LAWS REGULATING PRESCRIPTION, DISPENSING OF PAIN PILLS IN FLORIDA NOW
TOUGHER

FORT LAUDERDALE =AD As Gov. Rick Scott performed a
ceremonial signing of a new law cracking down on
pill mills Friday, Hellene Grundler sat in the
front row grinning with pleasure.

It was her turn to smile. In the past, the issue
of prescription drug abuse had cost her tears.

On Aug. 15, 2009, the same day her daughter gave
birth to her grandson, Grundler found her son
Derek, 32, dead of an overdose of the powerful
painkiller oxycodone in his Broward apartment.

"God took one life from us and he sent us another
one," said Grundler, 59, although it was clear
she didn't consider it a good deal.

Grundler said her son had long suffered from a
drug abuse problem and just two days before his
death a local doctor had given him 150 oxycodone
pills for no good medical reason. She said she
began agitating "that same day" for tougher laws against pill mills.

This week her efforts paid off, as did those of
others around the state, including The Palm Beach
Post, which since 2009 has written about the
escalating number of pain clinics in South
Florida, and has exposed several founded by
convicted drug dealers and other criminals.

Scott signed the pain management bill (HB 7095)
into law Thursday in Tallahassee, then staged
ceremonial signings Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando.

The new law toughens reporting requirements for a
statewide prescription drug monitoring database,
penalizes doctors who overprescribe painkillers,
requires pain clinics to register with the state,
tightens the regulations for running pharmacies
and obliges drug wholesalers and pharmacists to
report people who try to make questionable purchases.

Scott had wanted the legislature to repeal the
database law it passed two years ago, raising
questions of how the database would be funded and
of possible invasions of privacy. But Attorney
General Pam Bondi, a fellow Republican, and some
GOP lawmakers pushed for it and Scott acceded.

"I am proud to sign this bill, which cracks down
on the criminal abuse of prescription drugs,"
said Scott, speaking at Fort Lauderdale Police
Department headquarters. "This legislation will
save lives in our state and it marks the
beginning of the end of Florida's infamous role
as the nation's pill mill capital."

Bondi chimed in from Tallahassee.

"Not a day goes by that I don't hear a story of
someone who has lost a family member or friend to
prescription drug abuse," she said in a
statement. "This legislation will make
significant strides in ridding Florida of
unscrupulous doctors and pill mills, making our
state a safer place to live and raise our families."

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has
reported that 98 of the nation's 100 top
prescribers of oxycodone are located in Florida.
Florida pharmacies have dispensed 126 million
pills in one year, more than the rest of the
nation combined, according to the DEA.

Many of those pills are taken to other states and illegally resold.

Oxycodone is best known under the brand name
Oxycontin. When used properly, it and similar
medications slowly release ingredients over many
hours to help patients deal with chronic pain.
Abusers crush the pills and sniff or inject them,
resulting in a euphoric heroin-like high.

According to state officials, more than 2,500
people per year - about seven per day - die in
Florida from painkiller abuse. Obama
administration health officials say prescription
painkiller abuse kills more than 28,000 people
per year nationally and that it has become the
leading cause of death in 17 states, surpassing car accidents.

The administration has increased funding for
state prescription drug monitoring programs and
has started a program, led by the Food and Drug
Administration, to educate doctors about risks related to painkillers.

Friday, Grundler showed reporters a silver locket
she wears around her neck and inside it a photo
of her late son Derek. She said it was too late
for her family to save him, but not too late for other families.

"Seven people die in Florida every day from
this," she said. "That's an epidemic and most
people don't even know it's happening. Maybe that will change."