STATE SENATOR CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO PRESCRIPTIONS

TALLAHASSEE . The head of the Florida Senate's health committee said
Tuesday he is requesting a legislative investigation into doctors who
overprescribe the powerful prescription painkiller OxyContin.

Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, said he was prompted to act by a series
of articles about prescription drug abuse in the South Florida
Sun-Sentinel and the Orlando Sentinel.

"It's not only very damaging to the public but costly to the state, so
there's every reason to do this," he said.

OxyContin has been linked to more than 200 deaths in Florida, and many
victims were taking prescriptions but suffered accidental overdoses or
addiction. In addition to the human toll, Saunders said, billing
abuses and Medicaid fraud involving the drug are wasting taxpayer money.

"The state is losing tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of
dollars because of this," he said. "It's a huge issue."

Saunders said he will ask Senate President Jim King next week to name
a select panel of legislators to investigate problems, hear testimony
from experts and recommend changes in state law.

Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday directed his drug czar James McDonough to
"lay the groundwork for a comprehensive solution to this fatal and
expensive form of drug abuse" during a meeting set for Dec. 12 with
several state agency heads and Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist.

Among the issues Bush cited in a letter to McDonough was "doctor
shopping and pharmacy hopping," suspect Internet pharmacy sales,
adulteration and illegal importation of prescription drugs "and other
various allegations of illegalities."

"We must preserve the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship,
guarantee the best possible pain management and medical services, and
ensure the privacy of the individual. At the same time, however, we
must halt the widespread abuses ...and decrease the deadly and expensive
consequences that come with such abuses," Bush wrote.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel has reported that a small number of
medical professionals across the state have exploited the Medicaid
system, prescribing huge quantities and dosages of powerful narcotics
including OxyContin to participants in the state's health care system
for the poor. The Orlando Sentinel has reported on how a drug company
marketing campaign, lax government controls and doctors unschooled in
OxyContin's power have contributed to a wave of addiction and death.

Sen. Saunders, an attorney, said he is especially concerned by "the
small number of physicians who are prescribing a huge amount of OxyContin."

OxyContin, made by Purdue Pharma of Stamford, Conn., is a painkiller
so powerful it is sometimes called "heroin in a pill." It has been
linked to a drug investigation involving conservative radio
commentator Rush Limbaugh.

Purdue executives, battling lawsuits and investigations, blame bad
publicity on a few criminal doctors and drug abusers. Purdue says the
drug helps 2 million patients and no one has ever become addicted to
OxyContin when taking it as prescribe