LAX FLORIDA LAWS DRAW PAIN-PILL DEALERS, ADDICTS

The State Lacks a System for Tracking Prescription Drugs, Making It a
Haven for Addicts and 'Pill Mills,' Officials Say.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. -- Out-of-state drug dealers and addicts are
traveling long distances to obtain pain pills at clinics in Florida,
which has lax oversight of prescription drugs.

The unwanted tourism alarms state officials, who have watched deaths
from prescription pain medication skyrocket in recent years. In 2005,
such prescription drugs as hydrocodone, methadone and oxycodone
contributed to more overdose deaths than all other narcotics
combined, according to Florida medical examiners.

Despite the dangers, Florida lacks a system for tracking prescription
drugs. That, according to law enforcement officials, makes it a haven
for addicts and "pill mills," where doctors churn out prescriptions
without thoroughly examining patients.

The problem was noted in a national drug threat assessment released
Nov. 15 by the U.S. Department of Justice. The report outlined the
"drug run" phenomenon in South Florida, saying residents of states
with prescription monitoring "have in some cases turned to traveling
to nearby states ... to illegally obtain pharmaceuticals."

That was the case for more than two dozen people from Kentucky who
drove 1,000 miles each way to see doctors in Palm Beach County and
Fort Lauderdale. They came by the van-load in 2005 and early 2006,
returning with OxyContin, Endocet, Percocet, Methadose -- drugs that
were more difficult to get at home, federal prosecutors said.

Eight people involved in the trips have pleaded guilty to
drug-trafficking charges in Palm Beach federal court, and several
more are being tried in Kentucky state courts on drug-related crimes.
The Fort Lauderdale medical office that supplied some of their
prescriptions also is being investigated.

Drugs prescribed by Florida doctors caused the deaths of five people
in Kentucky, according to prosecutors.

"We've seen people coming from all over the Southeast United States,"
said Rick Zenuch, an agent with the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement who monitors drug-related trends.

As of June, 32 states had adopted prescription-tracking programs to
curb problems such as those in Florida, the most populous state
without such a law.

Though each system has slightly different rules, its primary goal is
to identify forged prescriptions and to expose so-called doctor
shoppers who visit multiple physicians and pharmacies to get drugs.

The programs generally require doctors to submit information on
prescriptions to a centralized database. When an order is filled, the
pharmacist also sends an electronic record.

If a doctor or pharmacist notices a problem in a patient's file, they
can contact law enforcement or state health officers.

The effectiveness of Kentucky's system has driven illicit drug
seekers to surrounding states, including Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and
West Virginia. Those states have since created tracking programs,
said Danna Droz, a former administrator of Kentucky's system.

In 2004, Florida's Legislature seemed poised to jump on the
bandwagon. OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma agreed to pay the
state $2 million to cover start-up costs. But key legislators blocked
a vote on the proposal, citing its annual $2.8-million price tag and
patient privacy concerns.

Dr. Rafael Miguel of the University of South Florida called the
inaction "infuriating and depressing."

"You have to provide Florida doctors with tools so they can safely
prescribe these medications and know they're in the right hands,"
Miguel said. "Right now doctors are being made unwilling and
unknowing participants in the drug trade."