Senate Bill S7684

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S7684

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to providing
pharmacies access to New York's prescription drug monitoring program
resources


 PURPOSE :
To allow pharmacies to request access to certain New York's
Prescription Drug Monitoring Program data, in order to determine a
prescription's authenticity, whether it was already filled by another
pharmacy or physician, and whether the patient has engaged in "doctor
shopping". New York's physicians already have this ability.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :
Section 1. Allows an exemption for pharmacies.

 EXISTING LAW :
Pharmacies are forbidden access to routine information collected by
the Department of Health's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. This
data is currently available only to practitioners, the Department of
Health, Medicaid, the Insurance Department and law enforcement
pursuant to a judicial subpoena. This information is treated with the
most serious care and respect for personal privacy.

              

 JUSTIFICATION :
On October 26th, 2009, Zachary Crotty, 19, of Colden, New York, died
from a drug overdose fueled by a combination of the prescription drugs
Suboxone, Xanax, Keppra and Remeron.  These drugs were legally
obtained, legally purchased, legally sold, and legally ingested. But
they proved lethally reactive.

The pharmacies filling Zachary's prescriptions did not know his
medical history- his doctor visits, his personal struggles with
addiction, and his history of drug abuse. When they signed over his
last prescriptions, they did not even know about the other drugs he
was taking. What could've been prevented wasn't, simply because
pharmacies did not have legal access to this critical information.

This bill opens New York's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program
records to pharmacies, in the same way that physicians already have
access to them. Within a matter of minutes, while patients wait to
have their medicine handed to them, pharmacists can learn a patient's
immediate medical history- including doctor and pharmacy visits,
prescription history, and any suspicions of drug misuse, abuse or
diversion. In a case like Zachary's, this information could have
proved lifesaving.

Other states have opened this information to pharmacies years ago. And
they have done so without sacrificing patient safety, privacy or
access to prescription drugs. Kentucky, a national leader in
prescription drug monitoring, has studied healthcare provider
satisfaction with access to such information, and found overwhelming
approval. These providers agreed that this recent medical history and
prescription drug records provided for informed, safe and responsible
decisions for their patients.

New York's laws and regulations in regard to the sharing of this
information have, unfortunately, fallen behind those of other states.
Our pharmacies want to be part of the solution when it comes to
combating prescription drug fraud- and this legislation gives them the
ability to do so.



This bill, if passed into law, would enable all of the parties
involved in an individual patient's healthcare decisions to have
information necessary to make the right prescription drug choices.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
New Bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
Minimal administrative costs.

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This Act shall take effect immediately.