Florida cracking down on "Pill Mills" Finally> But???

I know a lot of you have heard about the lacks laws in good old Fla. for getting all kinds of narcotics at these so called pain clinics. Well a law goes into affect today that should stop the druggies from getting millions of pain pills and flouding the country with them and making these so called doctors millionaires!! It's about time!!

Instead of trying to write down exactly what the new laws (more than one) state, which I would probably mess up, Google Florida's new pain clinic laws.

Of course there is a down side of whats happening here for the C.P. community though. A lot of docs are scared to death and going to be closing down or changing the way they take care of their patiants! Now many of the legit CP'ers will have to struggle to find a real doc willing to prescribe meds and will have to go w/ out. It's a real double edged sword and as usual the real CP'ers are the losers!!! I hope that this is not a sign of things to come for everyone?????

Hugs,

Pete

Even if other state's do not adopt the same type of laws that Florida is putting into effect there is still going to be ripple effects throughout the entire country. It happens every time there is media attention to the problem of prescription junkies let alone when some state or another implements some law or program to combat this.

While I agree that the problems of drug abuse needs to be addressed and handled the government all too often goes overboard in what they do and ends up causing a lot of harm to the legitimate segment of the population. It is like a doctor amputation a leg to treat a wart on a foot.

Pete,
I'm saying a prayer that you will not be affected by these new laws. On paper they seem reasonable -- no more billboards saying "Want Oxy? Get off at the next exit". ;) I know here in IL they seem to check up on pain docs pretty regularly. It means more paperwork for them, but other than that they seem to do okay.

I was reading that the biggest impact will probably be on PCP's who prescribe pain meds for their patients. If they don't understand that the new laws apply to them they could be penalized.

I personally think it's great that docs can't distribute huge amounts of C2 meds to their patients at their clinics. It seems like a good check to force them to get meds from a pharmacy. I know I've had pharmacists who like to look at me sideways when I fill a prescription but I also know that here in IL at least pharmacists have saved patients' lives by flagging insane doses of meds (35 oxy per day from one doctor deserves to be flagged! I don't care what your problem is). A couple of non-PM crazy doctors have actually been caught only b/c they were flagged by a pharmacist, even though later it was discovered that they had killed past patients by prescribing them ungodly amounts of narcs.

But I also know that sometimes people jump to conclusions & at times the legit doctors who just make an honest error (forget to cross their t's on their paperwork) may be easier to catch than "doctors" who intentionally engage in unethical & immoral activities. I sure hope that doesn't happen to you. I did see that a group of pain specialists were suing FL over certain provisions of the new laws. Maybe that suit will help clarify certain issues & allow legit docs to feel more comfortable providing appropriate care to their pain patients.

peace & prayers,
Wild Frances

Dear Pete,

After reading everything... I do understand the severity of the problem. I do realize just how many billions of dollars are being funneled through the pill mills. On the other hand I see a severe lac of prosecuting the true "sources". Obviously someone's pocket is being padded to allow so many to open in a single county. Obviously someone is allowing the approval for mass quantities to be sent from the manufacturers.. I DO see the need. I just worry they are not prosecuting ALL the parties involved.

Also, someone made a good point RE: number of prescriptions. There are many patients that have to refill monthly for all sorts of reasons. Restrictions, monthly assessments (personally I get 3 months approved at a time but only fill monthly), insurance restrictions, local law, individual facility / doctor policy (UAs, # of scripts), sometimes people can only afford to fill 2 weeks at a time. So, there will be many "bugs" to work out.

On the other hand, someone posting a "news special" from Florida a few months. When I watched it my heart sank. People literally in line to get scripts... the lines stretched out the clinics and around the buildings. "Fake" illnesses and shady "reports" is all that was needed to gain insane amounts of class 1 & 2 meds. Obviously, something, anything, has to be done.

I just worry that the laws are too "general" and aren't specific enough to separate the "good folks" from the "Bad folks". Not specific enough to be able to prosecute ALL involved. Okay, now that I have rambled on with my worries I will end this here. I must admit I will be watching how this all plays out over the next few months.

*hugg*
dani

Hi All:

The "news special" I believe Dani is referring to was a documentary called "The Oxycontin Express" if anyone is interested in watching it, you can find it online.