State Representative Tom Raga introduced a bill last week that would create a statewide prescription tracking database intended to stop the rise of prescription drug abuse and “doctor shopping,” in which patients go to multiple doctors for several prescriptions.
Under the proposed bill physicians and pharmacists could check their patients” past drug purchases on the database before prescribing or filling new medications, and they could also add information to help police track suspicious patterns.
Raga said police already have the right to check a patient’s prescription records at individual pharmacies so a patient taking prescription drugs legally would not have their privacy violated. The database is intended to organize the information and make it available to investigators throughout the state but could only be used under an “ongoing, approved investigation.”
Cost estimates are $1 million in the first year with a $180,000 federal grant to help launch the program.
A similar drug-tracking database in Kentucky has caused people from that state to try and obtain the large amounts of drugs they could no longer get there from Ohio.