Pubdate: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL) Copyright: 2009 The Palm Beach Post Contact: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333 Author: REP. Carl J. Domino PRESCRIPTION-MONITORING BILL JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED Every year, thousands of Floridians lose their lives using legal drugs - - many of which have been obtained illegally. Over the past few years, Florida has seen a high demand for prescription drugs on the street, where the profit margin is high. For many years, Florida has failed to pass a prescription-monitoring bill due to cost, effectiveness and privacy issues. Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, and I are sponsoring legislation (House Bill 143/Senate Bill 614) which meets these objectives head-on. By using a biometric system, input can be made on a real-time basis, so attempts to fill multiple prescriptions of controlled substances would fail. This anonymous controlled substance monitoring is based upon patients who are identified only through individual biometrics linked to a randomly generated alphanumeric code. Notwithstanding the assertions in a Post story that only one company could qualify for this work, Michael Cesanano, a well-respected intellectual property attorney, indicates that many companies have the capability of offering controlled-substance security systems that are effective, relatively inexpensive and protect individual privacy. REP. Carl J. Domino District 83, Jupiter - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin