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Missouri Senate passes bill for prescription drug tracking

State Senator Rob Schaaf (R). Photo courtesy Missourinet.
State Senator Rob Schaaf (R). Photo courtesy Missourinet.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Senate has passed a bill to create a statewide prescription drug tracking program.

Senators voted 20-13 Thursday in favor of creating a database to track when prescriptions for controlled substances are written and filled. The goal is to prevent so-called doctor shopping, when people go to multiple doctors to get prescriptions for opioid drugs and painkillers.

Missouri is the only state without a drug monitoring program.

The bill now moving to the House was proposed by a longtime critic of such programs. Republican Sen. Rob Schaaf says his version has protections to address privacy concerns.

The version passed by the Senate could cost more than $6.5 million in fiscal year 2018. Schaaf says he’s working on changes to make it less expensive.

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