Pubdate: Mon, 28 Mar 2011
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Page: A10
Copyright: 2011 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Website: http://www.tampabay.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Rick+Scott
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/pill+mills
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)

DRUG SCREEN PLAN NEEDLESS, WASTEFUL

In opposing the establishment of a desperately needed statewide 
prescription drug database that would reduce crime and save lives, 
Gov. Rick Scott has cited misguided, ill-informed and unfounded 
privacy concerns for patient confidentiality. Yet the governor has no 
problem calling for mandatory drug tests and random drug screens for 
as many as 100,000 innocent state workers while invading their 
privacy at a cost of millions of dollars. The lack of intellectual 
honesty here is remarkable.

Scott's intrusion into the private lives of dedicated state employees 
with no evidence they are illegally using drugs is wrong, ill 
conceived and likely unconstitutional. But that didn't stop the 
governor from issuing an executive order last week requiring all new 
hires in agencies he controls to be drug tested -- and for current 
employees to be tested at least four times a year. State agencies 
already can require employees to be tested when they are suspected of 
using illegal drugs, so there is no safety issue here.

The governor's fuzzy reasoning is inexplicable. Florida has become a 
laughingstock for its dubious reputation as the "pill mill" capital 
of the nation, with more than 2,000 lives lost every year through the 
illegal dispensation of prescription drugs such as oxycodone and 
Xanax. A prescription drug database, paid for by the drug companies 
themselves, would go a long way toward addressing the problem by 
making it more difficult for patients to doctor shop for their drugs. 
It also would make it easier to crack down on unscrupulous physicians 
who prescribe the drugs without regard to their medical need. But 
Scott remains opposed to this lifesaving program.

Yet the governor would impose pointless and invasive scrutiny on 
state employees, requiring workers to submit to random drug 
screenings without any evidence that drug abuse is rampant among the 
state work force. The cost to the state for the $35 random screening 
tests for current workers, a practice that a federal court ruled in 
2004 was unconstitutional, will run into the millions of dollars 
while Scott calls for spending cuts in areas such as education.

Scott is ignoring his responsibility to address a pervasive and 
deadly drug epidemic -- and now ordering a constitutionally suspect 
approach to tackle a drug problem among state workers that doesn't 
appear to exist. He issued the order on the same day legislation was 
filed to fulfill his pledge to require thousands of welfare 
recipients to pass drug tests. If all of the governor's drug-testing 
plans come to pass, the drug screening business in Florida should be 
booming. So Floridians should not forget that Scott founded Solantic, 
a chain of walk-in health care clinics, and has placed his ownership 
into his wife's trust. Solantic promotes its drug screen testing 
services on its website.  
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake