ENHANCEMENT OF THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY NARCOTICS SERVICE PRESCRIPTION MONITORING PROGRAM

In Fiscal Year 2006, Congress appropriated $7,500,000 to the U.S. Department of Justice to support the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. Prescription monitoring programs are systems where controlled substance dispensing data is submitted to a centralized database administered by an authorized state agency. These programs are designed to help prevent and detect the diversion and abuse of pharmaceutical controlled substances, particularly at the retail level where no other automated information collection system exists.

States that have implemented prescription drug monitoring programs have the capability of collecting and analyzing prescription data much more efficiently than states without such programs, where the collection of prescription information requires the manual review of pharmacy files which is a very time consuming and invasive process. The increased efficiency of prescription monitoring programs allows for the early detection of abuse trends and possible sources of diversion. The analysis of collected data also allows for the identification of outmoded prescribing practices, such as the undertreatment of pain, which may result in the development of educational programs for medical professionals. The Texas Prescription Monitoring Program (TPMP) was enacted in 1982 for the monitoring of Schedule II controlled substances. It was created to be an efficient, cost effective tool for the investigation and prevention of drug diversion. Before the implementation of this program, manpower was the primary resource available to combat diversion. The primary goal of the TPMP is to reduce the quantity of controlled substance obtained by 'doctor shopping' and forgery and to reduce the adverse effects of pharmaceutical controlled substances abuse. The objective of the TPMP is to be proactive rather than reactive and assist regulatory agencies as well as law enforcement in the pursuit of this endeavor. This grant will be used to enhance the TPMP initiatives that will complement its current operation. This will be accomplished through the hiring of full time diversion/audit investigators needed to enhance the overall goals and objectives of the TPMP in obtaining compliance with statutory and administrative guidelines. In addition, the additional personnel will support the training and instruction of departmental officers, other law enforcement officers, and health care providers in the area of statutory and administrative guidelines. Grant funding will also be used for to purchase various pieces of equipment which will enable personnel to perform their duties in a responsible and efficient manner.

CA/NCF