REVIVING LEGISLATION ON DATABASE

Prescription drug bill to be considered After a number of
OxyContin-related deaths in Gadsden and the surrounding area a few
years ago, law enforcers and lawmakers discussed ways to combat abuse
of the prescription painkiller - including the development of a
prescription drug database.

One of the ways people sometimes obtain quantities of OxyContin for
resale is through "doctor-shopping" - going to several doctors to get
more than one prescription at a time for the same drugs. It's not a
problem unique to OxyContin. Law enforcement officers have known of
the practice for some time involving other prescription drugs wanted
for illegal sale.

Sen. Larry Means discussed a bill to allow the state Department of
Public Health to create and maintain a database, holding information
from prescriptions written for drugs that contained controlled
substances, among them, morphine and codeine.

Means' Senate Bill 35 is expected to be among those considered in this
session of the Legislature. While the furor over OxyContin might have
died down a bit or been overshadowed by other drug concerns, the
potential value of the database remains.

Several states already are creating databases designed to help
prosecute doctors who over-prescribe narcotics or patients who seek
multiple prescriptions.

Charles Thomas, state pharmacy director at the Department of Public
Health, says police, medical regulators and practitioners would have
access to the database's confidential information during
investigations, but the information would not be used to start an
investigation.

He says there would be measures to protect patient privacy and the
bill will establish penalties for unauthorized release of the
information. State doctors, pharmacists and veterinarians would be
required to supply prescription information to the state.

The database could be a good investigative tool for law enforcement
and medical regulators. Knowing of its existence could discourage
patients from taking advantage of doctors by seeking extra medication
and discourage practitioners who might over-prescribe.

For those not discouraged, it will help the authorities to intervene.