Evidence status: CURRENT PRESCRIBER-SCOPE AND OPIOID-PRESCRIBING LIMIT RECORD. Connecticut defines “prescribing practitioner” broadly and applies separate initial opioid-supply and counseling rules before the 12-week treatment-agreement threshold is reached.
Prescriber definition
CGS §20-14c defines a prescribing practitioner as a Connecticut-licensed physician, dentist, podiatrist, optometrist, physician assistant, advanced practice registered nurse, nurse-midwife, or veterinarian who is authorized to prescribe within the person’s scope of practice.
Initial opioid supply limit
For a first outpatient opioid prescription, an adult patient generally may receive no more than a seven-day supply and a minor no more than a five-day supply.
Clinical exceptions
A practitioner may prescribe a longer supply when professional judgment determines that it is required for the patient’s acute condition, chronic pain, cancer-related pain, or palliative care. The condition and why a non-opioid alternative was not appropriate must be documented in the medical record.
Required opioid-risk discussion
When issuing an opioid prescription, the practitioner must discuss risks including addiction and overdose, dangers of combining opioids with alcohol, benzodiazepines, and other central nervous system depressants, and why the prescription is necessary. The practitioner must also encourage the patient to obtain an opioid antagonist.
Why this belongs in the Contract for Care record
These prescribing limits and counseling duties are separate from §20-14s. They apply earlier and help define the legal environment in which long-term opioid treatment agreements or care plans later operate.
Primary source
Reviewed: October 4, 2026.