In an effort to learn what the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure has done since 2004 to limit doctors who over-prescribe pain medicine, Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, sent an open records request Thursday to that agency.

“I am asking KBML for records of its policies on enforcing prescription drug limits,” Stumbo said in his correspondence. “It is critical to know how KBML has used its authority under KASPER (Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting) in the eight years that the state’s drug-monitoring service has been in force. By figuring out what went wrong in the enforcement process, we can craft better protections for Kentucky. We will make sure of one thing. Passing the buck and watching the problem grow will be a think of the past.”

The open records request is a follow-up to a statement he made earlier in the week calling on the KBML to do a much better job of policing doctors who over-prescribe pain medication.

“Back in 2003, other legislators and I were told by KBML that it would be able to identify those doctors who are abusing their power to prescribe controlled substances and then act to stop this from happening,” Stumbo said during a meeting of the General Assembly’s Program Review and Investigations Committee. “To date, I have seen no proof that this has taken place. The problem is worse than ever. All you have to know is that more people die from prescription drug overdoses now that in car accidents. Essentially, the board is flip-flopping on what it promised in 2003.”

Stumbo said the prescription-medication problem has turned into an epidemic and he has found no evidence the licensing board has done much to stop it.

He said he begun talking with other legislators to hear their ideas about limiting the problem of over-prescribed pain medication, with the goal of readying legislation for the 2012 regular session of the state legislature.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear said last week that Kentucky and Ohio are now automatically exchanging prescription medication data, following this week’s launch of the electronic Prescription Monitoring Information Exchange (PMIX). That announcement marks a highly anticipated milestone for Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and ongoing work to fulfill a need to share data across state lines. The PMIX program is a partnership between KASPER and the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System.

FRANK LEWIS may be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 232, or flewis@heartlandpublications.com.