Pubdate: Wed, 09 Apr 2003
Source: Bristol Herald Courier (VA)
Copyright: 2003 Bristol Herald Courier
Contact: http://www.bristolnews.com/contact.html
Website: http://www.bristolnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1211
Author: Mike Still

FEDERAL GRANT COMES THROUGH FOR NARCOTICS MONITORING PROGRAM

Federal money is now in the pipeline for a program to head off illegal 
prescriptions of OxyContin and other narcotics in Virginia.

Gov. Mark Warner announced Tuesday the $180,000 U.S. Department of Justice 
grant, which will provide initial funding for Virginia's Prescription Drug 
Monitoring Program approved in 2002.

The program will bring paper records of prescription activity involving 
OxyContin and other Schedule II narcotics into a central database, making 
it easier for law enforcement agencies to track abusers and illegal sellers 
of the drugs.

Legislation sponsored by state Sen. William C. Wampler, Jr., R-Bristol, and 
Delegate Terry Kilgore, D-Gate City, was approved by the General Assembly 
and signed by Warner.

A tight state budget caused the legislature to include a provision that 
non-state money be found to fund the program, delaying implementation.

The monitoring program will cover activity in 29 counties and 12 cities in 
the western part of the state.

Wampler said the idea stemmed from Kentucky's success with a similar 
program to deal with the illegal sale and use of OxyContin and Schedule II 
narcotics in that state.

"What we learned was that Kentucky's program worked so well that we saw a 
migration of a pattern of OxyContin abuse that started in Lee County and 
moved eastward in Virginia," Wampler said. "Ultimately, we'd hope that all 
bordering states would adopt a similar program that would help stop this 
problem and would be a help to our own federal prosecutors."

Wampler also credited U.S. Representatives Harold Rogers of Kentucky and 
Frank Wolf from Northern Virginia with helping secure the federal money 
from an existing pool of funds for the Kentucky monitoring program.

State Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, in a statement issued Tuesday, said 
the program now can start its two-year pilot term to help investigators 
track persons suspected of filling narcotics prescriptions for illegal sale 
or personal use.

"I am pleased that the U.S. Department of Justice has agreed that this is 
an important program for Virginia to begin," Kilgore said. "This grant will 
allow us to create the monitoring system, which will prove to be an 
effective tool for law enforcement to track and combat the abuse of 
prescription drugs, particularly OxyContin."

Wampler said Tuesday that the grant will allow Virginia law enforcement 
agencies to improve access to state records on prescription activity while 
protecting citizens' privacy.

"This is data which doctors and pharmacists already have to make available 
to police," Wampler said of the program. "Right now, police would have to 
drive from pharmacy to pharmacy to collect it in an investigation, and this 
just collects the information in one place."

"I'm pleased that the funds can be made available now for this program," 
said Del. Kilgore. "It will help make sure that the people who are doctor 
shopping or pharmacy shopping for OxyContin will get caught."

Wampler and Kilgore, the attorney general, said that the program is 
designed to protect the privacy of law-abiding citizens.

The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, according to state law, can only 
be accessed by law enforcement agencies or grand juries with active 
investigations or inquiries into suspected criminal activity, or if there 
is a pending state Department of Health Professions disciplinary proceeding 
against a dispenser of medications.

Release of any information beyond authorized persons is also a misdemeanor, 
Kilgore added.

The state Department of Health Professions, which oversees the program, 
evaluates requests for information before deciding whether access is 
provided to information about a dispenser.

Wampler said that the records will include the prescriber, the dispenser 
and the person receiving the medication. The program will exempt 
information on nursing homes, hospitals and veterinarians because of 
existing controls on how they dispense medications, he added.

Carrie Cantrell, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, said that 
an availability date for the Justice Department grant has not been determined.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens