New Smartphone App Will Allow Doctors and Pharmacists To Track Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drugs can be wonderfully helpful in limited medical situations, but their help comes at a steep price. Despite the fact that they are FDA approved and doctor recommended, these medications are not entirely safe for regular use, and they have the same risks of abuse and addiction as many other dangerous drug substances.

In an effort to prevent these problems, doctors will often strive to recommend the lowest possible dose, and will usually caution their patients against abusing their medications in any way. However, the simple fact is that an individual who truly desires to abuse their prescription drugs can always find a way – either through crushing and snorting tablets that are meant to be swallowed, taking more than the recommended dose, or even doctor shopping to get multiple prescriptions for the same medical problem. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much that doctors or pharmacists could do to stop this abuse from occurring. That is, until now.

A Smartphone App to Prevent Prescription Drug Abuse

A new smartphone app, currently available for iPhone and Apple handheld device users, allows doctors and pharmacists to track patients’ prescription drug use. In New Jersey, registered users of the state’s Prescription Monitoring Program will have access to the state’s prescription database, allowing them to track what controlled substances – including highly dangerous opiate painkillers – specific individuals have received. This invaluable program was first launched in 2011, and acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman admits that the more user-friendly the program becomes, the more likely doctors and pharmacists are to use it.

Doctors and pharmacists are not required to register with the Prescription Monitoring Program, but lawmakers have been pressured to find more solutions to the problems of prescription drug abuse and addiction. Providing a complete and easily-accessible record of prescription drugs can allow users to look up a patient’s prescription history to determine whether there may be a potential problem with medication abuse or addiction. Users can also look up their own records, allowing them to verify the prescriptions they have written or filled and determine whether someone may have fraudulently used their professional license in order to illegally obtain prescription drugs.

The purpose of this program is to help doctors and pharmacists join in the battle against prescription drug abuse by working to identify the signs that an individual is doctor shopping or even attempting to illegally fill one prescription at multiple different pharmacies. This is an area over which doctors and pharmacists previously had no control, and therefore the issues of prescription drug safety rested on the shoulders of the individuals who are taking these drug substances. Obviously, this has proven insufficient to protect individuals against the threat of prescription drug abuse. Prescription drug records can go a long way in detecting whether an individual may have a problem that needs addressing, prior to them sinking fully into the trap of prescription drug abuse and addiction.

Making a Change

While there are continued efforts in the areas of prescription drug abuse prevention through effective education, the fact is that prescription drug abuse is on the rise. In fact, the National Institute on Drug Abuse confirms that prescription drug overdose deaths now outnumber the overdose deaths caused by heroin and cocaine combined. There needs to be a change made, and the Prescription Monitoring Program is a strong step in the right direction. Both New Jersey addiction experts and law enforcement officials are strongly supporting the effort to make participation in the Prescription Monitoring Program mandatory for doctors and pharmacists, and while some may disagree with such a law the fact remains that these are dangerous drug substances, and doctors and pharmacists have a duty to ensure they are doing everything possible to prevent their abuse.