Should doctors be charged with murder when their prescriptions are linked to fatal overdoses? The Orlando Sentinel says it is one idea being considered as local officials and law-enforcement agencies wrestle with the prescription-drug epidemic sweeping the state. “This is all about greed,” said Orange-Osceola State Attorney Lawson Lamar. “These doctors prey on the weakness of these patients.”
Unlike 35 other states, Florida doesn’t have an operational database that tracks prescriptions doctors write for certain drugs, and those who are prescribed the drugs. Florida lawmakers adopted plans for one in 2009, but a bid dispute kept it from running. It didn’t help that Gov. Rick Scott was opposed to the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program for privacy reasons, prompting the White House and officials from other states to implore that he change his stance. Florida lawmakers responded to the crisis this year by approving legislation aimed at cracking down on the state’s so-called pill mills.