Kentucky Lexington Herald: Losing War On Drug Abuse.
Losing war on drug abuse
Ten years ago when Kentucky created a system to track prescriptions of potentially dangerous and addictive drugs, there was a burst of hope that the state was on a path toward reducing the scourge of prescription drug abuse.
But the dreary decade since has dashed much of that hope, as the most recent report on crime in Kentucky confirms.
According to the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics in the Commonwealth, the rate of prescriptions for controlled substances (often narcotic pain medication) increased in all but two Kentucky counties between 2005 and 2007.
To join KASPER
Physicians or other health care professionals who have licenses to prescribe controlled substances can get information about creating a KASPER account at //chfs.ky.gov/os/oig/kasper.htm or by calling 502-564-7985.
Five counties — Clinton, Magoffin, Whitley, Bell and Owsley — averaged more than four prescriptions per resident for these drugs.
During this same period, drug arrests increased almost 30 percent and the state prison population continued its rapid, and expensive, growth.
Remarkably, despite all this, medical professionals have been slow to sign on to KASPER, the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting System, that can tell them if their patients are visiting different doctors to get multiple prescriptions for often-abused drugs.
Only about 26 percent of Kentucky's 14,000 medical professionals licensed to prescribe controlled substances have KASPER accounts, although they cost nothing, said Van Ingram, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy.
In addition to physicians, those who can be licensed to prescribe controlled substances are dentists, veterinarians and nurse practitioners.
Law officers can also have access to KASPER to inform active investigations of both patients and prescribers who are suspected of gaming the system for profit or to satisfy an addiction.
While many patients need narcotics to control pain, others "doctor shop" to get multiple prescriptions to feed and pay for addictions.
"We're seeing a lot of it right back on the street," said Bruce Bennett, sheriff in Bell County where prescriptions of controlled substances jumped 16 percent.
There are many, many reasons for Kentucky's raging prescription drug problem, ranging from a lack of economic opportunity to public corruption to a get-tough-on-drugs mentality that has favored high-profile drug busts over treatment.
KASPER won't address most of those issues.
But it is a part of the solution, as well as a way for prescribers to provide better patient care and catch substance abuse at an earlier stage.
Kentucky's medical community and the state agencies charged with drug policy should act quickly to get more prescribers with the program.
Ten years ago when Kentucky created a system to track prescriptions of potentially dangerous and addictive drugs, there was a burst of hope that the state was on a path toward reducing the scourge of prescription drug abuse.
But the dreary decade since has dashed much of that hope, as the most recent report on crime in Kentucky confirms.
According to the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics in the Commonwealth, the rate of prescriptions for controlled substances (often narcotic pain medication) increased in all but two Kentucky counties between 2005 and 2007.
To join KASPER
Physicians or other health care professionals who have licenses to prescribe controlled substances can get information about creating a KASPER account at //chfs.ky.gov/os/oig/kasper.htm or by calling 502-564-7985.
Five counties — Clinton, Magoffin, Whitley, Bell and Owsley — averaged more than four prescriptions per resident for these drugs.
During this same period, drug arrests increased almost 30 percent and the state prison population continued its rapid, and expensive, growth.
Remarkably, despite all this, medical professionals have been slow to sign on to KASPER, the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting System, that can tell them if their patients are visiting different doctors to get multiple prescriptions for often-abused drugs.
Only about 26 percent of Kentucky's 14,000 medical professionals licensed to prescribe controlled substances have KASPER accounts, although they cost nothing, said Van Ingram, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy.
In addition to physicians, those who can be licensed to prescribe controlled substances are dentists, veterinarians and nurse practitioners.
Law officers can also have access to KASPER to inform active investigations of both patients and prescribers who are suspected of gaming the system for profit or to satisfy an addiction.
While many patients need narcotics to control pain, others "doctor shop" to get multiple prescriptions to feed and pay for addictions.
"We're seeing a lot of it right back on the street," said Bruce Bennett, sheriff in Bell County where prescriptions of controlled substances jumped 16 percent.
There are many, many reasons for Kentucky's raging prescription drug problem, ranging from a lack of economic opportunity to public corruption to a get-tough-on-drugs mentality that has favored high-profile drug busts over treatment.
KASPER won't address most of those issues.
But it is a part of the solution, as well as a way for prescribers to provide better patient care and catch substance abuse at an earlier stage.
Kentucky's medical community and the state agencies charged with drug policy should act quickly to get more prescribers with the program.
Labels: General information
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 4:56 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home