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Posted: 11:21 PM Mar 3, 2010
Lawmakers Target Prescription Drug Abuse with Paper
Lawmakers are trying to battle the prescription drug abuse problem by making it harder for people to pass phony prescriptions.
Reporter: Kallie Cart Email Address: kallie.cart@wsaz.com |
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17 Comments 
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Lawmakers are trying to battle the prescription drug abuse problem by making it harder for people to pass phony prescriptions.
A bill passed the Senate Wednesday which would require all doctors to use a tamper resistant paper to write prescriptions.
"Literally copy paper is what a prescription can be written on, something that can come out of any body's copier," Sen. Evan Jenkins, D-Cabell, says. "A prescription can be copied on other paper, so it's easy for fraud and it's easy to be tampered with."
Jenkins sponsored the bill. He says people have been known to steal prescription pads or alter prescriptions. For instance, a person could change a doctor's number 10 to 100 by adding a zero.
The tamper proof prescription pads would have watermarks, making them impossible to copy. Some types of the tamper proof paper are hard to write on, making a prescription hard to forge.
The bill calls on the Board of Pharmacy to come up with a uniform tamper resistant prescription pad. The plan would then be approved by the Legislature and would go into effect by July 2011.
Medicaid already requires the tamper proof prescription paper.
"It's always a concern and there's a lot of steps you take as a pharmacist to confirm that its a legitimate prescription," Erica Hutton, a pharmacist at Trivillian's Pharmacy in Charleston, says. "Immediately when you see that (tamper proof) prescription pad, when you see one of those prescriptions, you know this is a legitimate prescription from an office."
Jenkins also says the plan will save money.
"In the first six months of this program in New York, they were able to document $68 million of savings just in their state Medicaid program," he says.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously on Wednesday. It now heads to the House of Delegates. The Senate also has passed four other bills relating to prescription drug abuse.
Latest Comments
People shouldn't try to pass fake prescriptions, that is wrong and illegal. This is crazy. There are always people complaining about pain doctors and pain meds. Yea, I agree some people don't need them and get them. I am not that old, only 26. I had a severe car accident when I was 19. I actually hurt most of the time and have to have prescrition medicine. How can someone complain about a doctor for writing prescritptions to people who may need or not need them? I believe some person(s) don't realize that they are making it severely; almost impossible for the people who ACTUALLY need them to get the pain relief they need! So, the next time someone complains about a person that may get a mild painkiller like hydrocodone; (NOT OXYCONTIN), that don't need it, think about the person that does need it. And by no means am I talking about OXYCONTIN, I (DO NOT) take or try to get oxy whatsoever. Just something mild like hydrocodone, enough to give reasonable pain relief.
I want to know why, everytime I post a comment, it never gets published! No curse words, racism, ethnics, or anything to offend anyone. Just my opinion on the subject, thats it. It's just not right!
I agree with Laura. My doctor uses electronic scripts. And so does my child's pediatrician.
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