U.S. Targets Prescription Drug Abuse, Web Pharmacies

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration on Monday expanded efforts to fight illegal diversion and abuse of prescription drugs such as painkillers and sedatives.

Officials said they were taking particular aim at Internet pharmacies that sell controlled substances illegally and create easy access for teenagers, 14 percent of whom abuse prescription drugs.

"We intend to curtail this vicious practice that targets our youth in particular because of their access and interest in the Internet," John Walters, head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, or ONDCP, said at a press conference.

The effort was announced by the ONDCP, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services and Congress.

An estimated 6.2 million Americans abused prescription drugs in 2002, officials said. Emergency-room visits related to abuse of narcotic pain relievers have increased 163 percent since 1995.

One out of every 10 high school seniors last year had abused the painkiller Vicodin, making it the second most popular drug after marijuana, DEA Administrator Karen Tandy said.

Officials said they were working with Internet service providers to develop pop-up ads warning visitors about questionable online pharmacies. Web-based technology will also help identify, investigate and prosecute such sites.

Virginia Republican Rep. Tom Davis said he plans to introduce legislation this week requiring patients and doctors to have at least one face-to-face consultation and setting requirements for displaying drug information online.

In addition to the Internet, drugs can be diverted by pharmacy or warehouse theft, counterfeit prescriptions and unscrupulous doctors.

Officials also said they will boost the number of state prescription monitoring programs, which can detect "doctor shoppers" who redeem prescriptions from multiple physicians, from 20 to 31 by next year. DEA officials updated the current figure to 22 after the announcement.

Critics warn that such programs can cause doctors to undertreat patients, but doctors who treat legitimate patients "have nothing to fear from the DEA," Tandy said.

Expanded education and training on appropriate prescribing and procedures for doctors are also planned, officials said.

If the GOP really wants to divert my attention from W's efforts to beat Kerry in the fall, all it has to do is keep pushing this cr*p.

Note that we already have a system under which antibiotics and many other drugs freely available in other parts of the world must be prescribed by a doctor. Now, Rep. "Tom Davis" (R!!!) thinks that's not good enough. Doctors have to have his approval too to conduct their business.

True, if you have a decent insurance plan and a real doctor, then Davis' legislation would have little impact on you. Your doctor's likely to write anything legitimate you want without a visit.

But I've been without insurance before, and those 'net pharmacies saved me a bundle of money. I had a sinus infection I couldn't shake, but I didn't feel terrific about dropping a wad of dough and wasting half a day to speak to a doctor for three minutes in an office just so I could get a d*mn prescription. Instead, after submitting an online order in about five seconds, I spoke to a real doctor on the telephone, and was prescribed some simple antibiotics right away. The drugs came via overnight mail. The consultation was free, and the prescription was very cheap. And guess what? I got better. And I didn't get broke. I didn't order X, or steroids, or any of the other cr*p we need to keep away from the "children". I just got what I needed without having to beg some clinician I didn't know anyway for half a day. Terrible, wasn't it?

It's called, THE MARKET, and I'm getting sick and tired of legislators whining because not every doctor requires you to waste your time and money filling his pockets for a freakin' sleeping pill or some amoxicillin. The truth is, not every medical problem requires an office visit, and in most cases office visits aren't any more informative than a phone consultation would be. Which is precisely why these doctors work at the online pharmacies.

If these legislators think that doctors' judgment can't be trusted, why don't they just save us all a lot of trouble and repeal the medical licensing requirements, then? I mean, sh*t, obviously a medical license doesn't carry any weight with this guy Davis anyway. Apparently, even with a license, doctors can't be trusted to use their own judgment about when to prescribe medication. Davis has to "reign them in". So, why bother giving us false assurance about a doctor's competency by requiring him to get a license? Hmmnnn...

The war on drugs is now the war on cheap antibiotics. Thank goodness the feds are on the job.

Now there is where you became a "bad American' according to Bush/Davis in that you failed in your duty to fully fatten the wallets of their campaign contributors.

I admit, I laughed, but the truth is that if more doctors were Republicans we'd have a lot less of this cr*p to deal with. Too many doctors see an endless gravy train with socialized medicine, as well as a nice concordance with their "progressive" politics. When they wake up and discover they spent nine years training to be Canadian-style government serfs it will be too late.

Small consolation that will be to the rest of us, as we wait in DMV-style lines to get some cough medicine. I mean, heaven forbid some spoiled teenager somewhere is stealing his mom's vicadin. Get back in line!

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