HCS HB 1619 -- DRUG MONITORING ACT

SPONSOR:  Bruns (Jones, 117)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Crime
Prevention and Public Safety by a vote of 10 to 0.

This substitute establishes the Drug Monitoring Act in the
Department of Health and Senior Services and changes the laws
regarding drugs and controlled substances.  In its main
provisions, the substitute:

(1)  Revises the current list of controlled substances;

(2)  Requires the department to develop a program, subject to
appropriations, to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of all
Schedule II through Schedule V controlled substances by all
licensed professionals who prescribe or dispense these substances
in Missouri;

(3)  Requires the dispenser to electronically submit to the
department information for each prescription and specifies the
frequency of the submissions;

(4)  Allows the department to issue a waiver to a dispenser who
is unable to submit the required information electronically.  If
a waiver is obtained, a dispenser can submit the required
information in paper format or by other approved means;

(5)  Requires all submitted prescription information to be
confidential.  Exceptions to this requirement include violations
of the law or breaches of professional standards which result in
an investigation and the submission or the release of
prescription information to authorized persons;

(6)  Authorizes the release of non-personal, general information
for statistical, educational, or research purposes;

(7)  Authorizes the department to contract with other state
agencies or private vendors to implement the provisions of the
substitute and requires the department to develop an educational
course, when appropriate, to work with associations for impaired
professionals to ensure the intervention, treatment, and ongoing
monitoring of patients who have been identified as addicted to
substances monitored by the substitute; and

(8)  Requires a person selling pseudoephedrine products to keep
an electronic log of each transaction and specifies what
information must be recorded in the transaction log.

The provisions of the substitute regarding the Drug Monitoring
Act will expire six years from the effective date.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of
$1,140,315 in FY 2009, $692,636 in FY 2010, and $699,042 in
FY 2011.  No impact on Other State Funds in FY 2009, FY 2010, and
FY 2011.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that Missouri is still first in the
nation in the number of methamphetamine laboratories.  This is
true because there is a lack of a centralized database to track
purchases of substances used to make methamphetamine.  The bill
will deter methamphetamine production as well as monitor
prescription drug use.  Currently, physicians are being scammed
and pressured into prescribing drugs because there is no way to
monitor a person's pain level.  The bill will help a doctor
monitor if his or her patient has been to several doctors or
pharmacies to obtain prescriptions for similar drugs.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Jones (117);
Department of Health and Senior Services; Missouri Retailers
Association; Jim Kelly, Missouri Society of Anaesthesiologists;
Tom Rhoton, Appriss Software Company; Missouri State Troopers
Association; Missouri State Medical Association; Missouri
Sheriffs Association; Missouri Pharmacy Association; and Office
of the Attorney General.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the Committee.

Missouri House of Representatives
94th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated October 15, 2008 at 3:10 pm