191198 Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs: An Overview, and the California Experience

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 10:52 AM

Katherine Ellis, BA , California Department of Justice, California Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, Sacramento, CA
Ronna M. Kephart , Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, Department of Justice, Sacramento, CA
The abuse of pharmaceutical or prescription drugs is a present and growing problem for California as well as many other states across the nation. For a variety of reason, prescription drugs are often synonymous with the health and well-being of many Americans. The continuous development of prescription pain medications and the means to mass distribute them have produced positive results for many medical patients while simultaneous enhancing opportunities for criminals and increasing the chances for misuse. What if anything can we do to stop this alarming trend? The California Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs – identifying the need, approval process, PMP model, implementation, challenges, strengths, weakness, and the PMP family. What can we learn from these programs? Do they work or are they just "Big Brother" watching over patients and physicians? What about privacy concerns? How can such programs limit diversion and detect potential abuse? What happens when abuse is detected? What if any are the trends?

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the directionality and general amplitude of trends in mortality due to pharmaceutical drugs, and identify two key pharmacological categories responsible for recent mortality patterns 2. Identify key features of prescription drug monitoring programs, their strengths and limitations, regulatory and enforcement issues, and results 3. Describe media-based and educational approaches to reducing prescription drug abuse, including news media coverage of the issue, target audience selection, campaign strengths and limitations, and results to date

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: expertise, work in field
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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