Same Day Multiple Prescriptions
 Why is Our Government Pursuing a War on Doctors?

Free Electronic Newsletter

Virginia Receives Federal Grant for Prescription Tracking Program

By Lindsay F. Wiley [Bio]

April 14, 2003 - The U.S. Department of Justice has awarded a $180,000 grant to the state of Virginia to fund a prescription tracking program approved by the state legislature last year. The two-year pilot program will focus on counties in Southwest Virginia, where prescription drug abuse has become a major problem in recent years.

The program will allow police to access a database containing information about prescriptions for Schedule II drugs, such as OxyContin, methadone and Percocet. Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore has said the database will be particularly useful for curbing abuse of the prescription pain medication OxyContin.

The database is expected to be operational by late summer or early fall, according to Robert Nebiker of the state’s Department of Health Professions, which will oversee the program’s operation. It will be accessible only by law enforcement officers who have an active investigation into a patient or doctor. The law creating the pilot program makes unauthorized release of the database information a misdemeanor.