Missouri
Missouri prescription drug database set to launch soon
QUINCY (WGEM) – Missouri is set to launch a prescription drug tracking program soon.
Grand Pharmacy owner Greg Gilmore said the database will cover a number of controlled substances like Oxytocin or Adderall. He said pharmacists monitor patients prescriptions to see where they are getting them filled, but the database will make it easier for them to do that on a state-wide level so they can make sure people can’t get more controlled substances than their doctor prescribes.
“In Marion County, the pharmacies really, we can only really reach out to the other pharmacies in town, just to ask and see if anybody had filed anything recently,” he said. “With the monitoring program then we should be able to log into that database and tell that much more efficiently.
Gilmore said it can help with patient safety.
Local police said they are excited for the database’s launch.
Palmyra Police Chief Eddie Bogue said the database would help officers solve crimes related to burglary or theft, since addicts will look for people who either have drugs or valuables, which would help narrow down a suspect list or establish a motivation for a crime. He said a similar measure which tracked the sale of Sudafed help put a stop to the problem of home-cooked meth.
“We saw that within a few years we saw a lot of the methamphetamine that was made locally, pretty much came to a stop because people could not access or had a very difficult time accessing the Sudafed which is the main component of methamphetamine,” Bogue said.
Bogue hopes the system will make it more difficult for addicts to obtain drugs. He said it could help encourage people to seek help for addiction.
There’s no word on when the database will launch. Gilmore said the state is still gathering data from other pharmacies in the state.
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