Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Florida prescription-pill database's main supporter, opponent in legislature meeting

In February we reported new Florida Gov. Rick Scott had proposed eliminating a program that was designed to curb the prescription-pill pipeline from Florida to Central Appalachia, but now the opposition could be softening. Scott continues to voice opposition to the program, which would create an electronic database to track prescriptions, but today the leading opponent and supporter of the program in the state legislature, both Republicans like Scott, are meeting to hash out their differences, Meg Laughlin of the St. Petersburg Times reports.

"The pill-mill issue is a major issue in our state. And we are losing people every day. So we've got to come up with a plan that's going to solve this issue," Scott said Tuesday, noting he still feared the database could breach patient confidentiality. "With regard to the database, I am very uncomfortable where we are now because of privacy," he said. Laughlin notes that Scott's Tea Party supporters did not include the database on a list of the 11 issues that matter most to the organization.

Today Republican Rep. Rob Schenck, who has been among the most outspoken opponents of the database, and Republican Sen. Mike Fasano, who has been its lead supporter, will meet to discuss how to move forward. (Read more)

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