More than 20 organizations are urging the governor of Rhode Island to veto a proposed law that would allow state and federal investigators to access the state's prescription drug database without a warrant, according to the Providence Journal.
The bill (HR 5469) would allow the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the HHS Office of Inspector General and the Medicaid Fraud and Patient Abuse Unit in the state attorney general's office to request information in the database from a state health department employee. The state prescription drug monitoring program tracks information on every prescription for controlled substances dispensed by Rhode Island pharmacies.
The opposing organizations, including the Rhode Island Medical Society and the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, are concerned that the bill would drive patients "away from the care that they need," Rhode Island Medical Society President Sarah J. Fessler, MD, wrote in a July 12 letter to Governor Gina Raimondo.
Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, who championed the bill in the General Assembly, said the legislation gives law enforcement a meaningful tool to help fight the opioid crisis, reports the Providence Journal. "The bill does not, as the Rhode Island Medical Society, ACLU and others would like you to believe, give law enforcement unfettered access to the PDMP," Mr. Kilmartin said in a statement.
Ms. Raimondo has until July 19 to sign, veto or allow the legislation to become law without her signature.
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