Pharmacy college focuses on solutions to growing opioid crisis at local lecture

Editor's note: The following story has been edited to correct the number of providers that have registered with Missouri's prescription drug-monitoring program, the prescribers in Missouri in counties covered by the program and the year medication take-back programs began in Missouri.

Over the past decade, Missouri has been near the center of one of the nation's most pressing issues -- the opioid epidemic. The St. Louis College of Pharmacy, which presented a program at Port Cape Girardeau on Tuesday, is looking to push back against bad prescribing practices.

Professors from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy shared their research with alumni and community members on how to improve the role of the pharmacist in a medical culture plagued by overdose deaths and addiction.

In April 2017, Missouri became the last state to implement a prescription drug-monitoring program. Since then, more than 6,000 providers have registered and 90 percent of prescribers in Missouri are in counties covered by the progam, said Amy Tiemeier, associate professor and president of the not-for-profit organization Missouri Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal.

Tiemeier said there are holes in Missouri's prescription drug-monitoring program, which operates county-by-county rather than statewide.

"From a providers perspective, either physician or pharmacist, if I want a full picture of what medication and controlled substances that a patient is taking, and they are getting a prescription filled elsewhere, I can't get the full picture," Tiemeier said after the presentation. "I can't provide the best care without all the pieces of data."

Legislation to implement a statewide monitoring program has been debated in Jefferson City for years.

She called Missouri the "ground zero" for bad actors looking to obtain multiple prescriptions for potent and addictive medications from multiple doctors.

Tiemeier said she knew from her connections with the regional Drug Enforcement Administration office in St. Louis there had been interactions with people who were "doctor-shopping" or involved in "pill mills" who had come from states away.

"Certainly they didn't need to come this far to get that prescription filled, but knowing that there was that lack of oversight and potential information being passed along, then they would make the extra effort to come here to get their prescriptions filled," Tiemeier said.

The importance of medication take-back programs was another topic discussed.

The first of two National Take-Back Days, where the public can properly dispose of expired or unnecessary medications, will be held at local police stations April 28.

In St. Louis, there already are about 30 medication disposal kiosks which create opportunity for safe and convenient disposal, she said.

From September 2010 to October 2017, take-back programs removed 369,311 pounds of medication from Missouri homes, Tiemeier said.

Melanie Van Dyke, assistant professor of psychology at the pharmacy college, presented her recent and ongoing research on medication hoarding.

Hoarding, Van Dyke said, was originally thought to be a symptom of obsessive compulsive disorder, but has recently been recognized as a separate disorder.

"If we participate in drug disposal methods, we can reduce the risk," Van Dyke said. "There's a greater desire among professionals to educate the public on how to store medication and how to dispose of it."

Pertinent address:

19 N Water St, Cape Girardeau