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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.

The push to crack down on pill mills and stop prescription drug abuse in Florida is taking the shape of more regulation. By law, pharmacists now have to enter certain patients' information into a statewide database that will monitor prescriptions of highly addictive prescription drugs like Oxycontin, Vicodin, Xanax and Ambien, among others. It will not apply to drugs like anti-depressants or blood pressure medications, among others, which are not considered
highly addictive.

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Diane Finch thinks it's a great idea! She knows someone who once struggled with an addiction to prescription drugs and was a so-called doctor shopper. Finch says the addict she knows was having scams and going to Grandma's house in Orlando and getting a doctor there, even though she had a doctor here in Palm Beach County."

To crack down on those people abusing prescription drugs and doctors over-prescribing, pharmacists in Florida now have to report pharmaceutical orders of highly addictive drugs into a statewide database. Finch says, "If you don't have anything to hide, there's nothing to be fearful of a database."

Marcia Hanson says, "I wouldn't want my privacy to be infringed, but if it's something to help, I don't see a problem with that." Besides privacy concerns, some people are worried it could work against legitimate patients with serious health issues needing the medication.

Barry Paraizo, the pharmacist at the Winships Prescription Center, supports the law. However, he says, "Because of a few bad apples, it makes you-some of your patients difficult to fill their prescriptions." That's because pharmacists, like Paraizo, are continuously questioning the authenticity of the patient's need for the medication.

Finch's friend is okay now. Finch says, "Maybe we could've helped her sooner." But she wonders if the database could've sped up her friend's recovery. Jennifer Hirst, a spokeswoman for the FL Dept. Of Health, addresses privacy concerns by saying, "The data will be stored and maintained in a highly secure system."

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/state/prescription-database-begins-today-in-florida#ixzz28Il5wc00

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