Pubdate: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL) Copyright: 2000 St. Petersburg Times Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/ Forum: http://www.sptimes.com/Interact.html Section: Metro/State Author: Wes Allison Bookmark: additional articles on Florida are available at http://www.mapinc.org/states/fl.htm OUTCRY FROM PUBLIC PUTS NEW LAW ON HOLD FOR PAINKILLER Florida's war on drugs almost clipped Enid Lythgoe. But this week, the Florida Attorney General's Office short-circuited a new law that would have made it harder for Lythgoe and patients like her to get prescriptions for low doses of hydrocodone, a popular painkiller taken by some 200,000 Floridians a year. Hydrocodone is the key ingredient in Lorcet, Vicodin and some children's cough syrups, but the Legislature this year included it in a bill that toughened penalties for selling so-called designer drugs, including Ecstasy, GBH and certain amphetamines. For thousands of people like Lythgoe, 53, who takes Lortab to ease the discomfort of fibromyalgia and other conditions, the new law would have been a royal pain. Beginning Oct. 1, all doses of hydrocodone would have been upgraded from a Class 3 narcotic to the more strictly controlled Class 2. That means her doctor would have been able to prescribe it only one month at a time, and only after she went to her office. The doctor also wouldn't have been able to phone in a prescription or refill. Currently, doctors can prescribe a five-month supply of hydrocodone or other Class 3 drugs. "For so many of us, we get sick of going to the doctor," said Lythgoe, who lives in Dunedin. "I could have a doctor's appointment every day of the week. More doctors appointments would have been really difficult." The state Attorney General's Office filed an emergency rule late Tuesday with the Secretary of State in Tallahassee that maintains the status quo. The Attorney General's Office submitted the rule after being bombarded with letters from doctors, dentists, pharmacists, hospice workers, patients and lawmakers, including the legislation's sponsor, who complained the new law would punish thousands of people. The state boards of medicine and pharmacy also passed resolutions asking Attorney General Bob Butterworth to make the change. "It became obvious that the consequences to the patients were unintended," said Assistant Attorney General Edwin A. Bayo, who handled the case and also serves as counsel to the Board of Pharmacy. "There is a legitimate law enforcement concern here, and they were trying to address (it), but the consequences to patients and to patient care were really (serious)." Last year, Florida physicians wrote 3.6-million prescriptions for 15 mg or less of hydrocodone for 150,000 to 200,000 patients. Doctors say it is an extremely effective pain reliever and has fewer side effects than many common alternatives, such as Tylenol with codeine or Darvocet. It's especially helpful for elderly patients who don't tolerate other medications well. Hydrocodone is a narcotic and can be habit-forming; Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre was once hooked on Vicodin. But doses of hydrocodone over 15 mg already are regulated as a Class 2 narcotic. The Legislature included all doses of hydrocodone in a sweeping anti- drug law after a South Florida prosecutor sought heftier penalties for people who fraudulently obtain it, state officials said. State law allows the attorney general to reclassify a drug between legislative sessions. The emergency rule is good only through the end of the next session; the Legislature must vote to make it permanent. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville, who also heads the Senate's criminal justice committee, said Wednesday that she sent the attorney general a letter in favor of keeping hydrocodone a Class 3 drug. She also vowed to sponsor a bill to make the emergency rule permanent. When the Legislature included hydrocodone in the anti-drug measure, members didn't understand the consequences, and no one brought them to light until later, said Brown-Waite, who took hydrocodone after back surgery. "It certainly was never our intention that people who are in chronic pain have to go back to the doctor every time they need a new prescription," she said. - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder