Pain management clinics in Tennessee will face new, stricter rules after the first of the year, as the state tries to clamp down on the over-prescribing of pain medications.
The state health department is drafting rules to put the law in effect by January 1. The committee drafting the rules is looking at the long-term in setting up the new restrictions. Currently the application fee for a pain clinic license costs $200.
When committee members learned that some states charge up to $1,500 for the initial application and two-year license, they asked health department staffers to investigate whether such a fee could pay for annual inspections for pain clinics, something the department currently can’t afford.