AG Schneiderman report calls for Rx drug abuse tracking system

New York's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman released a report today on what he described as a prescription drug abuse epidemic, calling on the legislature to pass his bill that would create a prescription drug tracking system for the state.

“The prescription drug abuse crisis in New York and across the country has reached epidemic proportions. Today’s report illustrates how this growing problem demands a better solution for both our health care providers and law enforcement officials to track the flow of potentially dangerous substances. Inaction is not an option,” Schneiderman said in a statement.

According to the report, the number of prescriptions for all narcotic painkillers has increased from 16.6 million in 2007 to nearly 22.5 million in 2010. A number of locations were highlighted for the growing problem they face, including Nassau County, where overdoses from painkillers more than tripled between 2004 and 2009.

Additionally, in the North Country region, the report says, prescription drug abuse rehab admissions have eclipsed heroine, cocaine and marijuana in some areas. Back here in the city, Staten Island remains the highest prescription-writing borough in the city, as well as the highest overdose borough in the city when it comes to prescription painkillers.

Courtesy of the Attorney General's office

The Attorney General is calling for the passage of his bill, called the Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing Act (I-STOP), which would, according to the AG's office:

• requires the Department of Health to establish and maintain an online, real-time controlled substance reporting system to track the prescription and dispensing of controlled substances;
• requires practitioners to review a patient's controlled substance prescription history on the system prior to prescribing;
• requires practitioners or their agents to report a prescription for such controlled substances to the system at the time of issuance;
• requires pharmacists to review the system to confirm the person presenting such a prescription possesses a legitimate prescription prior to dispensing such substance; and
• requires pharmacists or their agents to report dispensation of such prescriptions.

“A statewide database that tracks the disbursement of prescription narcotics in real-time...would be a tremendous tool to help those of us in law enforcement and the medical community combat the scourge of prescription drug abuse,” Staten Island's district attorney, Dan Donovan, said in a statement.

The full report's after the jump.

Istop Report Final 1.10.12