Pubdate: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Copyright: 2003 Sun-Sentinel Company Contact: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159 Author: Mark Hollis, Tallahassee Bureau 46 ARRESTS ORDERED IN DRUG INQUIRY TALLAHASSEE - Florida agents said Tuesday they have arrested a Melbourne doctor and his assistant and issued 44 other arrest warrants in connection with a wide-scale investigation into the trafficking of the painkiller OxyContin and other drugs. The announcement brought renewed calls for a law to help doctors, pharmacists and law enforcement authorities identify drug addicts and their suppliers. Senior officials in Gov. Jeb Bush's administration want legislators to pass a bill creating a database tracking the millions of prescription narcotics that pharmacists across Florida dispense. The push for the law followed news the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, state health and local authorities have been investigating for more than a year the "We Really Care" pain clinic in Melbourne. Dr. Sarfraz A. Mirza and an office assistant, Jackie Leblanc, were arrested and were being held at the Brevard County Jail. Mirza was charged with 11 counts of trafficking in OxyContin and delivery or sale of other controlled substances. Leblanc was charged with obtaining OxyContin, prescription fraud and conspiracy. FDLE Interim Commissioner Daryl McLaughlin said drug addicts were able to get pills through the clinic by using fraudulent prescriptions. He and other state officials, including drug control director Jim McDonough, pledged to revive a fight to get a statewide computer database to track prescriptions for narcotic painkillers and other controlled drugs. "Not only would it make us more efficient and more effective, but it would send a clear message to folks across the state who ... prey on unsuspecting, and in some cases, innocent individuals," McLaughlin said. "In this day of automation, there is no excuse for not having this kind of system in place." The goal of the computerized system, McDonough said, would be to cut down on so-called "doctor shopping," in which patients visit several physicians to obtain drugs, either to feed their addiction or to sell on the street. The monitoring system would be capable of retrieving a patient's drug history while the patient is still in the examining room, or waiting at the pharmacy. Eighteen other states have put some prescription monitoring system in place, but most take significant time, some taking several weeks, before a doctor or pharmacist can learn of a patient's drug use history. A bill that would have created an electronic prescription data bank in Florida has been debated for more than three years in the Legislature. - --- MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPFFlorida)