Drug Monitoring Program

While the war on do drugss has seemingly gotten better, there is a certain type of drug that is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of and control. Most race would have never thought that pharmaceutical drugs would be the cause of more deaths in the claim of Florida than heroin and cocaine related deaths combined in 2007. Nearly 550 of those death happened in the Tampa Bay atomic number 18a, leading this to becoming one of the biggest drug roast crisis in quite some time.A drug monitoring program would be such(prenominal) a program that keeps track of the dispensing of pharmaceuticals, mainly controlled substances, that would potenti each(prenominal)y hinder distribution of street drugs, put a halt to doctor shopping, put doctors that write fake scripts under the radar, hopefully reduce the amount of people that become dependent upon narcotics and diminish the number of people of overdosing on these lethal prescription drugs.A bailiwick was conducted by an independen t contractor to assess the attainment of drug monitoring programs. The research showed that in states where a drug program was in place the supply of illegally obtained pharmaceuticals and the likelihood of abuse was significantly reduced. The study also showed that if justice enforcement, rather than health oriented officials, were the ones to monitor the information there was a greater chance of success in reducing pharmaceutical abuse.Florida is currently one of the but states that does not have a drug monitoring program in place. For years, lawmakers in Florida have turned down such programs saying cost and privacy as their main concerns. Even the federal government has offered the state money, many states have already bought in however, Florida has not. Some lawmakers state programs are besides expensive and worry about placing private patient information in the hands of the government (Tisch, & VanSickle, 2008). Thirty four other states, however, do have programs in place. Surrounding states such as Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas all have drug monitoring programs. Kentuckys KASPER program started in 1999 as a fax-based system and in 2005 was converted to the first self-service, Web-based system of its kind. It tracks all schedule II-IV controlled substance prescriptions dispensed by licensed pharmacists within the commonwealth and helps medical practitioners physicians, pharmacists and law enforcement fight doctor shopping.A KASPER report shows all scheduled prescriptions for an individual over a specified time period, the prescriber and the dispenser (KASPER grant release, 2008). Additionally, Indianas INSPECT program charter licensed pharmacies in Indiana are required to report dispension of schedule II controlled substances. In early 2004, grant funding through the Harold Rogers grant program, helped bring on INSPECT in its current form. Additional funding for the programs is provided by the sta te itself and all data collection and maintenance are handled in-house, meaning information is only accessible to registered users and through a secure Web site connection that is run by program staff.With the death toll rising, along with the number of those addicted, it would be impossible for me as a member of the health care community to deny the obvious need for a drug monitoring program in Florida. Before reading the plethora of articles available on the subject, I knew there was a problem I suppose I just wasnt aware of how frightful it really was. I am shocked it has gotten to the point it has without intervention and to be honest a bit embarrassed of the burden we have become to surround states.I dont have experience dealing with pharmaceutical abuse in my nursing practice as of yet. I do, unfortunately, have experience dealing with the all too commonly abused oxycodone in interpersonal relationships. I have seen the damage it can do to people firsthand. The way it can slo wly distract someone you love, replacing them with someone you dont know at all. These drugs can have incredible therapeutic benefits if used in the context intended, but are too often used for reasons far beyond detrimental.I truly hope the information I have learned doesnt ever make me doubt anyone who says they are in pain, but I cant see how it wont. I will not, however, deny anyone in my care pain relief if they say they need it.