The Associated Press Reported today
State Lawmakers in New York want to create a "real-time" data base to track the distribution of controlled prescription drugs to help prevent illcit trafficking of highly addictive pain killers.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has announced legislation Tuesday that would create a database for doctors and pharmacists to report & monitor
each time a prescription for a controlled substance is issued or dispensed.
Currently the regulations only require pharmacists to file reports twice a month and data is scanned in periodically.
Currently there is no requirement for doctors to report their prescriptions.
The new law would
require both doctors and pharmacists to input the data through an internet portal immediately upon issuing a prescription or dispensing a medication.
Schneiderman said in a statement "The proposed system would 'streamline' communication between healthcare providers and pharmacists."
The bill was formally introduced Tuesday by state Sen. Andrew J. Lanza and Assemblyman Michael Cusick.
According to the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws, originally created as a presidential commission, 48 states had enacted some form of prescription drug monitoring programs as of May 2011. Thirty-five were deemed "operational," meaning data was being distributed among authorities.
Abuse of prescription drugs has become a major problem for law enforcement officials nationwide, and a scourage throughout the state.
The attorney general's office says oxycodone prescriptions soared 66 percent in the city between 2007 and 2009, with a large number filled in Staten Island.
In March, prosecutors said they had broken up a drug ring on Staten Island that used an ice cream truck to peddle thousands of dollars in black-market prescription painkillers.
Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan said the legislation announced by the attorney general was a positive development.
"I think that the pharmacies are the proper and most effective way to stop the abuse in prescription drugs," he said.
He added, the legislation won't stop addicts from crossing state lines to fill prescriptions.
The attorney general's office said the state database could become a model for other jurisdictions and complement federal efforts.
Source:
Associated Press~Wall Street Journal
Home 
