FLORIDA NEEDS DATABASE SYSTEM TO TRACK PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE

ISSUE: Florida still pays a heavy price for pain-medication
abuse.

"Doctor shopping," the illegal amassing of pain medication for either
sale or abuse, has been a longtime South Florida problem. The good
news is that the region can devise its own model solution, with a
little help from an unlikely source.

Florida needs a database system that tracks prescriptions for
potentially lethal antidepressants and narcotics to help authorities
spot suspect prescriptions. Establishing such a system, though, may be
wishful thinking, since the Legislature has rejected the idea six
times before.

Unfortunately, the do-nothing option isn't an alternative that can be
tolerated much longer. The abuse of prescription drugs has become the
leading cause of overdoses, and the pushers of these lethal
prescriptions, the men and women who visit physician after physician
to obtain pain medication, is a particularly prevalent problem in
South Florida.

Legislation that would establish a pilot project computer database for
prescriptions in South Florida should be a high priority in next
year's legislative session. The state has tried alternatives, from
requiring tamper-resistant prescription pads to using computers to
write prescriptions. Those options, however, have not made a
significant dent in the problem.

A pilot program approach should give lawmakers extra comfort. Not only
would authorities have a new tool, but the program would give law
enforcement and medical personnel the opportunity to flush out any
lingering concerns over the privacy of medical records, a concern that
stopped past efforts to implement a database.

The pilot will cost the state government some money, but lawmakers can
ease that burden by including provisions to encourage officials to
seek private-public partnerships with pharmacies and pharmaceutical
firms that have a vested interest in curbing the misuse of their products.

Doctor shopping for prescriptions has been a festering problem for too
long. There are enough lawmakers who are familiar with the issue.
What's needed now is the political will to take that important step to
address the issue.

BOTTOM LINE: Start a pilot program.