Faced with one of the country’s highest fatal overdose rates, the West Virginia Senate introduced legislation this week targeted at stemming the state’s problem with prescription drug abuse. Seven bills have been introduced, including five on Wednesday, by a special task force of Senators appointed by Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin. The urgency of the situation is not lost on the lawmakers.
"I am out there every day, seeing patients and trying to do good, empathetic, appropriate care, and at the same time not allowing this fraud and abuse to occur," said Senator Ron Stollings, who is also a physician.
The bills focus on drug diversion – illegally obtaining medications by lying to doctors, buying it on the black market or stealing the drugs. One bill would require all prescriptions to be written on tamper-proof forms, while another bill stiffens the penalties for using false information to get the drugs. Another bill would require all pharmacies in West Virginia to grant pharmacists access to a controlled substances database, so they could check if patients are getting prescriptions from multiple sources.
There are no bills pending at this time addressing treatment for drug abuse. West Virginia has long struggled with prescription drug abuse, especially with pain medications like methadone, oxycodone and hydrocodone.
A Journal of the American Medical Associate study from 2008 reported that West Virginia’s rate of accidental fatal overdoses from prescription drugs is approximately 16 deaths per 100,000 people, more than twice the national average.
The bills are a step in the right direction, said Michael O’Neil, a pharmacy professor at the University of Charleston and the chairman of the state Controlled Substance Advisory Board.
O’Neil wants to see a change in West Virginia’s shortage of addiction treatment programs and "after care," in which recovering addicts are monitored to help them stay sober.
