Massachusetts General Laws Part I. Administration of the Government (Ch. 1-182) Ch. 94C, § 18B

(a) The department shall establish a voluntary non-opiate directive form.  The form shall indicate to all practitioners that an individual shall not be administered or offered a prescription or medication order for an opiate.  The form shall be posted on the department’s searchable website.  An individual may execute and file a voluntary non-opiate directive form with a practitioner registered under section 7 or other authority authorized by the secretary to accept the voluntary non-opiate directive form for filing.  An individual may revoke the voluntary non-opiate directive form for any reason and may do so by written or oral means.

(b) The department shall promulgate regulations for the implementation of the voluntary non-opiate directive form which shall include, but not be limited to:

(c) A written prescription that is presented at an outpatient pharmacy or a prescription that is electronically transmitted to an outpatient pharmacy shall be presumed to be valid for the purposes of this section and a pharmacist in an outpatient setting shall not be held in violation of this section for dispensing a controlled substance in contradiction to a voluntary non-opiate directive form, except upon evidence that the pharmacist acted knowingly against the voluntary non-opiate directive form.

(d) No health care provider or employee of a health care provider acting in good faith shall be subject to criminal or civil liability or be considered to have engaged in unprofessional conduct for failing to offer or administer a prescription or medication order for an opiate under the voluntary non-opiate directive form.

No person acting as an agent pursuant to a health care proxy shall be subject to criminal or civil liability for making a decision under clause (iii) of subsection (b) in good faith.

(e) Any board of professional licensure may limit, condition or suspend the license of or assess fines against a licensed health care provider who recklessly or negligently fails to comply with a person’s voluntary non-opiate directive form.