Pubdate: Thu, 30 Mar 2006
Source: Des Moines Register (IA)
Copyright: 2006 The Des Moines Register.
Contact:  http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123
Author: Jonathan Roos
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

REGISTRY CALLED WAY TO DETECT PILL ABUSE

Senate OKs Plan To Curb 'Doctor-Shopping' For Drugs

Legislative supporters of a computerized system to help detect 
abusers of prescription drugs invoked the memory of Dr. Stephen 
Gleason, a prominent physician and former top aide to Gov. Tom 
Vilsack who committed suicide Saturday.

The proposed prescription-drug monitoring program is aimed at curbing 
"doctor-shopping," whereby people get multiple doctors to write 
prescriptions for the same drugs.

"We know of some celebrities that have been doing it, and they were 
lucky that someone helped them. We know of a friend and a colleague 
today who wasn't as lucky . . . who took his own life because he 
wasn't able to deal with his addictions," said Sen. Jack Hatch, a Des 
Moines Democrat, in urging fellow senators to support House File 722.

Gleason's death came six weeks after the 59-year-old physician 
publicly acknowledged that he was being treated for a relapse into an 
addiction to prescription painkillers.

Legislation approved by the Senate on Wednesday would establish the 
prescription-drug monitoring program but limit access to the drug 
database to pharmacists and doctors.

The Senate's version of House File 722 would ban law officers from 
looking at the registry unless they obtain a court order to 
investigate a specific person. The same limit would be placed on 
state regulators who oversee doctors and pharmacists.

"This is not a punitive bill. This is a bill to treat folks who are 
addicted to prescription medications," said Sen. James Seymour, a 
Woodbine Republican.

Doctor-shopping examples cited by Seymour included a west-central 
Iowa woman who obtained 400 tablets of OxyContin, a narcotic drug, 
from five pharmacists and a central Iowa man who obtained morphine 
and other addictive drugs by using 20 medical professionals who wrote 
prescriptions for him at nine pharmacies.

Twenty-one states have prescription-drug monitoring programs.

The funeral for Gleason, a former director of the Iowa Department of 
Public Health, is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. today at St. Augustin's 
Catholic Church in Des Moines. The Legislature plans to adjust its 
debate schedule so members can attend.

House File 722 returns to the House for more debate.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman