WAMPLER INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO EASE LAW ENFORCEMENT RESTRICTIONS

Curbing abuse of the powerful painkiller OxyContin is the aim of
legislation introduced by a Southwest Virginia lawmaker. Sen. William
Wampler, R-Bristol, said Thursday the bill was requested by the state's
incoming attorney general, Jerry Kilgore, a Scott County native who is to
be sworn in on Saturday.

OxyContin is a potent time-release narcotic that's become popular among
drug abusers who crush and snort it. Abuse of the drug has resulted in the
overdose deaths of scores of people in Southwest Virginia, Kentucky and
Northeast Tennessee.

The measure, if approved and signed into law, would give the Virginia State
Police the ability to use a computer database to identify instances in
which people go from physician to physician or to multiple pharmacies to
feed an OxyContin habit.

State police investigators gather similar information now but must do so by
visiting individual pharmacies, Wampler said.

"The bill is designed to make law enforcement investigation more efficient
while also maintaining patient confidentiality," he said. "Privacy concerns
are important to everybody, including me.

"Nobody cares if a person takes an aspirin, but people are concerned with
OxyContin abuse."

The state Department of Health would serve as the reporting agency and
would ensure a level of confidentiality because it is familiar with
patients' rights, the senator said.

Several states already are using the computerized tracking system, the
senator said. It works, he added, but comes with a $1 million price tag for
software and equipment, which could mean the bill could be passed over this
session because of Virginia's $1.3 billion deficit.

The system could be maintained and operated with about $300,000 a year
after the initial equipment purchase, he said.

Kentucky has had success with its tracking system, Wampler said. But the
neighboring state's success meant that many people traveled across the
state line to Lee County to obtain OxyContin prescriptions, he said. "The
epidemic mushroomed in Lee County when Kentucky put in its system," he said.

The bill has not been sent to committee, and Wampler said he expects some
obstacles.

"You have to take this one step at a time," he said. "We've still got to
pull a lot of folks together. There may be a lot of challenges ahead that
we haven't considered, and privacy is always a concern.

" The beauty of the database is that once OxyContin abuse stops, it can
follow the next generation of drugs that might be abused."