PRESCRIPTIONS FOR TROUBLE

It's easy to see why local governments are alarmed by the number of pain
management clinics popping up around the metro area. Last week federal
authorities raided three clinics -- one each in Metairie, Gretna and
Slidell -- and are accusing owner Cherlyn "Cookie" Armstrong and three of
her staff doctors of running a high-volume "pill mill."

The allegations in federal court documents are shocking: In some cases,
patients saw doctors for as little as 11 seconds. Doctors allegedly gave
out preprinted prescriptions to hundreds of patients a day, even though
some patients had no real medical problems.

One would hope that abuses like those can be prevented if nurses -- of
which Ms. Armstrong is one -- and doctors simply abide by the standards of
their profession. Yet if authorities are correct about Ms. Armstrong's
operation, medical credentials merely put a thin veneer of respectability
on a high-volume drug-distribution business.

Even before the raids, state and local elected officials were hearing
horror stories about the easy availability of addictive pain medications at
some clinics -- and about the overdoses from lax controls. Local
governments in St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes have imposed
moratoriums on new pain clinics, and Jefferson Parish looks set to follow
suit. Moreover, a moratorium now in effect in eastern New Orleans will
likely be extended to the rest of the city.

The downside of such policies is that they don't distinguish a good clinic
from a bad one, and they won't stop abuses from occurring at existing
clinics. Then again, state and local governments clearly need some time to
better understand the pain-management industry -- and to consider the
merits of restrictions enacted in other states.