Florida To Crack Down On Pill Mills

Powerful pain killers and other medications are available only with a doctor’s prescription. But when a doctor writes prescriptions based on a cash payment, not a patient’s medical welfare, law enforcement authorities call it a “pill mill.”

With prescription medicine a growing part of the nation’s drug abuse, pill mills are coming under scrutiny in a number of states, including Florida, where Attorney General Pam Bondi has unveiled a legislative strategy to target the problem.

Bondi thinks the problem is particularly bad in her state, saying Florida leads the nation in diverted prescription drugs, such as the powerfull pain killer oxycontin. She laid out a number of recommendations she’ll present to the state legislature, including:

• Mandatory six-month suspension and $10,000 fine for doctors who violate standards of care when prescribing controlled substances;

• Criminal penalty (third-degree felony) for those who use fraud or misrepresentation to register as a pain clinic;

• Criminal penalty for doctors who fail to perform a physical examination before dispensing 72-hours worth of controlled substances; second-degree misdemeanor for the first offense; first-degree misdemeanor for the second offense; and third-degree felony for the third offense; and

• Requirement that anyone who maintains inventory of controlled substances must report the discovery of any theft of controlled substances to local law enforcement or FDLE within 48 hours; failure to do so will result in administrative penalties and fines.

More scrutiny of pain clinics

In addition to her legislative proposals, Bondi outlined what she said is the need for aggressive administrative enforcement on pain clinics and doctors; increased criminal prosecution through partnerships between the Office of Statewide Prosecution and State Attorneys in high drug-trafficking areas; and long-term prevention strategies such as drug takebacks and drug courts.

"Our state needs a unified effort at every level to eradicate Florida's pill mills," Bondi said. "We are working with state and local law enforcement, as well as our federal partners, to curtail the dangerous dispensing and abuse of prescription drugs."

According to Bondi, Florida has become the destination for distributors and abusers through the proliferation of pill mills. While the Legislature has already enacted several reforms to address this growing problem, Bondi her recommendations provide additional provisions that will give law enforcement enhanced tools to investigate and prosecute pill mills and crack down on doctors that engage in drug trafficking.