Pennsylvania considers database to monitor prescription drug abuse

The rise in deaths caused by prescription drug overdoses has led some law makers in the American state of Pennsylvania to consider new legislation to allow a state database to monitor all cases of drug abuse.

Attorney general Kathleen G Kane believes that monitoring legislation is key to reducing illegal drug use and that the abuse of prescription drugs often leads to the abuse of class A drugs such as heroin.

“We have a heroin problem,” Ms Kane said. “We also have a prescription pill problem.”

Lawmakers approved a prescription drug monitoring bill in October 2013. The bill was sponsored by Republican Matt Baker, chairman of the House Health Committee.

The bill will be considered later this month. The ultimate goal is to create a database that lists everybody who is receiving prescriptions of controlled substances, their doctor and pharmacist, their dosage, and how they are paying for the medication.

The information will be kept confidential, with only doctors, pharmacists, coroners investigating a cause of death and certain state agencies involved in oversight or licensing investigations being able to view the information on record.

As long as all parties update the database, especially the pharmacists who are selling the drugs, doctors will be alerted when usage patterns change, which could indicate a problem.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Pennsylvania is very critical of the bill and believes it to be a violation of privacy and open to abuse. The bill allows the police force to view the data without court permission. The current proposal is to keep all data for a six-year period; however, Andy Hoover, ACLU legislative director, says this is far too long.

Prescription drug abuse is certainly a problem, but should everybody have to have their prescription and usage details stored outside the health service? Can the perceived loss of privacy be justified if it helps to save lives?