The Iowa Board of Pharmacy Examiners wants to set up a system similar to those used in 20 other states to keep better tabs on prescription drugs, including cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, which Iowa recently reclassified as a Schedule V controlled substance. Board director Lloyd Jessen said better tracking could prevent patients from "doctor-shopping" or "pharmacy-shopping" to feed an addiction to painkillers or divert pseudoephedrine to the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine.

The board has already won a $642,000 federal grant to set up the database. The state House has approved the plan, but the Senate has yet to vote on the legislation.

Critics see the proposal as an invasion of privacy. "Many citizens and legislators are rightfully concerned about protecting the confidentiality of their medical information and about the security of the proposed database itself," said state Sen. Jack Hatch (D-Des Moines).

The Iowa Osteopathic Medical Association and the Polk County Medical Society also have voiced opposition, as has the Iowa Civil Liberties Union, which worries about law-enforcement officials gaining access to the information without a search warrant or subpoena, and hackers breaking into the system.

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