The time has come that action needs to be taken to curb prescription medication abuse. What do you think? No person is immune from the ravages of addiction. Parents are losing kids. Kids are losing their parents. Lives are being permanently altered. And let’s face it, the entire fabric of our society is being affected by the rise in prescription medication abuse.
The state of New York enacted legislation that has been hailed as one of the strongest in the nation against the abuse of prescribed drugs. It has now been one year since the law took effect and the results are starting to come in. As reported in www.buffalonews.com.
The I-STOP Law – the Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing – aims to improve the communication between prescribing doctors and pharmacists. The law now adds a new prescription drug database, hailed by supporters as the nation’s first such real-time online system.
Now physicians are required to check the registry before writing a prescription for most controlled substances. Pharmacists will have access to the same registry.
The intent is to slow the flood of excess opiates by reducing or eliminating “doctor shopping,” where young people addicted to prescription drugs use multiple doctors to obtain multiple drug prescriptions to feed their addiction.
Hopefully other states will continue to push for databases to track prescription medications. More importantly will be continued efforts at education through drug classes. For many, the addiction is embarrassing. Fortunately, for those who wish to maintain anonymity while seeking help, there are online drug classes too.