Advocates want prescription pill tracking database

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri State Rep. Holly Rehder said Monday that after years of failed attempts, next session could finally mean a breakthrough for creating a prescription drug database.

Rehder announced her plans to next week refile the legislation for the database alongside police and doctors in the Capitol.

Pharmacies would submit the names of people who buy a prescription drug, the quantity and date and other details. The data would be considered confidential but could be provided to doctors, pharmacists, regulators and law officers who have a subpoena or court order.

Anyone who unlawfully releases that information would face misdemeanor charges.

Missouri is the only state without legislation creating such a database, which is meant to stop "doctor shoppers" from refilling the same prescription in multiple pharmacies, either to feed an addiction or to sell the pills for profit.

Poplar Bluff deputy police chief Jeff Rolland said people now travel to Missouri to circumvent similar programs in their home states, especially in the Bootheel since it borders several states.

"This will save lives," Rolland said. "I don't know anyone that could stand up here and say that's not important."

Rehder said the bill could have helped her daughter's struggle with pill abuse. She said her daughter got hooked after taking medication for a cut on her finger and later bought drugs from doctor shoppers.

The bill has had success in the House, but Senate lawmakers have cited concerns with personal privacy and the security of the database.

Republican Sen. Rob Schaaf of St. Joseph led an eight-hour filibuster against the legislation last session that effectively killed the bill. The family doctor has said the database would infringe on individual liberties.

Calls from The Associated Press to Schaaf were not immediately returned Monday.

Sikeston Republican Rehder said she plans to use last session's legislation as a starting point to negotiate with Senate lawmakers.

Rehder said she would be willing to discuss time limits for keeping the data in hopes of reaching a compromise with other legislators.

She called a suggestion to put the legislation up for a statewide vote a "stall tactic." Senate amendments to the bill last year included a clause to put it on the ballot.

But even advocates said the legislation will only partly address drug abuse.

Addicts move from drug to drug if one becomes inaccessible, said Bob Twillman, deputy executive director for the American Academy of Pain Management.

"All we do is squeeze the balloon in one place and it pops in another," Twillman said. "The way to fix the problem is to let the air out of the balloon by providing adequate resources to treat people who have addictions."

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