Pubdate: Wed, 25 Jan 2006 Source: Boston Herald (MA) Copyright: 2006 The Boston Herald, Inc Contact: http://news.bostonherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53 Author: Jessica Heslam Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) BAY STATE HOPES TO TIGHTEN PRESCRIPTION PAINKILLER RULES BY REQUIRING PHOTO ID Bay State health officials intend to crack down on abuse of highly addictive painkillers such as OxyContin by sharing prescription data and requiring people to show a picture ID when picking up the widely prescribed drugs. The state Department of Public Health is proposing new regulations requiring customers to show a picture ID before they can pick up Schedule II prescription drugs - drugs with a high abuse risk that include OxyContin, Percocet and Ritalin. Pharmacists are currently required only to make a "good faith" effort in verifying a customer's ID - but only 75 percent of customers actually show them, officials said. Prescriptions for Schedule II drugs have skyrocketed from nearly 821,000 in fiscal year 1996 to more than 1.8 million in 2005, state officials said. The same goes for those who have received prescriptions from several doctors, or filled them in several pharmacies. The number of scripts written for people exhibiting such "questionable activity" has nearly tripled in a decade, up to 47,450 in fiscal year 2005 from about 18,200 in 1996. Health officials are proposing that pharmacists get the name and address of people picking up Schedule II scripts. They want to create a program to allow pharmacists, doctors and law enforcement to share information on people who get prescriptions from more than one doctor. But Albert Sherman, a member of the DPH council that approves new regulations, said he was concerned with privacy issues. "What's to keep that information private?" Sherman asked. Dr. Grant Carrow of the DPH said the data sharing would be done on a case-by-case basis. The agency plans to hold hearings next month. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom