Gov. Tom Wolf today applauded a coalition that on Wednesday secured the passage of four bills aimed at reducing the prescribing of opioids, while his administration also bemoaned the death of a fifth piece of legislation that drew the ire of a powerful doctors group.

"We still have more to do, but working together we have now accomplished strengthening the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, restricting the number of pills that can be prescribed to minors or in emergency rooms, establishing education curriculum on safe prescribing, and creating more locations for the drop-off of drugs among other important initiatives," Wolf said in a statement.

He thanked the Legislature and "groups like the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Association of Chain Drug Stores, and the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association for all of their work on these important bills."

Legislation that would have compelled insurance companies to cover versions of opioids that are hard to snort, smoke or inject has died for this session, following a last-minute flurry of amendments and resulting opposition by the Pennsylvania Medical Society.

The bill can't be approved this year, because it has not won Senate approval, and late Wednesday night that chamber finished its legislative session.

"That was an important piece of legislation to the governor and to many Republicans," said Jeff Sheridan, Wolf's spokesman. "And the Pennsylvania Medical Society stopped that in its tracks."

The bill sponsored by Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, would have required that if insurers cover opioids, they must also cover versions of those drugs that can't be crushed or otherwise converted into easily abused forms. The bill passed the House, 190-3, in June.

On Tuesday, it was amended to call for "mandatory" guidelines for the prescribing of abuse-deterrent opioids, to be written by the Department of Health. Language was also added to require that doctors hand out warning information with every opioid prescription.

The Pennsylvania Medical Society then issued a letter questioning whether mandatory guidelines written by the Department of Health would be appropriate, and adding that it "believes that conversations between a physician and a patient are more productive than providing a generic, one-size fits all brochure or document to a patient."

The letter warned that "efforts to legislate physicians' communications to their patients would only serve to further erode the physician-patient relationship."

The society's letter, dated Wednesday, noted that it supported the original purpose of the bill. The society supported the four other pieces of opioid-related legislation that won final passage.

"It is incredibly disappointing that that [fifth] bill is not moving," Sheridan said. "There is no good reason that [the society] should have ever been o pposed to that."

Rich Lord: rlord@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1542. Twitter @richelord.