FLORIDA FIGHTS REPUTATION AS NATION'S PILL PUSHER

Florida finally is poised to rid itself of its disgraceful but
well-deserved reputation as the nation's pill pusher.

Armed with a new law that cracks down on "pill mills" that churn out
prescriptions for powerful painkillers, the state's surgeon general,
Dr. Frank Farmer of Ormond Beach, will lead the fight against a
problem he compares to the great epidemics of the past such as polio,
yellow fever and deadly strains of influenza. "Throughout history ...
there have been certain epidemics we have had to respond to," he told
The News-Journal. "How we get rid of the doctors who are using their
medical licenses illegally to write these prescriptions will define
how we are viewed by history."

If that seems like an exaggeration of the significance of this public
health issue, consider these appalling numbers:

A. In the first half of 2010, Florida's health practitioners ordered
41.3 million oxycodone pills. Oxycodone is a powerful and, if misused,
potentially deadly painkiller. The number of pills ordered in Florida
dwarfed all the orders in the rest of the states combined -- about 4.9
million.

A. Florida doctors ordered 85 percent of the oxycodone sold in the
U.S. in 2010.

A. Deaths from oxycodone in Florida more than tripled from 2005 to
2009. In Volusia County, the number of deaths from oxycodone went from
seven in 2005, when pill mills began to proliferate in Florida, to 39
in 2009.

A. Prescription-drug overdoses kill seven Floridians a day -- about
five times the number who die from overdoses of illicit drugs.

A. The number of people in the state being treated for
prescription-drug abuse has more than quadrupled in the past 10 years.

Florida's prescription-drug abuse epidemic has been exported to other
states, leading some to call Interstate 75 between Florida and
Kentucky the "Oxy Express." With addictive drugs flowing from pill
mills in Florida to the Midwest and the Northeast, the Sunshine
State's reputation has suffered in the rest of the country.

The state has a moral obligation to stop allowing unscrupulous doctors
and clinics to spread addiction among its own citizens and the
citizens of other states. But, as Farmer observed, it's also an
economic issue. Prescription-drug addiction decreases workers'
productivity and contributes to unemployment. And Florida's status as
America's pill dispenser could adversely affect the business
recruitment efforts of Gov. Rick Scott and his economic development
team. How many Fortune 500 companies want to locate in a state where
addictive drugs are handed out like candy?

Florida's new law targeting pill mills should shut down the Oxy
Express and greatly reduce the enormous supply of painkillers. The law
prohibits doctors from dispensing painkillers in their offices and
clinics (with narrow exceptions for some specialists, including
anesthesiologists and surgeons). The law also tightens pain-clinic
regulations and toughens penalties for doctors who overprescribe
addictive drugs.

Finally, Florida will get a prescription-monitoring program, approved
by lawmakers in 2009, up and running. Scott initially opposed the drug
database, citing privacy concerns. But Florida's utter failure to
control prescription-drug abuse -- a failure that drew heated
criticism from within the state and from officials in other states --
helped the governor see the light. When the database comes online
later this summer, Florida will be the 35th state with a system for
tracking prescriptions for painkillers and other potentially addictive
drugs.

The law doesn't require doctors and pharmacists to check the database.
But it will be available as a tool for detecting "doctor shopping,"
and law enforcement can use it -- as part of an active investigation
- -- to identify prescribing patterns that don't fit medical standards.

Members of the House and Senate deserve credit for working out
significant differences over the pill-mill legislation and producing a
law that should strike a real blow against this insidious form of drug
dealing. But the law will need to be backed up by aggressive
enforcement that sends a message about the state's tough new stance on
prescription-drug abuse.

Legislators also need to keep in mind the human toll of
prescription-drug addiction. Tough laws and tough enforcement should
be combined with adequate funding for addiction services. A state that
has doled out tens of millions of oxycodone pills undoubtedly has
created thousands of addicts who will need help to regain control of
their lives.