Missouri Legislators Want Prescription Drug Database

In response to abuse of prescription drugs, 49 states in the US already have, or are planning to implement, an online database in order to allow doctors, pharmacists, and law enforcement to find individuals who visit multiple doctors in an effort to get prescribed the same drug multiple times. The only state who has not agreed to the online database is Missouri. While certain legislators are in favor of a database, there are privacy concerns that have held up the lawmaking process. This year’s current effort for an online prescription drug database comes through House Bill 1133, which is sponsored by Missouri State Rep. Kevin Engler, a Republican. The bill would make the database funded through state grants and private donations, and it would turn over management of the database to a state agency: the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Privacy concerns continue to scare some lawmakers in Missouri, and the entire process might be derailed by those concerns. State Senator Rob Schaaf, also a Republican, has long voiced his staunch opposition to any form of an online database for prescription drugs. Schaaf points to the state of Florida, whose own database was hacked last year. The hackers got the names, contact information, and prescription information of 3,300 Floridians. Certain reports have called the Florida database’s functionality into question, and stories from the Tampa Bay Times in 2012 stated that a significant portion of doctors don’t even use the database at all.

Kevin Engler believes that criticism doesn’t mean that the state shouldn’t attempt a database. “Everyone who produces these drugs are in agreement that something needs to be done. The other states have been proactive,” Engler said.

Source: http://www.govtech.com/health/Prescription-Drug-Database-Fight-Continues-in-Missouri.html