spread
through this policy.
Conclusion
Hence, apart from the ethical, legal issues of implementing restriction on opioid use,
Executive Order16-09 is an effective way to reduce the illegal dealings of opioid as well as
the overdose of heroin. An actual implementation of this policy will help in reducing the
emerging concern of issue resulting from heroin and opioid overdose.