PRESCRIPTION DATABASE BILL PASSES

Measure Has Potential To Save Lives

In a session in which lots of legislation was talked about but little acted
upon, one good bill proposed by local lawmakers made its way through the
House and Senate and appears destined to become law.

A few years have passed since OxyContin deaths created concern in Etowah
County. Police were seeing overdose deaths stemming from abuse of a
prescription drug. OxyContin was the culprit in the cases that drew
attention, but authorities have know for some time other pain medications
are abused also.

Sen. Larry Means, D-Attalla, and Rep. Blaine Galliher, R-Rainbow City,
sponsored legislation to create a prescription database - a way pharmacists
and doctors can help to discover when people are "doctor-shopping," getting
multiple prescriptions for controlled substances from more than one doctor.

The sponsors say the bill came as a result of former Gov. Don Siegelman's
Drug Prescription Task Force, which included doctors, pharmacists, district
attorneys and representatives of pharmaceutical companies. Involving people
who deal with prescription drugs as well as drug crimes perhaps helped
lawmakers to come up with a method that did not draw insurmountable opposition.

The state has obtained federal grants of about $300,000 to set up the
database, which will be handled by the Department of Public Health, and
another grant is being sought. Means says none of the money going into it
is state money and that can rarely be said about legislation that creates
anything new.

The database will be maintained by a $10 fee on the controlled substance
registration certificate doctors and veterinarians obtain. It is expected
to bring in $140,000 a year.

The bill to establish the database makes it a misdemeanor to disclose
information from the database without authorization. Law enforcement
officers could get access after presenting probable cause to the Department
of Public Health.

When OxyContin deaths began to occur in Etowah County, some families who
lost loved ones to overdose came forward to urge authorities to do
something to prevent the abuse. Lawmakers responded with this legislation
and kept pushing for it after public outcry about the problem waned.

We have them, and the families who came forward with their concerns, to
thank if this database helps doctors and pharmacists find out when patients
are trying to get medication for more than medicinal purposes.