Who Will Pay for Drug Tests? Who Will Do the Testing?

[Alicia Leonard]

I do not think that the Pseudoephedrine purchases goes into a State database. I believe it is just a log that a pharmacy is required to maintain just like then use to do for paregoric. I could be wrong but only the Board of Pharmacy has access to those logs. Law enforcement must have a suponea to get access to those logs. Pharmacies are audited by the BOP regularly for many things including Oxycontin and other Class II narcotics. I am retired now but my pharmacy was audited every six months (I was lucky in having a location so close to the BOP-not) to determine what Doctors are writing prescriptions for control substances. They were more concerned with finding bad Doctors than finding bad patients. As a pharmacist it was not that difficult to know when there was a forgery although it did happen from time to time. I also think that patients needing pain management are finding it easier to just die and that is very sad. Point is that you just can not regulate everything because eventually you will need someone to regulate the regulators. There is plenty of regulation in this industry. South Florida may be an exception to the rule just like the oil drillers are to the Gulf of Mexico.

My understanding is there is a new system that law enforcement can access to check and see if they think someone is buying too much. It is supported by the drug makers so LEO's don't have to go around and compare logs and is all computerized into one big data base.. I was curious why my DL has to be scanned. Could one not buy cold meds with an ID? Oh, I found it. The fact that anything is compiled into a data base means it is there for the taking, sometimes from those not authorized. Electronic Sales Blocking — Stop Meth Not Meds
Electronic Sales Blocking

Consumers Support Electronic Tracking
Over 60 percent of consumers surveyed support new laws requiring electronic tracking of PSE sales.

Twelve states have passed laws to require retailers and pharmacists to use real?time statewide electronic sales systems that can block illegal pseudoephedrine (PSE) purchases and allow law enforcement to track down meth cooks. These systems process PSE sales much like a credit card transaction, declining sales that would put a purchaser over the legal limit, no matter where a previous purchase was made within the state.
Electronic tracking, or e-tracking, systems simply keep purchase records already required by federal law in one place, ensuring meth cooks are stopped before they buy the illegal quantities of PSE for use in meth labs. These systems can also alert law enforcement to repeated attempts by meth cooks to circumvent the system.
Purchase records kept by e-tracking systems are stored securely and under federal law are accessible only by law enforcement.
National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx)

In 2009, the National Sheriffs Association called for the use of a multi-state electronic tracking, or e-tracking, system to more effectively enforce current law and fight domestic meth production.
The leading manufacturers of PSE responded by supporting a multi-state e-tracking system that can be used by states to implement their electronic tracking laws. The National Precursor Log Exchange, or NPLEx, is a system that works seamlessly across all participating states to ensure that meth cooks can't just cross state lines to evade the law.
Ten of the 12 states that have passed e-tracking statutes so far have chosen to adopt the NPLEx system, which can be used by retailers and states free of charge.
Benefits of NPLEx Electronic Tracking

• Ensures effective enforcement of current law.
• Works in real?time to block illegal PSE sales.
• Works across all retailers.
• Uses purchase records already required by law.
• Provides a powerful tool for law enforcement to identify meth cooks.
• Accessible only by law enforcement.
• Makes sales faster for retailers and consumers.
• Places no new burdens on legitimate consumers.
• Works across state lines.
• Provided free of charge to retailers, pharmacists, and states.

Electronic Tracking Works

The multi-state NPLEx system is just now being deployed, but states that have been using e-tracking are seeing the results.

• E-tracking systems block thousands of attempted purchases.
• Reported meth labs are increasing as e-tracking helps law enforcement find previously undiscovered labs.
• In the four states that have fully implemented e-blocking technology, nearly 40,000 grams of illegal pseudoephedrine sales per month are blocked.
• In a Florida pilot project, e-tracking reduced illegal sales by over 90 percent.
• In South Carolina, e-tracking blocked the illegal sale of nearly 6,000 boxes of PSE medicines in January 2011 alone.

.

 

[mputnal]

My understanding is there is a new system that law enforcement can access to check and see if they think someone is buying too much. It is supported by the drug makers so LEO's don't have to go around and compare logs and is all computerized into one big data base.. I was curious why my DL has to be scanned. Could one not buy cold meds with an ID? Oh, I found it. The fact that anything is compiled into a data base means it is there for the taking, sometimes from those not authorized. Electronic Sales Blocking — Stop Meth Not Meds
Electronic Sales Blocking

Consumers Support Electronic Tracking
Over 60 percent of consumers surveyed support new laws requiring electronic tracking of PSE sales.

Twelve states have passed laws to require retailers and pharmacists to use real?time statewide electronic sales systems that can block illegal pseudoephedrine (PSE) purchases and allow law enforcement to track down meth cooks. These systems process PSE sales much like a credit card transaction, declining sales that would put a purchaser over the legal limit, no matter where a previous purchase was made within the state.
Electronic tracking, or e-tracking, systems simply keep purchase records already required by federal law in one place, ensuring meth cooks are stopped before they buy the illegal quantities of PSE for use in meth labs. These systems can also alert law enforcement to repeated attempts by meth cooks to circumvent the system.
Purchase records kept by e-tracking systems are stored securely and under federal law are accessible only by law enforcement.
National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx)

In 2009, the National Sheriffs Association called for the use of a multi-state electronic tracking, or e-tracking, system to more effectively enforce current law and fight domestic meth production.
The leading manufacturers of PSE responded by supporting a multi-state e-tracking system that can be used by states to implement their electronic tracking laws. The National Precursor Log Exchange, or NPLEx, is a system that works seamlessly across all participating states to ensure that meth cooks can't just cross state lines to evade the law.
Ten of the 12 states that have passed e-tracking statutes so far have chosen to adopt the NPLEx system, which can be used by retailers and states free of charge.
Benefits of NPLEx Electronic Tracking

• Ensures effective enforcement of current law.
• Works in real?time to block illegal PSE sales.
• Works across all retailers.
• Uses purchase records already required by law.
• Provides a powerful tool for law enforcement to identify meth cooks.
• Accessible only by law enforcement.
• Makes sales faster for retailers and consumers.
• Places no new burdens on legitimate consumers.
• Works across state lines.
• Provided free of charge to retailers, pharmacists, and states.

Electronic Tracking Works

The multi-state NPLEx system is just now being deployed, but states that have been using e-tracking are seeing the results.

• E-tracking systems block thousands of attempted purchases.
• Reported meth labs are increasing as e-tracking helps law enforcement find previously undiscovered labs.
• In the four states that have fully implemented e-blocking technology, nearly 40,000 grams of illegal pseudoephedrine sales per month are blocked.
• In a Florida pilot project, e-tracking reduced illegal sales by over 90 percent.
• In South Carolina, e-tracking blocked the illegal sale of nearly 6,000 boxes of PSE medicines in January 2011 alone.

.

Thank you and I stand corrected. A lot has changed in the last 5 years since I was behind the counter. There has been talk of a system like this for the last 10 years but I never thought the cost would be worked out. I still wonder how the cost has been worked out because drug companies are corporations and we all know that corporations do not do anything out of the goodness of their heart. I am skeptical that every pharmacy will be able to fully implement this system. Their are still quite a few mom and pop pharmacies that will find it very difficult to deal with the technical issues. Data must be input or scanned. Equipment will need maintenance. You would be suprised how little time there is in a 12 hour day for a pharmacist or how little profit there is in a pharmacy. Insurance has effectively cut out high profit margins. Most pharmacies barely break even after expenses. They do offer high sales volume and that is very attractive to chains. It will be very interesting to see how this is all paid for and what concessions will have to be made. There is nothing for "free"...

 

[GoodWitch58]

so, what is different about this data base and the data base called for in the pill mill legislation passed by the Fl Legislature last Session?

Anyone know?

 

[mputnal]

so, what is different about this data base and the data base called for in the pill mill legislation passed by the Fl Legislature last Session?

Anyone know?

The software would be the same and can be updated as legistation changes. I guess PSE is providing the "testing" for the overall implementation. Meth labs must have been a priority for legislators. Sounds like this is the beginning for all drugs to be tracked between doctors, patients and pharmacies. This software can extract data from each pharmacies data base. Whoever has access to NPLEx will be able to tract any drug, patient and doctor. Pharmacies and Physcians will have access as well as law enforcement. Whether we like this loss of privacy or not it is the future. Yes it will save lives and yes it will be abused and misused. Like my grandmother would say, "you got to take the good with the bad"

 

[Alicia Leonard]

Thank you and I stand corrected. A lot has changed in the last 5 years since I was behind the counter. There has been talk of a system like this for the last 10 years but I never thought the cost would be worked out. I still wonder how the cost has been worked out because drug companies are corporations and we all know that corporations do not do anything out of the goodness of their heart. I am skeptical that every pharmacy will be able to fully implement this system. Their are still quite a few mom and pop pharmacies that will find it very difficult to deal with the technical issues. Data must be input or scanned. Equipment will need maintenance. You would be suprised how little time there is in a 12 hour day for a pharmacist or how little profit there is in a pharmacy. Insurance has effectively cut out high profit margins. Most pharmacies barely break even after expenses. They do offer high sales volume and that is very attractive to chains. It will be very interesting to see how this is all paid for and what concessions will have to be made. There is nothing for "free"...

I agree with all your thoughts on this issue. Even before this, when they scanned my drivers license, I wondered where that info went, who had access to it legally, and if it was really ok to share that info with the store, since as someone else wrote in this thread, I don't have to do that when I pick up prescription meds. My feelings are, if it's in a data base, it can be used by people who have no business having access to it, such as hackers and the like. Thank you for your insight

 

[Alicia Leonard]

On the other hand, while state employees have not had a raise in four years, Scott's new people are getting a BIG bump in pay.Scott gives agency heads a big bump in their pay | The Florida Tribune

 

[GoodWitch58]

oh the hypocrisy...:shock:

 

[Here4Good]

This is what I call "thumbing his nose" at the people of the state. It seems to me he is saying that we are not smart enough to understand why he has to do these things, and that he has to get the "right" people in the "right" spots (which implies we've had the wrong people all along) and that the right people cost more.

Which, then, implies that everyone who has been working without a raise for five years is not "right".

 

[Alicia Leonard]

He'll say you get what you pay for and I agree, but I think you get what you pay for from the bottom up, not from the top of the tree. If people don't deserve well paid teachers and police officers, what do we deserve?

 

[scooterbug44]

Rick Scott - we must have been BAD!