TIGHTER REIN ON CONTROLLED DRUGS URGED

Task Force Calls For Photo-ID Rule For Pickups

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A Kentucky task force fighting OxyContin abuse has
called for requiring photo identification to pick up controlled-drug
prescriptions and other steps to combat illegal trafficking in
medications.

The task force report released yesterday also recommended enhanced
electronic tracking of prescription drug sales, a public education
campaign on the dangers of OxyContin abuse and tougher law
enforcement.

The interim recommendations of the Governor's OxyContin/Prescription
Drug Abuse Task Force were presented by State Police Commissioner
Ishmon Burks to the legislature's Interim Joint Committee on the Judiciary.

"I feel certain that the actions recommended by the task force, if
applied, will result in a significant impact on illegal prescription
drug activity in our state," Burks said.

Burks said the task force would reconvene in November to refine its
recommendations and draft legislation to be filed during the 2002
General Assembly session.

Gov. Paul Patton formed a 31-member task force earlier this year to
develop a comprehensive approach for eliminating illegal trafficking
in OxyContin, a powerful and potentially addictive painkiller, and
other prescription drugs.

Law enforcement officials in Eastern Kentucky said OxyContin abuse had
reached epidemic proportions. Dozens of deaths were attributed to
misuse of the drug, and since early February more than 600 people have
been arrested in the state for offenses involving it.

The task force report said OxyContin has become the "number one drug
of choice."

But in a few years, said Rep. Gross Lindsay, D-Henderson, "some other
drug will become the fad."

Lindsay cautioned that excessively tight restrictions on prescriptions
might prevent people from getting needed medicine. He said his late
wife was prescribed OxyContin to ease pain before she died last
January, and he had to pick up the prescription for her.

Dr. Rice Leach, the state health commissioner, said requiring a photo
ID would not prevent legitimate third parties from picking up
prescriptions. He agreed with Lindsay on the difficulty of trying to
stop prescription drug abuse without blocking legitimate access to
those drugs.

Besides requiring a photo ID, the report recommended banning doctors'
offices from telephoning prescriptions for such medicines to a
pharmacy. Leach emphasized that those restrictions would apply only to
prescriptions for the limited number of drugs classified as controlled
substances, and not for most common prescriptions, such as blood
pressure medication.

The report also recommended that prescriptions for controlled
substances ordered by emergency room doctors be limited to three-day
supplies.

Donnie Riley, a Bowling Green pharmacist who is president of the
Kentucky Pharmacists Association, said the photo-ID requirement might
cause problems.

"If the patient comes in, or the patient's spouse or parent or child,
it's no problem. But often other third parties come in for very
legitimate reasons with a prescription for a friend or neighbor. This
may be something we can work with, but it's not as simple as you might
think," Riley said.

Riley also said he would want to know more details about what drugs
could no longer be prescribed by telephone. "That could cause a
hardship for some patients, depending on how broad it is," he said.

But Riley said such a ban would not affect OxyContin because it
already requires a new prescription signed by a doctor each time it is
refilled. The task force report noted that the manufacturer of
OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, has taken steps to reduce abuse of the drug.
But the company faces a number of lawsuits, and Kentucky has not ruled
out that option, said Denis Fleming, general counsel for the
governor's office.

Fleming said the Patton administration and the attorney general's
office are examining whether the company marketed OxyContin in a way
that violated state consumer protection laws.

Other task force recommendations included enforcing laws that allow
removing from public assistance rolls anyone who uses such income to
buy and abuse drugs, and enhancing a statewide computer prescription
tracking system to detect people who shop among doctors to get
excessive doses of certain drugs.

While much needs to be done, Burks and Leach said after yesterday's
meeting that progress has been made.

"The number of physicians calling our department for
controlled-substance information on their legitimate patients has gone
up," Leach said. "I think that means the doctors are doing their
best -- that they are working with the right kind of person and giving
them the right kind of pill and trying to do their best to avoid
dealing with patients who would improperly divert it."

The task force battling OxyContin abuse also seeks better tracking of
prescription drug sales.