CONTACT: Andrew Souvall 

or Jennifer Cannata

Trenton, NJ --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today said legislation he authored, which President Bush is expected to sign into law this week, gives the New Jersey legislature the perfect opportunity to pass legislation already introduced that creates a drug monitoring program to combat the overuse and abuse of prescription drugs.     

Pallone's legislation, which was approved by Congress before it adjourned for the August recess, will provide grants to states to establish and improve electronic programs for monitoring controlled dangerous substances.  Pharmacists would report any prescriptions with potential for high abuse or addiction to a state monitoring authority that would make this information available to state licensing boards.  The information would then be accessible to physicians in cases of suspected abuses and law enforcement in cases of criminal investigations.

"New and innovative prescription drugs have been a tremendous help to New Jerseyans who are suffering from chronic pain, but these drugs are highly addictive," Pallone said at a press conference in Trenton.  "My legislation gives New Jersey access to federal funding to create a monitoring system that will prevent prescription drug abusers from exploiting and ducking the system, while giving doctors the confidence that the drugs they prescribe will only be used as intended."

Today, at a news conference at the Trenton Statehouse, Pallone was joined by New Jersey Senator Joe Vitale and Assemblyman Herb Conaway, who are two of the sponsors of legislation that would create a monitoring program in New Jersey, and by New Jersey Director of Division of Consumer Affairs Kimberly Ricketts, whose agency would implement and oversee the program.

Twenty-one states have already implemented prescription drug monitoring programs that have proven to be very effective at preventing drug abuse in-state, although evidence also suggests that states without monitoring programs have seen a rise in abuse as people cross state lines to evade monitoring.  Before passage of Pallone's legislation, there was no system in place that allowed information to be shared between states.  Pallone's legislation provides uniform reporting formats so states can work together to stop drug abuse.

"There is nothing in place to prevent a drug abuser from Pennsylvania from crossing state lines into New Jersey and filling a prescription to avoid detection," Pallone said.  "My legislation solves this problem by providing states with uniform formats that make it easier to share information across state lines.  Now, it's time for New Jersey to take advantage of this new federal law."

"As the agency that licenses and regulates physicians and pharmacists, we're focused on safeguarding the health of the public," said Kimberly Ricketts, Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. "A centralized Prescription Drug Monitoring Program will allow us to enhance our efforts against fraud and abuse."

According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network, prescription drug abuse comprises almost one-third of drug abuse in the country today and is steadily rising.  Statistics from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention show that in 2000, 43 percent of the drug overdoses emergency room doctors treated were from misuse of prescription drugs.  Over the past 15 years, the number of new abuses of prescription painkillers in those ages 12-25 has grown five-fold to over 2 million in 2000. 

Pallone, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, worked closely with U.S. Reps. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Ted Strickland (D-OH) and Charles Norwood (R-GA) in writing the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2005.

SUMMARY OF LEGISLATION: 

• Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award one-year grants to each approved State to establish or improve a State controlled substance monitoring program. Requires the Secretary to develop minimum standards for States to ensure security of information collected and to recommend penalties for the provision or use of information in violation of applicable laws or regulations.

• Requires each approved State to: (1) require dispensers to report to the State within one week of each dispensing of a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject; and (2) establish and maintain an electronic searchable database containing the information reported. Allows a State to provide information from the database in response to certain requests by practitioners, law enforcement, narcotics control, licensure, disciplinary, or program authorities, the controlled substance monitoring program of another State, and agents of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), State Medicaid programs, State health departments, or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

• Requires the Secretary to: (1) specify a uniform electronic format for the reporting, sharing, and provision of information under this Act; (2) give preference to approved States in awarding any grants related to drug abuse; and (3) study and report to Congress on such programs, including on interoperability between programs, the feasibility of a real-time electronic controlled substance monitoring program, privacy protections, and technological alternatives to centralized data storage.