Bill would mandate drug-database checking in California

While most states now have prescription databases available to help ward against doctor shopping, clinicians tend not to take advantage of the resources unless required to. A California bill now headed to the Assembly would require prescribers to check the state's Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System drug monitoring program database when prescribing Schedule II or III drugs like oxycontin to a patient for the first time, and annually thereafter if the treatment continues. Other states that have passed similar laws, including New York, Kentucky and Tennessee, have seen substantial drops in patients with multiple prescribers for the same drugs, PR Newswire reports. Announcement