Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jun 2011 Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL) Copyright: 2011 The Palm Beach Post Contact: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333 Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n365/a06.html SCOTT DOCTOR-SHOPS FOR CREDIT: HE DIDN'T WANT THE PILL MILL BILL; NOW HE HAS TO MAKE IT WORK As a candidate, Rick Scott proclaimed that he was not a politician. That claim evaporated early, when he announced a media event to declare the accomplishments of his first week in office. Five months into the job, he already has become a serial politician. Only a serial politician would conduct a three-city bill-signing tour to take credit for legislation that he first opposed and had little to do with getting through the Legislature. On Friday, Gov. Scott went to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando to tout his signing of HB 7095, a law that strengthens the state's prescription database monitoring program, increases penalties for doctors who overprescribe addictive narcotics and bans doctors from dispensing the drugs. It also requires tracking of wholesale distribution of certain controlled substances and provides $3 million to support state and local law-enforcement efforts to close down "pill mills" that supply prescription painkillers in Florida and throughout the eastern United States. "I am proud to sign this bill, which cracks down on the criminal abuse of prescription drugs," Gov. Scott said. "This legislation will save lives in our state, and it marks the beginning of the end of Florida's infamous role as the nation's pill mill capital." Gov. Scott is right that the law likely will save lives, particularly since it reduces the time doctors and pharmacists have to input information into the database from 15 days to seven days. Almost from the moment he took office, though, Gov. Scott opposed the database. First, he cited privacy and cost concerns. He remained steadfast in that opposition, even though police, prosecutors and doctors said the database was necessary to prevent doctor-shopping. That happens when addicts and traffickers obtain a large amount of pills from multiple physicians, and it's a second-degree felony in Florida. The governor's opposition ceased only when he got the chance to testify before Congress during a hearing on the "Growing Danger of Prescription Drug Diversion." "One tool that focuses on end users is a database focused on the patient level," Gov. Scott told the Energy and Commerce Committee. "This month in Florida, my Department of Health began implementation of such a database." He didn't mention his opposition to the database or that he had shut down the Office of Drug Control Policy. It also took the governor three months to name a health department secretary. No thanks to the governor, the health department expects the database to be operational by October. Despite Gov. Scott's boasting, it was Attorney General Pam Bondi who pushed for the database and intervened to keep the legislation alive when the House and Senate couldn't reach a compromise on a bill that never should have been controversial. Gov. Scott signed the law because it was politically expedient. The politics just happen to be good for Florida. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.