I'm no expert on Florida politics, but an issue came to my attention yesterday while browsing kentucky.com (the website for the Lexington Herald-Leader). My parents grew up in Kentucky (Floyd County and Harlan County). I have fond memories of visiting both sets of grandparents as well as aunts, uncles and cousins in Southeast Kentucky as a kid. And my "husband's" parents and extended family live in the Northern Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati. So, I check out kentucky.com pretty regularly to keep up with what's going on in the Commonwealth.
I was surprised to see this weekend that Republican Hal Rogers from KY-05 has written a "sternly worded letter" to Florida Governor Rick Scott, who it seems has a problem with prescription drug abuse. It seems that he's "an enabler." Explanation after the jump.
I should say first that I'm no fan of Rep. Rogers. His record on environmental issues is abyssmal. However, after reading his letter I think this issue might be a case of the blind squirrel and the nut.
Full text of Rep. Rogers letter can be found here. It's an open letter so I suppose I could copy it in its entirety, but I'll excerpt and elaborate just to be safe (please do read the letter in its entirety).
The letter opens with this paragraph:
I am alarmed and dismayed by recent press reports indicating your intention to repeal Florida's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). On behalf of my constituents, who continue to suffer from out-of-control and escalating prescription drug diversion originating from your state, I respectfully ask that you reverse your position on the value of and unquestionable need for Florida's PDMP and go to work on implementing this important medical and law enforcement solution. The tragic story of Lisa Rogers as reported on February 14, 2011 in the St. Petersburg Times is one of many heart-wrenching incidents in my congressional district that have occurred as a direct result of the illicit diversion of prescription narcotics from Florida to Appalachian Kentucky, and frankly, along the entire eastern seaboard. Dubbed the "Flamingo Road," thousands of unscrupulous drug dealers and addicted users have made the trek to your state because of the ease of access to these powerful and habit-forming drugs, and after years of prodding, your predecessor acknowledged the need for action. A giant sigh of relief swept across the nation when S.B. 462 was signed into law in Gainsville. Now is not the time to back down from this life or death challenge.
He proceeds then to cite some statistics, including:
* In 2009, 98 of the top 100 prescribers of Oxycontin were based in Florida
* Those prescribers dispensed 19,000,000 units of Oxycontin in 2009, 89% of the total prescribed by the top prescribers.
He reveals his cause for concern by citing that Kentucky leads the nation in non-medical use of prescription medications.
He continues by describing the results of Kentucky's own PDMP:
As we've seen in Kentucky, PDMPs are one of the most effective and accessible tools to combat prescription drug diversion and abuse, bridging the gap between legitimate medical need and potential misuse. The Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting System (KASPER), after which your program is modeled, has had unprecedented success in bringing this problem under control. In 2008, KASPER processed nearly 418,000 requests for patient prescription information. Of the 94% which came from the medical community, including physicians, ER doctors and pharmacists, nearly three-quarters of them say KASPER is "important" in helping to ascertain patient intentions and patterns, and to feel comfortable writing prescriptions for patients truly in need of medical attention. In the same year, just over 11,000 KASPER requests came from the law enforcement community, and 96% of these KASPER users agree that the PDMP is an excellent tool for obtaining evidence in criminal investigations.
According to Rep. Rogers, 33 other states have implemented PDMP's and 10 others, Florida included, have authorized a PDMP but are awaiting implementation.
Rep. Rogers closes with this:
Governor Scott, President Obama's Drug Czar and former Seattle police chief Gil Kerlikowske will tour Kentucky next week to survey the Commonwealth's enormous troubles with prescription drug abuse. I can tell you that he will find that our problems begin in the Sunshine State. I strongly encourage you to see through the implementation of Florida's PDMP and not turn your back on the coalition of Florida police officers, physicians, pharmacists, treatment professionals, and even legitimate pain management clinics who have fought tirelessly in search of a solution.
Before closing, he covers a couple of the "yeah, buts" that are also addressed in reporting by the Herald-Leader's Bill Estep, in his companion piece yesterday: Rogers urges Fla. governor not to cancel drug monitoring system
First "yeah, but" not surprisingly is regarding funding. From Estep's column:
Scott's office told the Herald-Leader in a statement that he is committed to working with his state's attorney general and police to protect public safety.
However, "Governor Scott is not convinced that it is a good use of taxpayer money to spend $1 million to build, and hundreds of thousands more every year to operate, a database that allows the government to track private citizens and their medical prescriptions when the problem truly lies with the criminals who illegally prescribe and obtain prescription drugs," said the statement.
The statement shows that Scott's office does not fully understand how the monitoring system is funded, said Greg Giordano, chief legal assistant to Florida state Sen. Mike Fasano, a Republican who pushed passage of the monitoring-system law.
The law barred use of any state money to set up or operate the program, Giordano said.
A foundation received $800,000 in federal money from the program named for Rogers, and about $500,000 in private donations, to put it in place.
"Yeah, but, but....privacy!"
Which was covered by Rogers in his letter as follows:
Some have wrongly suggested that patient privacy could be compromised and have used this as an unfounded distraction. Every existing PDMP has strict state and federal regulations governing who may access the data system and for what purpose. Florida is no different. Violators of these laws are charged in criminal courts as Class C or Class D felons, and medical practitioners face the loss of their license. In most instances, only medical licensing boards, law enforcement officers, Medicaid, grand juries with a subpoena, practitioners, pharmacists and judges and/or parole officers are granted access to patient information. Many states have even stricter regulations governing access to prescription drug information.
More from Estep's column:
It has become commonplace the last few years for carloads of people from Kentucky, particularly the eastern end of the state, to go to Florida to get prescriptions for pain and anti-anxiety pills such as OxyContin, Percocet and Xanax, then sell or abuse the drugs in Kentucky.
snip
Police said it would be a setback in the fight to cut the pill pipeline coming out of Florida, and Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo said the move was essentially an invitation to people to come to Florida for drugs.
"Who's he protecting, that's the question," Mongiardo said Friday. emphasis mine
I decided to look into the Lisa Rogers story cited in the opening paragraph of Rep. Rogers letter. Here's the story by Meg Laughlin in the St. Petersburg Times
(February 15): Drug monitoring program that Scott rejects works in other states
A Kentucky State Police sergeant noticed a silver Chevy Cavalier weaving on Interstate 75 near Richmond, Ky., last week and pulled it over.
The driver said she was returning home to Kentucky from Florida with her friend, who was asleep in the back seat.
But Lisa Rogers, 42, was dead.
An apparent drug overdose, said state police, who suspect she took a lethal dose of prescription narcotics obtained from pill mills in Florida.
Her daughter thinks so, too. Every month, Rogers got a ride to Tampa and Fort Lauderdale to load up on OxyContin and Xanax for herself and also to sell, said 18-year-old Brooke Frailey. Rogers favored Florida, her daughter said, because of its many pain clinics and because it doesn't have an online monitoring program that alerts doctors and pharmacies to drug-shoppers like Rogers.
"In 2009, we arrested over 500 people from eastern Kentucky who'd gone to Florida to get around our prescription drug database," said Trooper John Hawkins, a spokesman for the Kentucky State Police. "Until there's a monitoring program in Florida, they'll keep coming."
Folks, this is not just a Florida problem. If you're a driver on the I-95 or I-75 corridor or any number of others, you are sharing the road with drivers hopped up on Oxycontin, Percoset, etc going to and from the pill mills Gov. Scott is protecting.
Won't you call him this week?
Gov. Rick Scott
850 / 488-4441
UPDATE #1: from JaxDem in the comments, the problem is metastisizing.
FBI, DEA agents raid two Jacksonville pain clinics
Nearly all of the patients at a North Jacksonville pain clinic raided Thursday were prescribed the same remedy: the highly addictive pain killer oxycodone, the anti-anxiety medicine Xanax and a muscle relaxer called Soma. And the unassuming clinic, tucked away in a West 48th Street strip mall, did a staggering business.
Florida Department of Health records show that 611,000 oxycodone pills were dispensed by Duval Wellness Center in April and May alone.
The targeted businesses are among a growing number of pain management clinics registered in Jacksonville — with the number jumping from less than 50 in March to about 60 today.
“Pill mills” have been largely viewed as a South Florida problem. But as crackdowns and moratoriums on the pain clinics grew more intense in Broward County and nearby towns, many clinic owners opened shop farther north.
Not only is it not just a South Florida problem, it would seem to me to be a Georgia problem as well, being just across the border when addicts are behind the wheel after resupplying.
UPDATE #2: Follow the money. Here's a list of the largest donors to Gov. Scott's inaugural festivities (seems he provided a lot of his own funding for his campaign, as was well-documented here at the time). I've bolded a few who at a casual glance might appear to be in a position to profit from the continuing operation of FLA's pill mills. I'd appreciate any input from more "in-the-know" Floridians who might have further insight:
*Agro-Industrial Management, $25,000.00
*Benny Klepach, $25,000.00
*Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, $25,000.00
*Brewton Plante, P.A., $25,000.00
*Dr. Gary Kompothecras, $25,000.00
*Duty Free Air and Ship, $25,000.00
*Florida Crystals Corporation, $25,000.00
*Florida CUPAC, $25,000.00
*Florida East Coast Industries, Inc., $25,000.00
*Florida Pioneer Investments, $25,000.00
*Francis Rooney, $25,000.00
*Gary Morse, $25,000.00
*Health Management Associates (H.M.A.), $25,000.00
*Intervest Construction, Inc., $25,000.00
*Liberty Partners, $25,000.00
*Morgan & Morgan, $25,000.00
*Ned Lautenbach, $25,000.00
*Preferred Care Partners, $25,000.00
*Richard Corbett, $25,000.00
*Richard Ullman, $25,000.00
*Stifel Nicholaus & Co., $25,000.00
*Sun Corn, Inc.., $25,000.00
*The Villages, $25,000.00
*Thomas Petway, III, $25,000.00
*United Automobile Insurance Co., $25,000.00
*United States Sugar Corporation, $25,000.00
*Wanek Trust of 2000, $25,000.00
*Council for Senior Floridians, $20,000.00
*Wayne Rosen, $20,000.00
*Diageo North America, Inc. (DIAGEO), $15,000.00
*Advanced Innovative Medicine, $10,000.00
*BHS (Palm Beach Credit Adjustor, Inc..), $10,000.00
*Dr. Peter Wish, $10,000.00
*FCCI Services, Inc., $10,000.00
*Fowler White Boggs, PA, $10,000.00
*Alfred and Beverly Austin, $5,000.00
*Broad and Cassel Attorneys At Law, $5,000.00
*Consensus Communication, Inc., $5,000.00
*Evelyn Treworgy, $5,000.00
*Marchena and Graham, PA, $5,000.00
*Palm Beach Kennel Club, $5,000.00
*Richard Beard, $5,000.00
*Rober Saltsman REV Trust, $5,000.00
*Sun Healthcare, $5,000.00
*Thomas and Peggy Chandler, $5,000.00
Source link (as of Nov 29, 2010)
UPDATE #3:
Thanks for the recs, folks. Appreciate your help in turning over the rock and shining light on this subject. I do feel compelled after reviewing and responding to comments to give credit to dvogle001's objection that this diary and the movement toward PDMPs at the state level may be having unintended consequences:
when used as directed it is a safe and effective blocker of pain...I used them briefly before I had corrective surgery on my neck....Oxycotin literally saved my life and sanity for 7 days awaiting surgery...
Please know that in no way, shape or form am I deriding legitimate uses of pharmaceuticals in the context of an established doctor/patient relationship.
UPDATE #4: Thanks for getting this on the Rec List folks. My first time. Obligatory "I'm honored" (I am). Huge tip of my hat to Lisa and Karelin in the comments for reminding my of a powerful (Peabody Award-winning) feature on this subject on CurrentTV: The OxyContin Express