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Read. Follow. Verify.Kentucky Senate Bill 82 voids specific buprenorphine regulations and restricts licensing boards from limiting FDA-approved addiction medications
Last action · January 13, 2026: introduced in Senate to Committee on Committees (S)Sponsors: Julie Adams and 5 others
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What This Bill Proposed
AN ACT relating to administrative regulations for medications for substance use disorder and declaring an emergency.
Licensed medical professionals face an immediate change in regulatory oversight regarding addiction treatment drugs, while state licensing boards lose the authority to enforce specific professional standards previously set for buprenorphine dispensing.
- The Kentucky General Assembly is the state's bicameral legislature composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. context
- Administrative regulations in Kentucky are reviewed and compiled through the Legislative Research Commission under KRS Chapter 13A. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
State Board of Medical Licensure
The board is prohibited from promulgating administrative regulations that restrict or limit FDA-approved Schedule III, IV, or V medications for substance use disorder.
Kentucky Board of Dentistry
The board is barred from issuing rules restricting or limiting buprenorphine or other FDA-approved substance use disorder medications.
Kentucky Board of Nursing
The board loses authority to promulgate regulations restricting or limiting FDA-approved substance use disorder medications for APRNs and nurses.
Kentucky Board of Pharmacy
The board is prohibited from issuing administrative regulations restricting or limiting the dispensing or administration of approved substance use disorder drugs.
Key Facts
- Declared administrative regulations 201 KAR 9:270 and 201 KAR 20:065, regarding buprenorphine professional standards, are null, void, and unenforceable.
- Administrative bodies are prohibited from promulgating regulations identical or substantially similar to the voided buprenorphine standards.
- The State Board of Medical Licensure is prohibited from restricting or limiting the prescribing, dispensing, or administering of buprenorphine-mono-product, buprenorphine-combined-with-naloxone, or other FDA-approved Schedule III, IV, or V substance use disorder medications.
- The Kentucky Board of Dentistry is prohibited from restricting or limiting the prescribing, dispensing, or administering of buprenorphine products or other FDA-approved Schedule III, IV, or V substance use disorder medications.
Show all 7 facts
- The Kentucky Board of Nursing is prohibited from restricting or limiting the prescribing, dispensing, or administering of buprenorphine products or other FDA-approved Schedule III, IV, or V substance use disorder medications.
- The Kentucky Board of Pharmacy is prohibited from restricting or limiting the prescribing, dispensing, or administering of buprenorphine products or other FDA-approved Schedule III, IV, or V substance use disorder medications.
- Licensing boards retain the authority to promulgate or enforce broader administrative regulations applying to all controlled substances in one or more schedules in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which specific administrative regulations does this bill void?
Can state licensing boards still regulate other controlled substances under this bill?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · introduced in the Senate.
Procedural history
1 action- Jan 13, 2026SenateIntroducedintroduced in Senate to Committee on Committees (S)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
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Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Direct Legislative Voiding of Agency Rules
The General Assembly bypasses standard administrative review procedures by directly declaring specific professional conduct regulations null and void via statute.
Connected Entities
Sources
apps.legislature.ky.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy65Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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