Kansas to begin statewide monitoring of all prescriptions

TOPEKA, Kan. The Kansas state Senate yesterday unanimously passed a bill to create a program to track prescriptions filled within the state, according to published reports. Senate Bill 491 asks the Board of Pharmacy to create a prescription-monitoring program and also creates two task forces.

The monitoring program would create a database that records each time a pharmacist fills a prescription in the state. Prescribers and pharmacists would be able to determine whether a patient was visiting several prescribers to get multiple prescriptions.

One of the task forces would study whether patients visiting veterinarians to get drugs for themselves, is a problem. The second task force would examine whether medicines used to make methamphetamine, such as allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine, should be classified as controlled substances.

Law enforcement would be able to access the information from the monitoring program, in limited cases with a subpoena. The measure also includes training for doctors, pharmacists and law enforcement on using the program.

Kansas is one of 15 states without a prescription-monitoring program.