TRACKING PILL TRADE HEED REPORT ON MONITORING PRESCRIPTIONS

Kentucky has an addiction problem, fueled in part by the willingness
of some doctors to prescribe narcotics for healthy people looking for
a high.

So it makes sense to keep an eye out for those pushing the drugs,
especially since the state has the technology to do so.

That is the gist of what a legislative task force said this week in
suggesting better ways to use a statewide database that keeps track
prescriptions.

The General Assembly should endorse the task force proposals as soon
as the 2004 session begins.

Under the proposals, the Kentucky All-Schedule Prescription Electronic
Reporting System, known as KASPER, could be used proactively by the
Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure and the state Cabinet for Health
Services.

The system, created in 1998 and run by the public health department,
helps doctors monitor whether patients are doctor-shopping for drugs.
But using the system to keep an eye on doctors requires a formal
complaint followed by an investigation.

That makes the data useful when putting together a criminal case but
not for watching for doctors and patients who are partners in the
pill-pushing business. Proposed changes would allow real-time
monitoring of prescription writing to spot potential problems.

It is understandable that consumer and legal groups would want to
ensure that any changes in KASPER, which includes 35 million personal
prescription records, would not make it more suspectible to misuse in
any way.

But it would be counterproductive for lawmakers to bog this issue down
in delaying debates over government intrusion.

The task force proposals present a way for state officials to work
with the medical board to weed out the pill mills fronting as health
providers.

This is not about Big Brother; it's about the state taking some
responsibility to get itself clean.