Gov. Scott Digs In on Prescription Drug Tracking
Bipartisan pressure continues to mount on Florida Governor Rick Scott to change his stance on a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) approved by the state legislature last year.
U.S. Senators, Congressmen and the Governor of Kentucky have asked Scott to reverse course and support the PDMP. The officials say Florida's lax regulations of suspected pill mills has created an "Oxy Express" route that drug traffickers use to ferry prescription drugs from the Sunshine State to other states, like Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. On the black market, pills like oxycodone can sell for big bucks.
Thursday, the White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske wrapped up a visit to Kentucky by saying he plans to continue asking Scott to endorse the PDMP.
Scott made it clear, however, he does not intend to change his mind on the PDMP, which has secured private funding for a year but has yet to be implemented due to bidding problems over its' setup.
"It is an invasion of privacy and will cost too much," Scott said.
On the invasion of privacy front, Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti, who strongly supports the PDMP, said Scott is wrong.
Lamberti told me Wednesday, during an interview after a massive crackdown on suspected pill mills in South Florida, that 42 other states either have a PDMP or are setting one up. He said he is aware of only instance where security of a PDMP has been compromised.
"That is the one tool that we need that's gonna make a difference," Lamberti told me. "People ask why Florida? It's because Florida is one of the 8 states that does not have (a PDMP). We need to join the rest of the country. We're being left out."
A PDMP would work like this: Once a doctor writes a prescription for a patient, it is entered into a database. Other doctors and pharmacists have access to the information so they can determine if that same patient attempts to doctor shop and fill multiple prescriptions for the same or similar drugs in a short amount of time.
Lamberti hoped that Wednesday's blanket of media coverage from the raids on suspected pill mills will convince Scott to re-think his stance.
Parents of people who've died from prescription drug abuse also plan to pressure Scott to change his mind. There are estimates that 7 Floridians die each day from prescription drug abuse.
Renee Doyle, whose son Blayne died from an overdose of prescription drugs, told CBS 4's Joan Murray Thursday that she will take her fight to Tallahassee and try to speak with Scott personally about her cause.
"It disturbs me Governor Scott doesn't see this is an important tool and a problem in our state," Reed said. "Is saving seven people a day less important than privacy?"
