PAINFUL LEGISLATION
Sen. Burt's Bills Would Contribute To Drug Hsyteria

It takes a vivid imagination to come up with a label like "the poor
man's heroin" -- and then apply it to a legal drug.

Unfortunately, the trouble caused by the prescription pain reliever
OxyContin is all too real.

OxyContin is a powerful time-release formula of the painkiller
oxycodone. It's been hailed as a breakthrough for people who suffer
chronic pain -- and targeted as the new Big Bad in this country's
long-standing and futile war on drugs. As a result doctors are afraid
to prescribe the drug, creating pointless suffering for people who
legitimately need it.

The Legislature should think very carefully before contributing to
this hysteria.

First, the numbers. The Florida Medical Examiner's Commission says
OxyContin deaths are on the increase. In the first six months of 2001,
medical examiners found lethal levels of oxycodone, the main
ingredient in OxyContin, or hydrocodone, a similar drug, in 217 cases.
That represents a 65-death increase from the last half of 2000.

It's an area for concern -- but also perspective. In the same six-
month period, more than 2,400 Floridians died from lethal doses of
illegal drugs, including cocaine and heroin. It's also important to
note that the number of legal prescriptions for OxyContin increased
hugely through the first half of 2001, which must play a factor in the
number of deaths.

That doesn't mean the dangers of Oxycontin should be brushed off. It's
a powerful and potentially dangerous drug -- especially when it's
abused. But the measures proposed by Sen. Locke Burt, R-Ormond Beach,
go much too far.

Burt is sponsoring three bills (SB 636, 638 and 640). They include
worthy measures, like increased physician training on the dangers of
prescribing OxyContin, and changes in the physical mechanics of
prescribing drugs -- such as better record-keeping by doctors and
state-issued, tamper-proof prescription pads. These are more
troubling, because similar measures have been enough in other states
to chill doctors' willingness to prescribe.

But there are far more disturbing provisions. First, the bill would
levy felony charges against doctors accused of "excessive or
inappropriate" prescribing of any controlled drug. The potential
problems for doctors are staggering: Who decides what's appropriate
and what's not?

The wording is vague enough to cause many doctors to hesitate -- and
sometimes say no. The problem is exacerbated by the American medical
establishment's traditional reluctance to consider pain as a serious
problem in its own right. Many older patients are reluctant to insist
that chronic pain be treated, for fear of being seen as "whining," and
many doctors still share that view.

Making matters even worse, Burt wants to create a statewide database
that would include the names and addresses of every patient who has a
prescription for any one of dozens of drugs. If Burt's bill becomes
law, the name of every schoolchild taking Ritalin will be listed, as
will thousands of cancer patients. It goes too far, and there's no
justification for the potential violation of privacy. Of the roughly
100 other drugs listed in Schedules II and III, none has been
identified in lethal doses in Florida patients.

Members of the Senate Health, Aging and Longterm Care Committee seem
to have their doubts as well. They stalled discussion of Burt's bills
last week, and he says he plans to consider amendments before re-
presenting them this week.

That's good. But a better course would be to drop the issue entirely
and stop feeding into the hype that is denying access to a legal and
effective drug to people in real pain.