IT BEATS NOTHING

CRITICS OF state Sen. Buddy Carter's bill to help track drug
prescriptions in Georgia are right about one thing: Its voluntary
nature may lessen participation and might provide an out for shady
doctors or pharmacists who dish out addictive pain pills like candy.

Still, one must consider the difference between what might be
preferable in a perfect world, and what has a better chance of passing
the state legislature.

As passed in the Senate, Mr. Carter's bill provides for a computerized
database to make available information now filed only on paper forms.

The paperwork filed with the state by doctors and pharmacists contains
the same information, but the method is so slow that some illicit
prescription drug dealers or addicts are able to "doctor shop" and get
the pills before the paperwork catches up.

Even after the filings are processed, there is no easy way to cross
reference who is getting the drugs and who is prescribing them.

This shortcoming in current law not only allows prescription drug
abuse and unethical behavior by some doctors or pharmacists, it also
puts the offices of reputable medical professionals at risk of
unwittingly supporting addiction.

Under Mr. Carter's bill, filing the reports remains mandatory. But
referring to the database before issuing a prescription would be up to
the doctor or pharmacist. It wouldn't be mandatory. Hence, as veteran
Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team member Ron Tyran said, it's a
weak fix.

Mr. Tyran has a point. However, the database would be an added tool
for those reputable operators - the vast majority of doctors and
pharmacists - to protect the health of their patients and their
practices. It's better than what Georgia has now.

Requiring doctors to check the database before issuing every
prescription would necessitate an enforcement effort and a penalty
(probably a fine) for those who don't cooperate. It also means more
work for physicians' staff.

Mr. Carter's bill might not be perfect. But it is a step in the right
direction.

We hope lawmakers approve it. Then, perhaps a few years down the road,
Mr. Carter can revisit it. See if Georgia has become less of a
pill-seeker magnet. Examine the level of participation among health
care professionals.

If the numbers are trending in the right direction, then leave it
voluntary.But if prescription drug abuse remains at the current
unacceptable level, then add a dose of Mr. Tyran's tougher medicine.