Nevada unique in war on prescription drug abuse

Art Nadler

Tuesday, May 4, 1999 | 12:06 p.m.

A Nevada computer system that tracks prescription drug abuse will get national attention this month.

Keith Macdonald, executive secretary of the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy, will describe the system, unique in the country, at the 95th annual meeting of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy May 23 in Albuquerque, N.M.

Nevada's computer system scans, on average, 2 million prescriptions from pharmacies throughout the state and kicks out the names of people who see large numbers of doctors for multiple drugs.

Some patients have gone to as many as 100 doctors and had prescriptions filled at 40 pharmacies, Macdonald said. Many of them, he said, are abusing the painkiller hydrocortone.

Macdonald declined to say what numbers cause the computer program to flag a patient.

Macdonald said more than 4,000 people a year abuse prescription drugs in Nevada. The Controlled Substance Abuse Task Force -- made up of physicians, pharmacists, the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners, the Nevada Division of Investigations and other medical personnel -- was formed in 1995 by the Legislature to combat the problem.

"It's been a godsend for us," said Dave Hosmer, deputy chief of the Nevada Division of Investigations. "We don't have to waste criminal investigations on people where intervention can help."

Macdonald said the primary focus of the task force has been to identify people addicted to prescription drugs and find them professional help. Many people who shop among doctors and pharmacies for drugs are doing so for their own use, he said.

Hosmer said about 60 people have been arrested for criminal prosecution since the program officially began in 1997. First-time offenders are usually sent to Drug Court, where they are given a chance to attend a substance abuse program in lieu of jail.

Repeat offenders could face from one to six years in prison, because obtaining prescription drugs under false pretenses is a felony in Nevada.

Such states as Idaho, Tennessee and New Mexico have inquired about Nevada's computer system, Macdonald said.