Florida has become a popular destination for addicts seeking pain medication, since it is one of the few states that does not have a system in place to track the prescription of narcotics medication, helping Interstate 75 become known as the "pill pipeline" to Central Appalachia, a region plagued by prescription drug abuse.
In Bath County, Kentucky, population 12,000, overdoses on prescriptions from Florida have killed nine people since August. "We are hearing of thousands of Kentuckians going to Florida to get prescriptions, people going in droves to pharmacies in states along I-75 to get the prescriptions filled," said Van Ingram, director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control.
Kentucky is among the states that monitor narcotic prescriptions through a computerized network. The system shows if someone is going to multiple doctors to get pain medication, or if a doctor is over-prescribing narcotics. Florida has no such system. "In some cases, drug dealers provide cash for addicts to pay for the pills in Florida. The couriers buy pills for themselves, and the dealers sell the rest when they return to Kentucky," writes Valarie Honeycutt Spears for the Lexington Herald-Leader. "Doctors charge a few hundred dollars for an MRI that justifies the prescription and, in many cases, the drug seekers get monthly prescriptions for as many as 300 pills filled at the clinics without ever having to go to a pharmacy."
Officials are urging the Florida to implement a tracking system, and one is currently being considered by the legislature. Kentucky Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, a southeastern Kentucky physician, is planning to speak to Florida's General Assembly. "If you stop doctor shopping in one state, they find another source," and Florida's narcotics "are killing people and driving up costs in emergency rooms," he told Spears. (Read more)
No comments:
Post a Comment