After the recent arrest of a physician in Kissimmee, FL that allegedly wrote $85 million worth of paper prescriptions over less than half dozen years to real bricks and mortar pharmacies.
I wonder how many prescriptions this physician could have issued if he simply needed to ‘Ctrl’ C and ’Ctrl’ V on his keyboard every 30 seconds ?
Also, what impact will electronic scripts have on the growing issue of counterfeit drugs ?
The Drug Enforcement Administration has sent a proposed rule to the Department of Justice to allow electronic prescribing of controlled substances. The department has been under increasing pressure to promulgate such a rule from the Senate and various health care I.T. stakeholders.
In a letter dated Feb. 1 and sent to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, (D-R.I.), the DEA said it had submitted the proposed rule but couldn’t predict how long the Department of Justice would take reviewing it. The Office of Management and Budget, which also must review the rule, has up to 90 days to render a decision on it.
Current DEA regulations require that doctors write paper prescriptions for controlled substances, including pain medications, antidepressants and some drugs to treat asthma in children.
The DEA has been evaluating allowing electronic prescribing since March 2001, when it issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on the topic.
