Prescription Monitoring Program in Florida: Helping to get Addicts out of the Pharmacy and into Drug Rehab

Prescription drug abuse has become so prevalent that the number of people reporting this abuse is greater than the numbers abusing cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants and heroin combined. Moreover, deaths from prescription drug overdoses have outnumbered the number of fatalities in the state caused by heroin and cocaine.

On average six people die daily from prescription drug overdoses.

So what can be done?

For starters, the implementation of a prescription monitoring program. �It's a system that essentially allows a shared data base among pharmacies enabling the monitoring of multiple prescriptions and multiple doctors, eliminating the tedious process of obtaining this information from each and every single location.

Doctors prescribe patients with drugs to help provide pain relief while they are recovering from legitimate medical conditions. When drugs like Oxycontin and Vicodin (highly addictive narcotics) are abused patients can easily become both physically and psychologically addicted with more and more medication "needing" to be taken long after the medical condition has passed. When the doctor will no longer provide additional prescriptions, these individuals actively seek out other doctors with the intent of receiving a prescription from this new unsuspecting doctor, often embellishing the information or just flat out lying about ailments which don't exist.

A monitoring program will go far in preventing this all too common occurrence, but it will additionally halt this lucrative activity of the drug dealer, who after receiving multiple prescriptions, turns around and sells these drugs on the street for ten-fold of what was paid.

But the most important aspect to the monitoring program is how it can benefit those unluckily caught up in the web of addiction.

With this type of system both pharmacist and doctor can help monitor the patient's drug activity and be alerted to signs of abuse. In this way, a doctor can go a step further with patient care by helping the individual safely withdraw from the drugs if they have become addicted.

Still we have to keep an eye on our friends and loved ones who are currently taking prescription medication. If enough time has gone by for their ailment to have healed and yet they are still taking medication, realize that they may have developed an addiction and need help to safely withdraw.

If you find yourself in this scenario, we can help. Call one of our Drug Rehab Counselors today toll free at 1-877-211-7428.