Thanks to the 1999 implementation of a prescription-tracking system, Kentucky officials now know who writes, dispenses, and receives prescriptions, the Associated Press reported Feb. 4.Danna Droz, who manages the drug-enforcement division of Kentucky's state health agency, can now give doctors and police information on suspected prescription-drug abusers within 24 hours. Kentucky's program, which is being used as a model for other states, has been successful because it includes privacy protections and tracks all drugs that can be addictive or misused.
"What it helps to do is to give us a summary of a particular person's history of receiving medications," said Lt. Col. Joe Williams, who runs the Kentucky State Police Drug Control Unit. "A lot of times they'll go on a doctor-shopping expedition. They'll go to several doctors in several different communities to get the drug."
Kentucky is among 15 states with a prescription-drug monitoring database. Others are California, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, and Washington.
The success that states are having with the tracking systems has lead advocates to push for a national system that would link together the states' databases.
"A Virginia system would only monitor for Virginia. I can defeat the system by going to Tennessee and getting a Tennessee doctor to write me a prescription," said Tammy McElyea, a prosecutor in Southwest Virginia. "We greatly support a statewide program, but our dream would be a nationwide program."
Although the U.S. Congress has allocated $2 million this year for states to start prescription-drug monitoring systems, advocates say the funding isn't enough. According to Droz, Kentucky spent $415,000 to start its program and spends about $600,000 annually to operate it.
Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), a senior member of the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, pledged his support for additional federal funds to create a national system. "Hopefully this money will elicit applications, which will give us a better handle on actually how much money is needed," he said.
COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE: