Florida has passed the pill law.....

[sandee1818]

The DEA and other agencies has three years to help doctors and clinics with the guidelines but the law is actually in effect now. All addictive meds will be in a database that all docs and pharmacies and health care workers can view. I will find the exact laws and such and post them. Ii just wanted everyone to know that it did pass.

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42%

 (3) 

Do you think this is a violation of privacy?

28%

 (2) 

Do you think this law will stop doctor shoppers and those who make it hard for us?

14%

 (1) 

Do you think it is a law that will help but worried about privacy?

14%

 (1) 

Do you disagree with it and why?

7 Members voted

[lola99735]

Here in Michigan we have had a program called "MAPS" or Michigan Automated Prescription Services for about 10 years now which is simply a computer application installed by the DEA in every Dr's office, Pharmacy, and hospital that basically lets a file be pulled up and printed on a patient detailing every controlled substance that person has had filled in the last 5 yrs, the printout includes the date it was filled, the pharmacy it was filled at, the prescribing Dr, the name of the medicine, the quantity, and wether you used your health insurance or paid cash..The DEA is very involved up here in stopping diversion and dr shopping..I work in the health care field and am also a chronic pain patient due to numerous back surgeries and although some may see it as an invasion of privacy it is a way to stop the people that are addicts or seeking it to sell since they are the ones that ruin it for the true cp patient that needs the medication...At my office we routinely pull a "MAPS" monthly on every patient we prescribe controlled substances to and the way I see it is if your following the law and taking your meds as prescribed you should have absolutley no problem with this system...not trying to be snotty so please don't take it that way but I'm surprised other states are taking so long to put this type of thing into effect....Just my 2 cents

[sandee1818]

I have no problem with it providing the information thats needed to stop these people who do sell or doctor shop. My concern is what happens if the wrong information gets put in how would they go about fixing that. Also it is completely hack free. Those are my concerns.

[lola99735]

I totally get your concerns, we felt the same way when they made us change to electronic charting as opposed to the old paper charts but trust me when I say theses programs ARE secure, and like I said we have had it for about 10 years and there has never once been an issue with wrong information or anything like that...Not here at least (yet) but 10 years is a long time to have a system in working progress with a zero failure rate as of today, but you have very valid concerns...And speaking personally as a cp that is on regular medications I have not encountered any problems yet..again sorry to stir the pot didn't mean to just wanted to let you know how we do it up here :-)

[sandee1818]

I appreciate your input and information:)

[worried878]

I do agree that doctor shopping will be a bit difficult with this new ammendment..but if someone is using legitimately it should not affect them anyway due to the pain cotract most pain mgt drs make u sign..to be honest ..i did not know this was a new. addition..here in Alabama (and holy cow/who can be slower than Alabama)  a dr has always been able to access ur pharmacy records with the touch of a button anyway

[ChronicPain1]

Absolutely against this. Digital records are lost/stolen constantly, and I don't like people knowing anything about my medical history other than my doctors.

[Tuckamore]

I think this is a double edged sword. I have nothing to hide from my physician and I see only one.

Sorry Lola, but with all due respect I don't buy for a second the comment that in " 10 years and there has never once been an issue with wrong information or anything like that.....with a zero failure rate as of today... trust me when I say theses programs ARE secure"  This may be a fact to your knowledge. But ppl are inputting that information and ppl make can and do make errors as do the ppl that interpret the information. I too (until very recently) have been in the health care delivery field and I know that errors are made daily in electronic charting. I also have multiple close relatives and friends that are still employed in the health care delivery system. I also know that everyone that has a password (or a good hacker) can access your medical records/charts. You can view "Aunt Martha's" or your "Neighbors" electronic medical record even from one clinic or hospital to another as long as they are electronically connected. I also know that it is absolutely done. Privacy's are invaded everyday.

In theory if the system is used as it is intended it's a wonderful system to discourage and identify some abusers. However it can also "red flag" those that are not abusing but have gone through "trial and error" opiates to determine what opiate(s) work best for a CP sufferer. As I indicated earlier I have nothing to hide and I don't have an issue with my pharmacist or physician accessing my medical record or prescription history. However little Susie Q, M.A. or Pharmacy Tech who lives across the street and works in a local clinic or at Walmart Pharmacy (and I go to Walgreen's and a out of town clinic) has no business in my personal medical or prescription records.

And that's my 2 cents worth!!!
Tuck

[lola99735]

I apologize if I offended you in any way, that was not my intention...I hate the electronic charting at work I think it is a system waiting to fail as well, all I meant about the prescription program was that I have not seen anything like prescriptions that were not supposed to be there be on it, and I understand what you are saying about the trying of different meds that may red flag you but as long as they are all from the same Dr the system is designed not to red flag those accounts because we know they are trying out different meds to find the right one for their situation...It is designed to red flag patients that are getting prescriptions from multiple drs and I know sometimes you have to see different drs to find one that suits your needs, I had to go through about 15 before I found my current Dr but I didn't except multiple scripts from all the drs along the way and filling them every couple of days...I'm sure there are flaws in the system as there are in most I was just trying to explain the system where I'm from and I'm sure the drug seekers and sellers are prevelent everywhere and there is no way to stop it all together but I can tell you here in the Detroit area the pills on the streets is at an all time high and I just worry for the true CP patients that may not be able to get the correct meds because someone ruined for them...So again I am sorry if I offended you I didn't mean to in any way

[Tuckamore]

You certainly didn't offend me. I apologize if my post came across in that manner. That was not my intention. I do think their are errors made in the prescription program for the reasons I stated. But that's only my opinion and it doesn't make it right.....or wrong, it's just my opinion. I did not mean to offend you!

And I am not upset with you. I am upset with the system. I'm upset with the abuser that make law enforcement and prescribers who are forced to search for tools to identify the abusers. In reality it is the CP sufferer that "pay" and suffer even more because of the addicts/abusers in our society. They will always find a way to get their "fix" regardless of the systems we install.

Don't misunderstand me, I certainly don't mean we should not try to remedy the situation or ignore it. It just means that everyday there are more and more laws and for lack of a better work, hoops placed before the honest chronic pain patients. Those procedures can prevent CP patients from obtaining pain releif or encourage practitioners to treat us as drug seekers. And our identities, privacy and personal medical records are placed in jeopardy with these new well meaning laws, procedures or hoops that are implemented.

Your input is always welcome and valued. Again please don't think that I was or am offended or upset with you.

[lola99735]

I'm glad I didn't offend you, and of course you did not offend me in any way :-)    I also have concerns about this whole computer thing and like I said I do not like the electronic charting system at all...But here where I live they passed a law supported by Medicare that all medical offices and institutions have to have in place by 2012 or face steap penalties.....At the hospital I work in everyone complains about it, the 2 only good things that have come out of it is that we can pull up any records or tests the patient has had done so the patient or staff dosen't have to try and track them down in different departments and of course it eliminated the ever challenging looking for a chart that sometimes seemed impossible to find, kinda like the other sock lol....some charts were always lost in lala land somewhere and we have a couple of dr's that wouldn't even see pts without a chart so we would be endlessly looking while the poor patient sat and waited...I was at Meijers last Sunday and this idiot came in on a Sunday with a script for some type of narcotic and of course dated it for Sunday like any dr's offices are open on Sunday and as much as I hate to say it I was pleased to see him get arrested because the pharmacist called the drs answering service to verify said script and of course it was fraudulant....God bless the stupid criminals right?? And like I said I am also a cp patient and because my ordeal started when I was 32 I went to way too many drs that brushed me off saying I was too young to have so much pain, and they never even ran any tests and I was not drug seeking in any way just trying to find some answers to my pain and hopefully a compasionate dr tht would at least run the appropriate tests...I finally found one after a year and a half search ans have since had 3 surgeries and its a still a constant battle to keep my pain at a tolerable level and it makes me so angry that these low lifes that just want a fix or make money off junkies are essentially ruining it for true cp patients that need the medication...Where I work we treat chronic pain patients and the Dr's I work for are thank god compassionate and understanding but also precribe with caution which I also understand...I am new here and so far love this whole website and you in particular are very compassionate and give great advice and am so glad I found this site so thanks for the welcome and I hope we talk more in the future :-)

[ChronicPain1]

The "I have nothing to hide" mentality is dangerous, because it gives more power and abuse of that power to those in charge. Like when people allow police to search their cars with no probable cause because they have nothing to hide, it sets a bad precedent.

[OtisDaMan]

As Tuckamore has said, the human sitting at the console makes errors when entering data - for keyboard data entry, the error rate can be as high as 3%; in any good system the error rate can be lower, but it is always there. The significant errors are of the transposition variety - perhaps when entering new drug names (many drugs have similar looking spelling), interpretation errors when entering notes taken by someone else, date errors, numerical errors such as dose information. A good system should restrict the entries to a list of allowable options (eg a drop-down list of drug names) rather than letting an average user type it in. Errors may still be made, but a great system would have some basic rules for flagging unusual combinations (eg lyrica - which I've picked simply because I'm on it - for most conditions has an upper limit of 450mg/day, with 600mg/day for a small subset of conditions treated; therefore anything like 600mg/day or above should be flagged and the user allowed to reconsider the information).

A bigger issue as far as I'm concerned is to do with case notes passing from doctor to doctor and specialist. In spite of my best efforts some of my notes have failed to make it to my current doctor, and newer notes from specialists usually (as in more than 50% chance) have some major errors of the kind that may adversely affect either future treatment or disability pension should I end up in that situation. It is maddening having to chase down the errors from "chinese whispers" when doctor to doctor communication is incomplete, but having to do it with a half computerised, half paper based, system is hair-ripping stuff. Maybe one day it will be truly unified...

[Tuckamore]

Otis,

You are so correct. Have you ever read physician's or specialist referral notes?? They are often filled with inaccuracies. I read a referral response note two years ago that was sent to my PCP. My name and statics were at the top of the page but it was so obviously not me. They had me confused with another patient.

It happens in the best of clinics/hospitals.

And Chronicpain, you obviously misunderstood and took my comment out of content regarding nothing to hide from my physician. Certainly my statement did not include the connotations that you inserted. We all should have great relationships with our physicians. This thread is regarding accessing our prescription narcotics records.

Peace,
Tuck

[ChronicPain1]

I don't think I did, I was commenting on that particular line of thought which people also use for things like public video cameras watching them. A lot of people allow invasions of privacy simply because they have nothing to hide, and that's not a good way to go is my point.