ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives today passed Senate Bill 36 with a vote of 117 to 45, showing tremendous bipartisan support for the measure that would help doctors and pharmacists identify prescription drug abusers. State Representative Katie Dempsey (R-Rome) not only voted for the legislation, but she also spoke in favor of the bill on the House floor.
“For two years I have listened to physicians and pharmacists repeatedly ask us to pass measures included in this legislation,” said Rep. Dempsey. “Floyd County’s unique geographic position in the corner of our state makes the area particularly susceptible to out of state drug abusers and traffickers looking to take advantage of Georgia doctors and pharmacists. This legislation will help keep those dangerous individuals out of our communities and stop potentially addictive prescriptions drugs from illegally making their way into our schools and neighborhoods.”
SB 36 creates an electronic database of the prescribing and dispensing of Schedule II, III, IV, and V controlled substances in Georgia. The database will only be accessible by doctors and pharmacists who would have to use a secure password. As a result, doctors and pharmacists will be better able to identify prescription drug abusers.
Currently, physicians do not have the ability to know if their patients are obtaining similar prescriptions from other doctors. This lack of information enables patients to pursue multiple prescriptions for similar medications from different doctors. Abuse of these medications results in patients overdosing and putting themselves in life-threatening situations. Additionally, some patients abusing the system in this way obtain the medications so that they can illegally sell the drugs on the street. SB 36 ends this abuse by giving doctors and pharmacists the tools needed to stop this abuse.
For more information on SB 36, please click here.
Representative Katie Dempsey represents the citizens of District 13, which includes portions of Floyd County. She was elected into the House of Representatives in 2006, and currently serves as the Vice Chairman for Higher Education Committee. She also serves on the Economic Development & Tourism, Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications, Health & Human Services, and Rules committees.
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