• Business & Economy
  • Politics & Government
    • Campaign Countdown
      • 2012 Reports
  • Sports
  • High School Sports
    • Football Friday Night
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • All Topics

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

  • Home
  • Audio Archives
  • Contact Us
  • Reporters
  • Affiliates
  • Affiliate Support
  • PostsComments
You are here: Home / Crime & Courts / Pharmacy Board says monitoring program has cut prescription drug abuse

Pharmacy Board says monitoring program has cut prescription drug abuse

October 11, 2013 By Pat Curtis

More than half of the pharmacies in Iowa are now participating in a voluntary program designed to cut the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs. That’s according to Terry Witkowski with the Iowa Board of Pharmacy. He testified before the state’s Drug Policy Advisory Council, which has been keeping track of abuse of prescription drugs, including painkillers.

Witkowski said it’s more difficult now to go from pharmacy to pharmacy to get more and more drugs. “Some of the things we track (are) the number of patients who go to 5 or more, or 10 or more, or 15 or more pharmacies or prescribers to get their prescription drugs and those numbers are falling every year,” Witkowski said.

Iowa’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program is now five years old. Before the program was launched, Witkowski said it was easy to go to a dozen or more doctors or pharmacies and get a prescription at each one. The numbers were pretty high, especially in the 15 or more or 10 or more pharmacies or prescribers that were being used. The next year, those numbers dropped dramatically,” Witkowski said.

The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program is now being used by 56-percent of the state’s pharmacies, according to Witkowski. Under the voluntary program, doctors and pharmacies can check the system to see if a patient is getting multiple prescriptions. The Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy reports that prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing form of substance abuse in the state.

A national report issued this week shows the number of deaths in Iowa from drug overdoses has quadrupled in just 11 years. The report from Trust for America’s Health states most drug overdoses are from prescription drugs rather than illegal drugs like heroin or cocaine.

 

 

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Health & Medicine, News Tagged With: Drugs

Featured Stories

Democrat from Cedar Falls resigned from Iowa Senate today

DOT could end up with a record use of salt and sand on roadways

$100 fine proposed for highway drivers loitering on the left

Bill getting rid of weapon carry permits passes first legislative test

Iowa officials propose payout change for first week of unemployment

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Drake holds off Southern Illinois

Bohannon’s three pointer caps furious Iowa rally

Iowa State holds off Oklahoma

Iowa’s Wieskamp snares Big Ten honor

Iowa-Michigan women rescheduled for Friday

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2019 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC