From Legislative Digest …
FRANKFORT — Legislation addressing prescription-drug abuse in the state was sent to the governor’s desk today after gaining approval from the full General Assembly.
House Bill 1, sponsored by House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, and Rep. John Tilley, D-Hopkinsville, will make registration with and use of the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting system (KASPER) mandatory by physicians and pharmacists prescribing or dispensing Schedule II and Schedule III drugs, such as oxycodone or morphine.
The bill requires pharmacists to submit data to KASPER within 24 hours of dispensing a narcotic and doctors to check the system prior to initially prescribing the monitored medications to a new patient. Doctors would then only be required to check a KASPER report every three months of a patient’s treatment.
The measure further requires that pain management clinics be owned by at least one licensed physician. Clinics already operating in the state but not owned by a physician would be allowed to remain open unless they violate a sanction regarding controlled substances.
The bill also mandates various medical licensing boards to set forth prescribing and dispensing guidelines, as well as disciplinary measures for those who inappropriate prescribe narcotics.
Under the final version of the bill, the KASPER system will remain under the control of the Cabinet of Health and Family Services, but access will be limited to approved persons who are part of an established investigation of a specific individual. Interstate sharing of data will be allowed.
HB 1 provides $4 million of National Mortgage Settlement proceeds for the expansion of KASPER.
Supporters of the measure say it will help in fighting prescription drug addiction and overdose in the Commonwealth, something that officials say claims the lives of approximately three Kentuckians every day.
Prescription-drug abuse was one of two issues considered by the Kentucky General Assembly in the 1st Extraordinary Session of 2012.
