LAWMAKERS MAY CANCEL STATE DATABASE USED TO FIGHT PRESCRIPTION-DRUG ABUSE

Lawmakers may cancel state database used to fight prescription-drug
abuse A Colorado database used to prevent prescription drug "doctor
shopping" is in peril after the state Senate Appropriations Committee
voted against renewing the program.

Proponents of the state's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program are
drafting a bill to try to keep the database running, saying it is
essential in the fight against painkiller abuse and misuse.

"It is absolutely critical for the physicians in this state," said
Edie Sonn of the Colorado Medical Society.

"Doctors explain how frequently they use it and how it's helped them
do everything from protect patients from drug interactions, to not
fill a prescription for patients who are doctor shopping," Sonn said.

Last month, health care providers who prescribe painkillers were
surprised and then alarmed by the Appropriations Committee's decision
in light of Colorado's prescription-drug abuse crisis.

Painkiller abuse is on the rise in Colorado and has deadly
consequences, according to data from the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration in Denver.

In Colorado, the number of people who died from prescription-drug
abuse rose 95 percent during the past decade, according to the DEA.

"If (the PDMP) goes away, there is no mechanism to track the movement
of prescription drugs across Colorado," said Chris Lines, a spokesman
for the Department of Regulatory Agencies. "It means there will be no
reporting requirements for doctors or pharmacies."

In 2005, the General Assembly passed the law establishing the
database, which was up and running in 2007.

The computerized database allows physicians to look up narcotics that
patients have been prescribed to see whether they have visited
different doctors to obtain a surplus of painkillers.

The PDMP includes the patient's name, the health care provider who
prescribed the narcotics, and which pharmacy issued the medication.

The database costs about $270,000 a year to run, and funding is
provided by federal grants and fees on the licenses of health care
providers who write prescriptions.

State Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, chairman of the Appropriations
Committee, said he and a bipartisan group of five others voted against
renewing the PDMP on Feb. 25 because they have concerns over privacy
and how informed the public is about their prescription information
going into the database.

"I have concerns . . . if patients are aware of the fact the state is
tracking the information," he said. "I am concerned about who has
access to the database and concerned about the funding of the program
and about where some of the revenues have gone."

Steadman says he will consider a revised late bill on the PDMP if he
feels it addresses those issues.

Dr. Scott Hompland, a chronic-pain and addiction specialist, says the
database is essential for patient safety and to protect doctors from
overprescribing medications.

"I need to know if anybody else is giving them pain pills," he said.
"So this is our only tool we have to battle back."