By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Little time is left for Missouri lawmakers to approve a prescription drug monitoring program.
And, it seems unlikely they will.
State Rep. Sheila Solon of St. Joseph says Missouri is the only state which doesn’t monitor the prescribing of Schedule II and Schedule IV controlled substances and she says joining the other states would help Missouri combat its opioid addiction crisis.
“That’s something that we need to get passed for our state and especially for northwest Missouri,” Solon tells St. Joseph Post. “I know law enforcement has told me this will be a tool that they need to stop the selling of these narcotics and also stop folks from doctor shopping and actually coming in from out of state to buy them.”
House Bill 188, known as the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, has stalled in the Senate with little belief that it will even make its way to the floor for debate. The measure would authorize state health officials to establish a state Narcotics Control Program to monitor the prescribing of powerful pain relief medication.
Solon says area law enforcement tells her it is needed.
“Sheriffs in both Andrew and in Buchanan Counties have told me that this is really important. We do have an opioid crisis, not just in our state, but particularly in our area,” according to Solon. “It destroys people’s lives. Sometimes folks get on it innocently, to manage pain when they’ve had an operation and they get hooked on it. So, this is a bill that we need so we can monitor the folks who are abusing opioids and, hopefully, get them the help they need and also stop the doctor shopping and the selling of these medications by dealers.”
It breezed to passage in the Missouri House early in this legislative session on a 103-53 vote. Opponents in the Senate argue it is an invasion of patient privacy that has proven ineffective in fighting the opioid crisis in other states. They also contend it could lead to the release of private health information.
HB 188 sponsor, Re. Holly Rehder of Scott City, basically conceded the legislation was dead in an open letter released to her colleagues this week.