Report: Prescription Drug Databases Loaded With Potential Errors, Inefficiency

Submitted by Anonymous on April 3, 2011 - 8:14am

Sunshine State News delves into the performance of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs this week. Touted as the key to busting up pill mills in Florida, PDMPs actually have a spotty record.

One example: By improperly including legitimate cases of prescription drug use in analyses, database results are skewed and law enforcement are sent on wild goose chases.

"In some instances, practitioners may prescribe high dosage prescription drugs to patients for the treatment of chronic pain and terminal illnesses. Although legitimate, these data may be included in analyses along with cases involving actual misuse," federal researchers stated.

Click here for more research on the downsides of drug databases.

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