Lawmakers Face Tough Road in Decreasing DWIs
Governor Markell speaks
Image by Christiana Care
With Christiana Hospital’s Emergency Department as a backdrop, Governor Markell signed into law on July 22, 2010 the Delaware Prescription Monitoring Act to combat misuse of prescription medicine. Several Christiana Care leaders, including Dr. Robert Laskowski, President and CEO, Dr. Charles Reese, Chairman of Christiana Care’s Emergency Medicine Department, and Dr. Leonard Nitowski joined the Governor for the bill signing.
The law creates a database of prescriptions for certain controlled substances such as Oxycontin, Vicodin, Adderall, Valium and Percocet. Doctors and pharmacists will be able to check the database before giving prescriptions to check drug interactions and screen for possible misuse.
A report released the same day by National Drug Policy Director Gil Kerkikowske revealed a 400 percent increase between 1998 and 2008 of substance abuse treatment admissions for those 12 and over reporting abuse of prescription pain relievers. The increase in the percentage of admissions abusing pain relievers spans every age, gender, race, ethnicity, education, employment level, and region.
"Caring for our patients includes ensuring proper protections against misuse of prescription medicines. This new monitoring database will aid our doctors and pharmacists in better connecting prescription information and helping keep our patients safe,” said Dr. Laskowski.
Lawmakers face tough road in decreasing DWIs
Lawmakers face tough road in decreasing DWIs
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