An audit conducted by New York state officials showed that in thousands of cases, a state law-mandated prescription drug monitoring program is not always being consulted with the prescriptions of narcotic painkillers. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
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Nov. 28 (UPI) -- A new audit has found about a third of New Yorkers on Medicaid being treated for opioid addiction received a prescription for narcotic painkillers over a four-year period -- highlighting a potential problem nationwide with drug monitoring systems.
The New York comptroller's audit this week said of those addicts who found a doctor to prescribe them opioids between Oct. 1, 2013, and Sept. 30, 2017, 3 percent -- or nearly 19,000 people --sought medical care for an overdose within a month of filling those prescriptions. Twelve died.
The audit found that treatment programs did not always check the state's Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing (I-STOP) database -- a monitoring system that keeps track of narcotic prescriptions given to addicts. The study found a sample of 25 patients from three treatment programs received more than 1,000 Medicaid opioid prescriptions while in treatment for abuse over the four-year period.
New York law requires treatment programs to check the I-STOP database every time a medication-assisted opioid was prescribed for take-home use.
New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the discrepancies show the monitoring system needs to be better.
"New York and the rest of the country are facing an opioid addiction epidemic, and people's lives are at stake," he said. "Programs designed to get individuals off highly addictive opioids can only be effective with proper vigilance. The state Department of Health should take steps to help treatment programs and health care providers work together to prevent overdoses that could lead to hospitalizations or death."
DiNapoli recommended the Department of Health develop a method for notifying treatment programs when the database shows Medicaid recipients receive potentially dangerous prescriptions. His office also suggested the programs upload their own patient info when accessing the database, and that the Health Department conduct risk assessments for individuals receiving medication-assisted treatment.
A number of states have implemented similar prescription monitoring databases in efforts to curb opioid addiction, which President Donald Trump declared a year ago a national health emergency.
This month, New Jersey proposed new rules to bolster its prescription monitoring program -- that say health officials must use the database to check patients' use of opioids and other controlled substances with addiction potential. The proposed rules would "make it easier for prescribers to fulfill their duty to monitor patient use of opioid painkillers and other controlled drugs that can lead to addiction and fatal overdoses," officials said in a statement.
The rules would also expand the types of drugs that must be monitored through the database -- including all opioids, not merely those in the DEA's Schedule II category, as well as sedatives like Xanax and other benzodiazepines.
"New Jersey's Prescription Monitoring Program is one of our most powerful tools in combating addiction to prescription drugs," said New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal. "With these new rules, the NJPMP will be even more effective in preventing abuse and diversion of opioids and other drugs fueling New Jersey's addiction crisis."
Tuesday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to integrate multiple statewide controlled substance databases.
There is evidence to indicate efforts to fight opioid addiction is working. Last year, an estimated 49,000 Americans died from opioid-related overdoses -- a decrease of 15,000 from 2016.
