Senate Passes Pill Mill Bill
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4)-- Trying to shed Florida's reputation as a pill-mill capital, the Senate unanimously approved a wide-ranging bill Friday to stiffen penalties against bad doctors and place new limits on dispensing controlled substances.
House and Senate leaders reached agreement early Friday on HB 7095, clearing the way for approval on the final day of the legislative session. The House is expected to vote on the measure Friday afternoon or evening, according to the News Service of Florida.
Senators said unscrupulous doctors and clinics have created an "epidemic" of addiction to dangerous drugs.
"This bill goes a long way in pursuing, going after those drug traffickers in the state of Florida,'' said Sen. Mike Fasano, a New Port Richey Republican who is the chief Senate sponsor.
Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, said some bad doctors have gotten away with "murder" by supplying deadly painkillers to users. He said the epidemic has particularly hit young people.
"It's not a rich person's problem, it's not a poor person's problem,'' Bennett said. "It's a kids' problem.''
Attorney General Pam Bondi has made combating pill mills one of her top priorities and helped broker the agreement between the House and Senate, which disagreed throughout the legislative session about how to deal with the issue.
The bill will severely limit the ability of physicians to dispense controlled substances from their offices, though it includes some exceptions such as allowing surgeons to provide drugs to post-operation patients.
The agreement eliminated a controversial House proposal that would have banned drug wholesalers from selling to a retail pharmacy more than 5,000 "unit doses" a month of Oxycodone, hydrocodone or other types of often-abused drugs.
Bondi said that limit is too low for some legitimate pharmacies, such as pharmacies near the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.
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