It’s becoming harder and harder to talk about drugs and substance abuse without talking about painkiller addiction. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has declared prescription drug abuse — which includes opiate painkillers — to be the fastest-growing drug problem nation-wide. In 7 states, opiates are currently the primary reason addicts seek drug center treatment. It’s the #2 reason for many other states.
PDMDs: Tracking Painkiller Addiction?
Painkillers have been around for decades, and painkiller addiction has grown every year they’ve been available. This created a dilemma for the medical and pharmaceutical industries. On the one hand, they could not ignore how fast addiction had spread. Millions of new addicts were created from painkillers, and others were able to feed their addiction through these pills. At the same time, there are those who are able to use opiates safely and responsibly: taking no more than the prescribed dosage at no more than the prescribed frequency.
Prescription Drug Monitoring Databases (PDMDs)
The resolution to this dilemma has ben prescription drug monitoring databases, or PDMDs. These systems have been implemented on a statewide basis. By tracking what prescriptions are filled and how often they’re filled, they effectively track painkiller addiction. They’ve been extremely effective in catching drug abusers and getting them drug center treatment. However, they haven’t been uncontroversial. Here is a list of the pros and cons that have been debated.
Pros
- Reducing over-prescribing and doctor-shopping
- Reduce fraud
- Better quality of care
- Tracking geographic trends
Cons
- Concern that physicians who legitimately prescribe large amounts of painkillers will be targeted
- Potential to falsely identify patients as addicts
- Privacy
- May lead to inadequate prescribing
State-Specific Developments
Because PDMDs are implemented at the state level, states have the option of not implementing them. This has led to very state-specific developments in the spread of painkiller addiction. Certain states have seen a huge increase in shady “pill mills” that prescribe painkillers with little or no medical consultation.
Florida
Until recently, Florida was considered the epicenter of painkiller addiction. FL’s lack of a prescription database led to a marked increase in pill mills, prescription fraud, and more addicts than Florida drug rehabs could handle. By 2010, an average of 7 people per day in Florida were dying from drug overdoses, largely from painkillers such as morphine, oxycodone, and codeine.
When the state assembly passed a bill that introduced a PDMD, things quickly changed. Whereas in 2010, Florida had 900+ pills mills and 98% of the nation’s top painkiller-prescribing doctors, this year pill mills shrank to 367 and FL has none of the top painkiller-prescribing doctors. Obviously, much work remains to be done. However, these developments have allowed opiate addiction to fade and Florida drug rehabs now offer hope to millions of addicts nationwide.
Missouri
If top painkiller doctors have disappeared from Florida, then where are they now? The answer is: Missouri. MS remains the one and only state in the country without a PDMD, and this is why it’s being described as “the new Florida”. The lack of any PDMD has not only fed addiction in Missouri, but also neighboring states whose addicts travel miles to get pills in Missouri. Without any institution to track painkiller addiction, it cannot be stopped in its tracks. Addicts will never be caught and offered treatment solutions that can help them recover.