Health News
- Beshear Oks Prescription Bill, Telling Pill Mills, 'get Out Of This State'
Saying it couldn't get to his desk quickly enough, Gov. Steve Beshear signed a bill aimed at curbing prescription drug abuse in celebration today, warning so-called pill mills to "Get out of this state, because we're coming after you." House Bill...
- In Bipartisan Way, Political Leaders Push Passage Of 'pill Mill' Bill
A bipartisan group of political leaders issued a call today "to pass a bill that will help the state battle one of its most significant threats ? prescription drug abuse," a press release from Gov. Steve Beshear's office said. Beshear, Attorney General...
- Senate Panel Oks Pill-mill Bill With Provision Moving Prescription-monitoring System To Attorney General's Office
Over the objections of the Kentucky Medical Association, a Senate committee today approved a bill that would "transfer oversight of the state?s prescription-monitoring system from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to the attorney general?s office,"...
- Legislation To Fight Pill Mills Will Need To Strike Balance Between Law Enforcement And Medicine, Panelists On Tv Show Make Clear
By Tara Kaprowy Kentucky Health News The legislation meant to crack down on so-called "pill mills" will turn on striking a balance between thwarting prescription drug abuse and making sure doctors and patients don't feel their hands are tied, it became...
- Broad Front Of Officials, Health-care Leaders Hold Press Conference To Promote Fighting Rx Drug Abuse
Representing a united front, policymakers from both sides of the political aisle, law enforcement, medical officials and other leaders stood by Gov. Steve Beshear Monday in support of attacking the state's prescription drug abuse problem head-on with...
Health News
Lawmakers hear testimony about state's pill mill problem, discuss whether to put all prescription-drug issues into one bill
With a raid on a pain clinic in Paintsville making headlines yesterday morning, state legislators heard from community leaders and officials telling them to pass legislation to curb the proliferation of pill mills.
Lois Windhorst, best known as a leader of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, told the Senate Judiciary Committee about a family member she lost to prescription-drug abuse. "It just progressively got worse," she said. "She carried a big bag of pills with her wherever she went."
On the legislative agenda is Senate Bill 42, which "would require licenses for pain management clinics and doctors to own them," notes Greg Hall of The Courier-Journal. There are 77 pain clinics in the state, 33 of which are owned by people who have no medical background.
No vote was taken on the bill. Its sponsor, Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, said he will revise it based on yesterday's testimony.
Sen. Ray Jones, D-Pikeville, argued for a more all-inclusive bill, which would include the premise of Higdon's bill; ban cash payment at clinics, as proposed in House Bill 251; and require doctors and pharmacists to use the state's electronic drug monitoring system known as KASPER, a bill that Attorney General Jack Conway and others are expected to push once it is filed.
Jones "also said filling prescriptions from out of state should be required to check with registries in those states to guard against duplicate prescriptions," Hall reports.
Committee Chairman Tom Jensen, R-London, said there is much support to deal with the issue of prescription-drug abuse in this legislative session. Nearly 1,000 Kentuckians die each year due to prescription drug overdoses. (Read more)
- Beshear Oks Prescription Bill, Telling Pill Mills, 'get Out Of This State'
Saying it couldn't get to his desk quickly enough, Gov. Steve Beshear signed a bill aimed at curbing prescription drug abuse in celebration today, warning so-called pill mills to "Get out of this state, because we're coming after you." House Bill...
- In Bipartisan Way, Political Leaders Push Passage Of 'pill Mill' Bill
A bipartisan group of political leaders issued a call today "to pass a bill that will help the state battle one of its most significant threats ? prescription drug abuse," a press release from Gov. Steve Beshear's office said. Beshear, Attorney General...
- Senate Panel Oks Pill-mill Bill With Provision Moving Prescription-monitoring System To Attorney General's Office
Over the objections of the Kentucky Medical Association, a Senate committee today approved a bill that would "transfer oversight of the state?s prescription-monitoring system from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to the attorney general?s office,"...
- Legislation To Fight Pill Mills Will Need To Strike Balance Between Law Enforcement And Medicine, Panelists On Tv Show Make Clear
By Tara Kaprowy Kentucky Health News The legislation meant to crack down on so-called "pill mills" will turn on striking a balance between thwarting prescription drug abuse and making sure doctors and patients don't feel their hands are tied, it became...
- Broad Front Of Officials, Health-care Leaders Hold Press Conference To Promote Fighting Rx Drug Abuse
Representing a united front, policymakers from both sides of the political aisle, law enforcement, medical officials and other leaders stood by Gov. Steve Beshear Monday in support of attacking the state's prescription drug abuse problem head-on with...