A recent study from Vanderbilt University in Nashville proclaimed that prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) can reduce prescription drug–related overdose deaths. According to the study results published in the June issue of Health Affairs, “If Missouri adopted its own PDMP, and every state enhanced its existing program, some 600 overdose deaths would be avoided annually.”1
Missouri is referred to because, as of this writing, it is the only state without a PDMP. Establishment of a PDMP is being debated in the Missouri legislature, however, as other states have enjoyed incredibly successful PDMPs for years. Missouri is not only a haven for in-state seekers of illegitimate refills, but the state also attracts offenders from bordering states! The prescribers and dispensers with whom I have spoken over the past few years are fed up with the problem and the legislature’s lack of response to it. [Read more…]