Sheriff Kimmy Rogers reviews one of the many file folders containing information on the growing prescription drug problem being fought in Adams County.
Prescription for disaster Putting brakes on addiction: a call to action
Editor's Note: This is the fifth of a series designed to explore in-depth this growing problem. In future editions, The People's Defender will be taking a closer look at the abuse how to curb the problem and where to turn to for help.
In our series about prescription drug abuse, the Defender has taken a hard look at the problem. Now its time to reach the top of the mountain, so to speak, and take a look at the other side, the efforts being made to put brakes on the abuse. Also, we would like to share resources that we've collected while researching these stories.
First of all, prescription drug abuse is not new, according Bill Winsley Ohio Pharmacy Board Director of Pharmacy. It happened in the 50s, the 60s, the 70s and every decade leading to the 21st century.
"Drug problems have been with us for a long, long time," Winsley said in October during a call to action conference in Scioto County on the epidemic of prescription drug poisonings. "Some of us lost some of our hair butting our heads against the wall trying to convince everybody else that there was a problem with prescription drugs. Our particular problem was convincing law enforcement, prosecutors and judges that there was a problem with prescription drugs. They all wanted to do the heroine, the LSD, the cocaine. They didn't want to be bothered with prescription drugs - and here we are today.
"This problem has been with us for a long time, and it's going to be with us for a long time until we do something about it," Winsley said.
The Pharmacy Board is a licensing, administrative agency that licenses pharmacists, pharmacies and any place where there are prescription drugs, including hospitals, prisons and EMS squads. What is unique about the agency is that they are the only state agency in Ohio with state-wide drug law enforcement.
"We pick on everybody when it comes to drug law violations," said Winsley. The board investigates pharmacists, pharmacies, doctors, nurses, dentists, veterinarians and the general public who are violating the drug laws in the state of Ohio.
"In order to do that effectively, we have to have good cooperation with local law enforcement, local prosecutors and local judges. Absent that cooperation, we can do nothing."
Winsley gave the following statistics from 2001-08 of criminal arrests resulting from the board's investigations: pharmacists, 143; pharmacy technicians, 143; pharmacy interns, 7; registered nurses, 291; licensed practical nurses, 188; physicians, 49; physician assistants, 1; dentists, 7; certified RN anesthetists, 5; medical assistants, 10; police officers, 4; and one each of veterinary technicians, EMT basic, and paramedics.
The Board of Pharmacy also administers the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System, by collecting, analyzing and distributing prescription data. Ohio pharmacies are required to report prescriptions of all controlled substances, plus carisoprodol and tramadol. Although those records are not submissible as evidence in court, they are valuable as an aid in prescription drug abuse investigations, including investigations by local law enforcement agencies.
A similar reporting system exists in Kentucky. Also in Kentucky, Carter County has passed an ordinance banning the operation of pain clinics. The purpose is to prevent the wholesale distribution of prescription pain medication by individuals other than duly accredited medical doctors and their legitimate business organizations. The ordinance defines a pain clinic as a business engaging in the distribution of narcotic pain medication which:
• is not affiliated with a hospital doing business within a 100 mile radius;
• is a business that generates more than 50 percent of its revenue from meeting with patients and prescribing narcotic pain medication for them;
• and is a business that appears to have a disproportionate amount of patients receiving pain medication, as opposed to receiving other medical services.
Any pain clinic doing business in Carter County is considered a public nuisance and subject to closure. Operation of any such pain clinic is a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a $500 fine for each day in operation.
In Ohio, the Ohio Department of Health, Violence and Injury Prevention Program has created the Poison Action Group. The group was created because of the rapid and alarming increase in drug overdose deaths. One of its plans is to conduct pilot prevention programs in high risk areas.
Some of the action steps the group has identified as potential state and/or policy actions to address prescription drug abuse are:
• develop/promote more specific medical guidelines for pain management;
• expand OARRS;
• initiate Medicaid-based programs (screening for high-abuse patients);
• promote E-prescribing to reduce or eliminate the need for paper prescriptions handled by the patient;
• implement policies and/or laws to require proper disposal of prescription drugs by health care providers and the public;
• initiate interstate prescription data sharing;
• require testing/reporting of prescription drug content in the water supply.
In July, PAG conducted a state-wide symposium, which included a presentation of strategies for policy and program initiatives. PAG conducted the Scioto County call to action conference and planned conferences in Montgomery and Ross counties. Adams County Sheriff Kimmy Rogers attended the Scioto County conference, along with pastors Phil Fulton and Ron Baker of Adams County Reformer's Unanimous.
For more information, or to report prescription drug abuse, Sheriff Rogers may be contacted at (937) 544-2391. For information about RU and addiction, please call pastors Phil Fulton at (937) 587-1797; Ron Baker at (937) 544-4110; or Gary Howell at (937) 544-4628.
