PATIENTS, MDS FIGHT PAIN-PILL TRACKING PLAN

Pain patients and doctors who treat them gathered in Orlando on Friday
to speak out against a proposed statewide prescription-tracking
program and denounce upcoming state and national hearings on
prescription-drug abuse.

"These hearings are one-sided, and we believe they're stacked for a
pre-determined outcome," said Kathryn Serkes, a spokeswoman for the
Tucson, Ariz.-based Association of American Physicians & Surgeons.

"Somehow, it seems that in Florida, that if you have a problem in the
system, that it's just much easier to go after doctors and patients,
or go after 'drug dealers' and 'addicts,' than to figure out what's
really going on here," she said.

Florida legislators are considering a prescription-monitoring system
that would allow physicians, pharmacists and law-enforcement officers
with active investigations to track so-called scheduled drugs, those
that are the most likely to be addictive or abused.

More than a dozen other states have similar programs to curb abuses
such as overprescribing, "doctor shopping" -- in which patients go to
multiple doctors and get unauthorized prescription drugs -- and
diversion of drugs to illegal use.

Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, the bill's sponsor, said the
measure passed the first committee vote unanimously and that the
Florida Medical Association supports the program. It will be partially
funded by Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, which agreed to pay
$2 million in November 2002 when the state ended its investigation of
the company's marketing.

But some of the pain patients and their advocates said Friday that the
database could have a chilling effect on doctors and make them
reluctant to treat patients with serious medical problems who depend
on powerful painkillers to get by.

Donna Kirkland, a disabled Longwood teacher treated by an Orlando
pain-management doctor reportedly under state investigation, said she
is concerned about state officials and law enforcement who would have
no personal knowledge of her injuries or history monitoring her
prescriptions. She said true pain patients are in too much discomfort
to allow their drugs to be used illegally.

"The type of pain I have as a chronic pain patient, I wouldn't give
away one pill I have, because I need every single one of them," said
Kirkland, 53, who said she takes OxyContin for multiple permanent
joint injuries.

Dr. Ronald Myers Sr., from Belzoni, Miss., a practicing physician and
Baptist minister, said that when doctors are arrested, patients are
the ones who suffer. He said he saw evidence of that after an Arkansas
doctor was shut down.

"I saw patients withdrawing from their medication, they were going to
the emergency room and they couldn't get treatment," he said. "Many of
them committed suicide rather than live with their pain."

Myers said that although strong painkillers are perceived as
dangerous, over-the-counter medications that contain aspirin or
acetaminophen account for 16,000 deaths annually.

But Fasano and Florida drug czar James McDonough said privacy concerns
are unfounded. They said the database would ensure legitimate patients
and doctors are protected.

Fasano said a federal report showed no one has ever been arrested for
leaking private information. The proposed bill makes it a third-degree
felony for any unauthorized use of patient information.

"I have heard from no one in the medical community in Florida who is
opposing this bill," he said.

Fasano and McDonough wondered why out-of-state groups were so
concerned. Fasano said it could be because the software program
developed would be shared for free with other states.

McDonough suggested other motives.

"I note that the AAPS is championing a doctor who was convicted of
four counts of manslaughter," McDonough said, referring to Dr. James
Graves, a Panhandle physician who is serving a 63-year sentence after
he was convicted in the deaths of several patients.

But the pain patient advocates say doctors such as Graves are victims,
not villains, who have been snared by overly aggressive law
enforcement.

Siobhan Reynolds of New York, who produced a documentary on doctors
who have been prosecuted, said state officials are misdirecting their
efforts.

"Who is standing up for the average Floridian in pain?" she
said.