“Novus Medical Detox clinical director Steve Hayes discusses prescription drug addiction with Tampa Bay’s Fox News 13 medical reporter Dr. Joette Giovinvo.”Addictions and deaths from controlled prescription drugs are soaring, and Florida legislators are being pressed to sit up and pay attention.
Since 2002, nearly 40 states have taken advantage of an annual federal grant program to assist the establishment of, or enhance existing, state-level prescription drug monitoring programs, and most remaining states are planning such programs.
A few, notably Florida, have repeatedly failed to pass legislation establishing prescription drug monitoring. Legislators cite privacy concerns, saying their constituents are worried that their private patient information could somehow be compromised. Others worry a drug monitoring registry might keep meds from patients who need them. Yet to date, there’s been no credible evidence for such concerns.
Prescription drug monitoring programs track doctors’ prescriptions by licensed pharmacists, recording the identity of patients, drugs, physicians, dates and a few other details. Information is accessible only to pharmacists, doctors, and some regulatory agencies. It is designed to be shared by participating states and the feds. The program has already proven helpful in reducing “doctor shopping”, one of the most significant factors enabling prescription drug abuse across the country.
Recently, Tampa Bay’s FOX 13 News carried an item describing the situation in Florida, where narcotic painkillers are killing record numbers of citizens every year. Deaths from drugs like oxycodone and fentanyl have more than tripled in the state since 1998, Fox News said. You can watch the news video here.
The station’s Dr. Joette Giovinco, popularly called “Dr. Jo” by viewers, focused on the plight of Brent Brown, a Florida realtor who became dependent on Xanax, prescribed for ‘restless leg syndrome’ and trouble sleeping. As his drug tolerance went up, more drugs from more doctors left him wired on at least four different medications. The years-long nightmare finally ended after a brief stay at Novus Medical Detox in Pasco County, Florida, where easing patients through drug or alcohol withdrawal is accomplished using state-of-the-art medical protocols.
Dr. Jo visited Novus, where clinical director Steve Hayes confirmed the rising death toll across the country from methadone, oxycodone, OxyContin, fentanyl and other prescription narcotics, what he says are basically “legal heroin.”
“A lot of our patients that come in here talk about how easy it is to go out and get these drugs,” Hayes told Dr. Jo, alluding to the widespread practice of doctor-shopping by addicts, and also the fact that far too many doctors are too quick to prescribe narcotics.
Hayes described the benefits of a computerized registry that allows doctors to see if a patient has already received a prescription for narcotics somewhere else, and when.
Although Florida’s legislation has been repeatedly voted down, albeit by narrow margins, a county pilot program is underway and looks promising. There is hope among many lawmakers now that when the bill is reintroduced in May, it will finally receive approval. If so, it could take effect as early as July this year.
Because of his successful recovery at Novus Medical Detox, Brent Brown has been completely drug free for over a year, said Fox News, is back at work, and is helping others become free from prescription drug addiction.