In an effort to show the state and perhaps the rest of the country that Florida no longer will tolerate pill mills, Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi teamed up Monday to announce the state's new Statewide Drug Strike Force.
The force will consist of targeted efforts of local law enforcement officials, and coordinated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The force will be given $800,000 for the task, funded by unused residual grants, FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey said.
Were going to change the direction of this thing, its not going to continue, Scott said.
Gov. Scott has already authorized the funds to be used, and pledged to thaw his freeze on new regulations by state agencies to allow the Department of Health and the Agency for Health Care Administration to develop stricter rules and regulations regarding the licensing and registration of pain clinics.
We clearly need to have more regulation, and have laws to combat this, Scott said.
Law enforcement officials say Florida has become a destination for painkiller pill-seekers from states as far away as Kentucky. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has been working with attorneys general in neighboring states on the issue, said she is single-minded in her approach to attacking unscrupulous doctors and pill mill operators.
I am committed -- that is my mission in life right now, Bondi said of Floridas battle with pill mills.
Bailey and Bondi both said arrests of pill mill operators and doctor shoppers will increase as a result of the task force, but Bondi also said Floridas cash-strapped court system will be able to handle the extra caseload, stating that she set aside funds in her budget specifically for doctors and patients who illegally prescribe and abuse prescription drugs.
Bondi and some prominent state senators have also pushed for the start of Floridas prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP), a database that would track a patients prescription drug history. The database was passed in 2009, but due to a bid dispute, is yet to get off the ground.
Scott maintained his opposition to the PDMP Monday, citing his privacy concerns. He did not appear concerned by the discrepancy between his stance on the database and his recent executive order compelling state workers to provide urine samples for drug tests.
Its not a database that is going to be put out to the public that can be hacked, Scott said of the information collected by the drug tests, even though information in the PDMP would be available only to doctors and pharmacists.
Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Miami, cited similar concerns over the databases susceptibility to hackers when he tried to push a measure repealing the PDMP Monday in the Senate.
I dont think this PDMP should be in the hands of government. My concerns are what this database will be used for in the future, Garcia said, raising the specter of a database in Virginia that was hacked.
The measure was offered as an amendment to a bill from Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, that would require the state to get subpoenas before retrieving medical records. Garcia was the only vote in favor of the amendment, but a similar measure is still alive in the House.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
