Opioid drug tracking program advances in Missouri House

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — House members are advancing a bill to make Missouri the last state to adopt a database to track addictive prescription drugs but the measure still has a long way to go.

The bill received initial approval in a Wednesday voice vote. It needs another vote before it can move to the Senate, where such proposals face stiff opposition.

The proposal would create a database used to track when doctors write prescriptions for painkillers and other drugs. Pharmacists also would be required to report whenever prescriptions are filled.

Doctors and pharmacists initially would have 24 hours to report and would need to update the database in real time by 2020.

The goal is to cut down on doctor-shopping, when patients get prescriptions from multiple doctors and get medicine from multiple pharmacists.