Bush on offensive against drugs
Governor wants new law to identify addicts
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The state needs to do more to fight prescription drug abuse and should pass a law that would help doctors and pharmacists identify addicts, Gov. Jeb Bush said Thursday.
Bush said he would support a law that creates a database so doctors and pharmacists could see if patients already have had drugs prescribed and filled elsewhere. Bills sponsored by Rep. Gayle Harrell and Sen. Mike Fasano that would have created the database died during the legislative session that ended May 2.
"This bill would tell pharmacists when similar prescriptions are being filled at multiple locations by the same person. It would alert doctors when their patients have obtained simultaneous prescriptions from other doctors," Bush said during the state's annual drug summit.
He said he plans to talk with Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie, and Fasano, R-New Port Richey, about reviving the legislation.
"It will stop doctor shopping; it will stop pharmacy shopping. It will make it increasingly harder for people to imperil their own lives," Bush said.
Bush has personal experience with the problem of prescription drug abuse. His daughter, Noelle, is undergoing treatment after being arrested in January 2002 and charged with using a fraudulent prescription to try to obtain the anti-anxiety drug Xanax
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