By Lynn Hatter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-984122.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – Florida's prescription drug database will be up and running by Thursday. Physicians will have access to it by October. The monitoring system records what drugs are being distributed by doctors and pharmacists. Lynn Hatter reports the database is aimed at cracking down on prescription drug abuse and pill mills.
The prescription database has names and dates of birth of patients receiving drugs classified by the state as commonly abused -- like oxycodone and vicadin. Rebecca Postin is the databases' program manager. She says one group that won't get direct access to the database is law enforcement.
"They're requests come through the program office. Once we validate the investigation, then that information will be placed in a queue, and the investigator can then go in and download the information from the queue."
The database is part of the state's effort to crack down on prescription drug abuse. Florida is battling a reputation as the nation's pill mill capital.