Health News
- House Panel Approves Bill Easing Rules Of 2012's Pill-mill Bill
They could call it the pill they're taking to fix the pill-mill bill. A state House committee approved a bill Tuesday that would tweak last year's legislation aimed at cracking down on prescription drug abuse through doctor shopping and "pill...
- State Officials Appear To Be Overstating Successes Of New Prescription-drug Law, The Courier-journal Reports
There's new criticism from Kentucky's doctors in an analysis of the state's four-month old prescription drug law, showing that a lot of what state officials have touted as the law's successes were already in the works before the law went...
- Doctor Complaints About Bill Aimed At Reducing Prescription Drug Abuse Largely Based On Misconceptions, Health Officials Say
State health officials say doctors' complaints about House Bill 1, which cracks down on pill mills and doctors who supply the illegal prescription pill trade, result from misunderstandings and misconceptions about the law's language...
- In Wake Of Pill-mill Regulation Fight, Beshear Has Chance To Craft A Medical Licensing Board More To His Liking
Gov. Steve BeshearGov. Steve Beshear is in a position to reshape a state medical board that has played a central and controversial role in recent efforts to crack down on prescription drug abuse. Mike Wynn of The Courier-Journal reports that the...
- Some Doctors Find Law To Fight Pill Mills Confusing And Overreaching, And Some Say They Will Stop Writing Prescriptions
Dr. Kathy Nieder, with patient charts (C-J photo by Michael Clevenger)Dr. Ralph Alvarado?s medical practice in Winchester has prescribed controlled substances to 1,800 patients in Central Kentucky over the past three years. But he and other doctors...
Health News
Legislature sends fix of last year's pill-mill bill to Beshear
"After more than a year of debate, a bill that would revamp Kentucky?s prescription-drug law to more strictly focus on pill abuse and ease requirements on patients is heading to the governor?s desk," Mike Wynn reports for The Courier-Journal. On a 36-0 vote, the Senate sent House Bill 217 to Gov. Steve Beshear, who said he will sign it tomorrow.
The chief lobbyist for the Kentucky Medical Association said the physicians' group did not get all the changes it requested in last year's law but is satisfied with the bill. It "would exempt hospitals and long-term care facilities from many of the requirements that doctors must follow before prescribing drugs," Wynn writes. "It also creates a 14-day exemption for surgery patients and gives doctors more discretion in examining patients before a prescription is given." (Read more)
The chief lobbyist for the Kentucky Medical Association said the physicians' group did not get all the changes it requested in last year's law but is satisfied with the bill. It "would exempt hospitals and long-term care facilities from many of the requirements that doctors must follow before prescribing drugs," Wynn writes. "It also creates a 14-day exemption for surgery patients and gives doctors more discretion in examining patients before a prescription is given." (Read more)
- House Panel Approves Bill Easing Rules Of 2012's Pill-mill Bill
They could call it the pill they're taking to fix the pill-mill bill. A state House committee approved a bill Tuesday that would tweak last year's legislation aimed at cracking down on prescription drug abuse through doctor shopping and "pill...
- State Officials Appear To Be Overstating Successes Of New Prescription-drug Law, The Courier-journal Reports
There's new criticism from Kentucky's doctors in an analysis of the state's four-month old prescription drug law, showing that a lot of what state officials have touted as the law's successes were already in the works before the law went...
- Doctor Complaints About Bill Aimed At Reducing Prescription Drug Abuse Largely Based On Misconceptions, Health Officials Say
State health officials say doctors' complaints about House Bill 1, which cracks down on pill mills and doctors who supply the illegal prescription pill trade, result from misunderstandings and misconceptions about the law's language...
- In Wake Of Pill-mill Regulation Fight, Beshear Has Chance To Craft A Medical Licensing Board More To His Liking
Gov. Steve BeshearGov. Steve Beshear is in a position to reshape a state medical board that has played a central and controversial role in recent efforts to crack down on prescription drug abuse. Mike Wynn of The Courier-Journal reports that the...
- Some Doctors Find Law To Fight Pill Mills Confusing And Overreaching, And Some Say They Will Stop Writing Prescriptions
Dr. Kathy Nieder, with patient charts (C-J photo by Michael Clevenger)Dr. Ralph Alvarado?s medical practice in Winchester has prescribed controlled substances to 1,800 patients in Central Kentucky over the past three years. But he and other doctors...