Florida’s effort to launch a prescription drug database meant to help crack down on “pills mills” and “doctor shopping” may get pushed back until next year.
A bid dispute by rival companies seeking to run the database has put the project on hold for now. And one of the companies in the dispute contends that the winning bidder is unlikely to get the database up and running by the deadline of December 1.
Susan Smith, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Health, said on Thursday that the department could not discuss the bid protest but she acknowledged the program is on hold until the dispute is resolved. She said that the plan was to activate the database “as soon as possible after the conclusion of the bid protest.”
The Republican-led Legislature back in 2009 passed a measure that mandated the creation of the drug database as a way to let doctors and pharmacists track a patient’s prescription history. The measure was passed in response to reports that South Florida had become a haven for pill mills.
Read the full story here at the Florida Tribune.
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