Bill would tighten online pharmacy rules
Attorney general�s proposal aimed at prescription abuse

By Hayli Fellwock
Saturday, February 05, 2005

Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo proposed legislation Friday to crack down on the growing problem of prescription drugs being purchased on the Internet for resale on the black market.

Bill Request 1133, if passed, would tighten regulations for Internet pharmacies and increase monitoring of incoming pharmaceutical packages from outside Kentucky. The bill incorporates elements of legislation passed in Florida and Nevada.

�We�ve checked both those states and they�ve had good results,� Stumbo said.

BR 1133 also adds new ideas suggested by a statewide task force consisting of prosecutors and members of law enforcement and public service agencies.

�We are adding an enhanced penalty section so the Board of Pharmacy, if it finds an entity is not in compliance, it can levy a pretty hefty fine,� Stumbo said.

Though more commonly seen in eastern Kentucky, the new trend in drug trafficking has touched Warren County at least three times, said Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force Detective Shane West.

One case involved Bowling Green businessman Larry Deaton, who pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in October to wire fraud and conspiracy charges, as well as six counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge. He also has drug charges pending in Warren Circuit Court.

The authorities were tipped off, West said, by a shipping carrier who noticed odd behavior and reported it.

�They just said it was weird because they said sometimes he�d sign for it and sometimes he�d say, �Send it back to the depot and I�ll send somebody to pick it up.� The circumstances just weren�t right to the carrier � it�s like they were nervous about signing for it at the time.�

Law enforcement will increasingly look to shipping carriers to be their eyes and ears, especially if the proposed legislation is passed.

Ideally, the Board of Pharmacy would issue an identifier like a barcode or number to each legal Internet pharmaceutical supplier, Stumbo said. That barcode or number would be placed on the outside of drug packages to help shipping carriers identify, sort out and report to law enforcement any packages that are non-compliant.

�You know what pills sound like in a bottle. You know what�s in there, plus you know where it�s coming from,� West said. He added that many of the current problems come from Florida-based Internet pharmacies.

Illegal packages could be confiscated by law enforcement under BR 1133, an idea suggested during the task force�s most recent meeting on Thursday.

�Right now, you can get on the Internet with a credit card, describe your illness and get 100 Loritabs ... 50 Oxycontin pills. You obviously don�t have a need for those,� Stumbo said. �They are shipped to you the next day and those are the ones that are making it onto the black market. We think there�s literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of these drugs that come into Kentucky every day and reach the black market.�

In addition to reducing illegal Internet pharmaceutical sales, the proposed legislation would address safety issues with the shipping carriers, Stumbo said.

�It�s a huge safety concern for them,� he said. �Their drivers are out there carrying these packages and we have had incidents as recently as (Thursday) night where an individual looking pretty distraught � perhaps high on some substance � came in demanding his package.�

Under the proposed legislation, Internet pharmacies would remain compliant by being licensed by the Board of Pharmacy and by reporting more frequently and in greater detail to the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting, or KASPER, system.

A bill passed during the 2004 legislative session upgraded KASPER to help crack down on over-prescribing by Kentucky physicians and �doctor shopping� among Kentucky consumers attempting to gather as many drugs as possible.

That legislation required Kentucky pharmacies to report more punctually to the KASPER system, which in turn provides more data to indicate the areas in which over prescribing is occurring.

�Let�s take the Big Sandy region � we know, statistically, how many people have cancer and various illnesses and how many medicines should be prescribed, and if we see a sharp increase by 20 or 30 percent, that will automatically launch an investigation by the Medical Licensure Board,� Stumbo said. �Before, we could only use KASPER in a reactive � not a proactive � manner.�

Similar to the previous KASPER legislation, BR 1133 would require � within six months of the prescription fill date � a face-to-face physical exam with a physician licensed in Kentucky.

�That�s going to be a pretty big deterrent to people who would order this type of contraband over the Internet,� Stumbo said.

While prohibiting packages from illegal Internet pharmacies, the proposed legislation would not infringe on the individual rights of honest citizens to purchase prescription medicines from legitimate Internet pharmacies, Stumbo said.

Legitimate Internet pharmacies would be required to display on their Web site a seal of approval from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy certifying that it is a �Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Site.�

While legitimate Internet pharmacies could still be abused by drug addicts, Stumbo said the legislation could help put a damper on what is currently a widespread problem.

�It can be done,� he said. �I can�t say it will stop, but it will slow to a drip.�

Stumbo named Internet pharmaceutical sales as a top problem in fighting drugs, along with the methamphetamine epidemic.

Further legislation is currently being drafted by Gov. Ernie Fletcher�s office to combat the meth problem.

�We have tried to act quickly, and I think that�s what we�re going to have to do if we�re going to beat the drug problem, because I guarantee you those people � because they are so addicted � will find a way to get those drugs,� Stumbo said. �It�ll be something new in a couple months. So our perspective, from a law enforcement standpoint, is to keep on top of that.�

Link to article
http://www.bgdailynews.com/articles/stories/public/200502/05/04QU_news.html

thats a filler stop gap for the publics attention.....it must be an election year there..
all a kentucky resident has to do is drive across the state line get a mail box and see another doc, make web orders, etc... its full of holes and just for the 6'00 news. i liked the part about also dealing with the meth problem....the real poisen on the streets.

I'm sick of Greg Stumbo, and he was only elected in November. Drugs are obviously going to be his BIG issue. Meanwhile, it seems we do hear about a meth lab bust every night on the local news. Stumbo wants to make it a Class C felony to possess these drugs from online pharmacies. Class B for trafficers. That's some serious stuff. I wish he'd never been elected, but what do you expect with all the news about the Oxy problem in eastern Kentucky? This is going to be the most drug free state in the country if he has his way, no matter what your reason for taking the medications are. Bummer.

Angela (ghost)

UNFORTUNATELY A SINGLE POLITICIAN WITH A PLATFORM AND ENOUGH PUBLIC OUTRAGE CAN GET ANYTHING PUSHED THRU.
its too bad that they were not able to control the meth issues. thats got allot to do with it all. they see that, and then look around at everything else. they also know that doing the web is easier than the labs. its a zelot politician that can ruin so many peoples lives. they do not consider that they may be harming some. they seem to think that they know what is enough medicine with their law degree. they seem to think that they are always right. they elevate themselves to a position of importance and then get the God complex, wanting to rule the lives of the peasants beneath them. they just know whats bets for the community. its not what the public thinks anymore, its a power trip for these radical politicians to gather votes for some other political race down the road somewhere. he wants to be the guy that cleaned up the state and made it safe for the family again. its an easy sell with the general publics perception of a drug user as someone that steals from old ladies at the grocery store parking lot, or the homeless junkie laying in an alley.
the second you say drugs, thats what people visualize and this guy will get all the support he wants. everyone is tired of the violence, the theiving, the drugs in schools. but they will never fix any of it until they understand why. until then, all they'll even do is make the lives of others a living hell and the drug underground will go on about its business as usual. they just refuse to look deeper and see why its happening in their area. like this, they are hell bent to balme it all on drugs being brought into the state across the state lines. making it someone elses fault and they'll fix that !
then it will continue and they'll find another scapegoat. all they have to do is look around, and chack the mirror. they'll see the source of the problem. its usually economic, education, civic programs to keep kids busy and informed, leadership in other words. don;t expect anyone there to jump up and say we've created this problem and now we'll spend the money to fix it! ain't gonna happen.
they'll just keep hanging it on other things and blaming someone else. thats cheaper, looks like they did something, and furthers political careers.
politicians SUCK and they are out for themselves. not a one has the balls to face this and say, look, we have to be careful here or we could cut off the only source of treatment for many people in our state and make thier lives a hell.
naw,, screw them diaabled, they don't pay enough in taxes anymore, so let 'em suffer.

wait till i'm in a friggin wheel chair ! they'll be more hell raising than any one of those jerk off politiians ever dreamt of.
they're just too damn dumb to fix a difficult problem, so the baby goes with the bath water.

This is a case where you can feel perfectly OK wishing a catastrophic illness with a lot of severe pain befall someone like Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo and Gov. Ernie Fletcher as well as their loved ones. Then they would probably have some understanding - then again maybe not. The "New McCarthyism".

- Gekko

The weird thing is that this just didn't come up until recently. Kentucky State Police worked with NetPain to close down kenady pharmacy because apparently a lot of people in eastern KY were getting meds sent there and reselling them, then all of a sudden, BAM!!! We must shut down all internet pharmacies or at least make them illegal. Here's my take on this- just like porn (hate to use that example), NO ONE will shut down the selling of drugs on the internet. There may not be any pretense of legality, it may be totally black market, but what about international sources? Email sources? Where there is money to be made, someone is going to be selling it and the demand is too high. It's a shame that we have to feel like rats scurrying around in the night, thinking about new stratgies to get meds, and feeling (and being) criminals. It's a shame that people who need these meds desperately, but whose doctor is worried about the addiction problem or the DEA won't prescribe adequately. It's a terrible shame when people suffer because politicians have to have the "issue" of the day. You're right, Gekko, if someone from Greg Stumbo or Ernie Fletcher's family was in chronic pain, they'd be doing something about it. I'd sure they could find a nice doc to prescribe for them. I don't wish that on these people, but it's easy to spout rhetoric when you've never been there yourself.

Angela (ghost)

You are sooo right my friend, The puffed up politicians campaign on morality issues
and they get the votes of the pious so-called
Christian rwingers.

The thing is most of them haven't needed pain pills yet or had a
chronic pain condition. If they did they would whistle a different tune.

This country is now in the hands of the Moral majority or so they think..We will all suffer
before their hands. I see where shrub has proposed cuts in medicaide , and then
had the nerve to say- we're not just picking on the neediest with out new budger proposals.
Lieing sack of BS!

Alpha

You say that apparently people in eastern Kentucky are reselling them. I would bet that thats not the only place in the states that they are being trafficked--but i wonder why we here so much about it in that particular area?
is it this Stumbo making a name for himself?
Jen

Ernie Fletcher came to the hotel that I work at it give a speech. Media crews were there and everything. I was a few feet away as he was leaving and boy let me tell you that I just wanted to reach out smack the man. He is such a shady individual and an embarrassment to the state.

Holy cow I just heard on ABC news The Presidents proposals of cuts on his new budget
Veterans will have to pay double co-payments..Hello veterans?
The military troopers who will be vets after they get through
with their tours of duty in Iraq laying their lives on the line?
Now they will get less than the best healthcare.
This is unacceptible!

Alpha










Alpha

In California, as of the first of this year, we now have a KASPER-like system covering, I beieve, all scheduled drug prescriptions. That's right, when you get a prescription here, it is reported to a law enforcement database. I believe that now includes Schedule V as well. It was already like pulling teeth to get a pain prescription here, especially if you use walkin clinics. I believe also that they can not hand out some for temporary relief from their offices. In the past, many times a doctor or dentist could give you some from their samples. No longer.

And you know who got that law passed? The Terminator? No. Some crazy/right wing attorney general? No. Some lunatic-religious crazed state legislator? No. It was proposed by a "progessive" Democratic legislator and passed in California's famous overwhelmingly Democratic "progressive" state assembly and senate.

I guess my point is that this sort of stuff is bi-partisan. You can rant and scream all you want, but this sort of stuff is equal opportunity political opportunism. JMHO
PB

Ever since the terminator ran for office and then won.
I have never watched anymore of his movies.
Now I will destroy the dvd that I have of terminator 1&2. He is now a politician and
no longer a normal person . What he's doing nowto Cal residents is a crying shame.
What a monster he truely turned out to be!

Maybe some women he fondled will snip his privates!

Alpha

Yikes! I had no idea about the prescription data-base her in Ca. Guess this witch-hunt has become endemic to the entire U.S. Al, Did you know our illustrious Gov. may have his citizenship revoked from his native homeland?...seems they do not approve of the death penality, Arnie has jumped on the death sentence bandwagon, and is alienating himself from his own people.
It's all money honey.
Dave

Actually a Governor can't do anything unless the legislature first approves it. The real problem here is not Republican or Democrat. They are all involved. The New Democrat seems even worse than any with meddling into personal lives - usually "for the children" type excuses. It's looking quite ugly these days. Any wonder then that doctors are afraid to even prescribe worthless meds? Hmmm...

- Gekko

Its sad b/c I live in KY, am a student, have no med insurance, but have 2 herniated discs in my back...couldnt afford Dr visits, to fill the script & for refills BUT that would never happen here because all Dr's are so paranoid to write anything higher than an Ultram or Ultracet due to the "oxy epedemic" .... Its a shame that instead of focusing on the Oxy prob itself STUMBO is focusing on NROP's which dont even have oxycodone. Makes me sick & I feel like KASPER is Big Bro watching over me. This sucks! Why KY??????????? Why Stumbo????????? Pretty soon KY will be one of those states like, I think Floridia & Navada that NROPs do not ship too. I read that KY would be the 3rd state to enforce this crap.


Here is another article from the Lexington Herald Leader if anyone is interested or hasnt seen it:



Drug abusers find what they need online

Prescription painkillers now come C.O.D.

By Lee Mueller

EASTERN KENTUCKY BUREAU


WHITESBURG - To find the newest trend in prescription drug abuse in Eastern Kentucky, says Letcher County Sheriff Danny Webb, just follow the UPS, FedEx and DHL trucks.

Many of Eastern Kentucky's painkiller-peddling drug doctors have been driven out of business under the scrutiny of law enforcement, but their customers are now turning to the Internet for prescription drugs.

In recent months, drug dealers and addicts in Letcher County "have been wearing out our UPS and FedEx drivers," Webb said. The trucks drive up deep hollows and along creekside roads to deliver, C.O.D., neatly wrapped parcels containing pain killers and tranquilizers.

Attorney General Greg Stumbo yesterday proposed legislation to crack down on what he described as a flood of black-market Internet drug sales in the state. The bill, based on laws in Nevada and Florida, the only two states so far to have addressed the issue, would require that Internet pharmacies register with the state to do business.

Any packages of drugs would include a registration number, which delivery services could check to make sure the seller is legally registered.

Webb, a former Kentucky State Police post commander in Hazard, said he hopes the legislation is more than just "lip service."

"This has become a major problem," he said. "We've gotten rid of the doctors who overprescribe. You almost need a signed certificate now saying you have cancer to get a prescription for OxyContin here, but you can still call up Web sites on the Net here and have these pain pills legally delivered to your house. It's just crazy."

It's also easy, he said.

Replying to an Internet message, a hypothetical resident fills out a form and receives a phone call from a doctor, he said. The doctor tells the patient he is going to bill the patient's credit card $110 to $175 for a consultation, asks for pain symptoms and then sends, say, 100 pain-killing Lorcet 10s and 90 Xanax tranquilizers, he said.

Often, the pills are sent collect-on-delivery, he said.

It's ironic, Webb said, that it is illegal in Kentucky to mail a beer, but anyone with a computer can get controlled substances in the mail without seeing a doctor.

Kentucky's problem mirrors a national trend. Kentucky state police already are investigating Internet drug sales and are working with federal drug enforcement agents on a case in Florida, said Maj. Mike Sapp, who attended Stumbo's news conference in Frankfort.

So far, the investigation has shut down seven Internet pharmacies and prompted several doctors to surrender their licenses, he said.

At the same time, Webb said, parcel-service drivers are under siege. At times they feel more like they're working for Brinks than UPS or Federal Express, he said.

In Hazard, Trooper Bruce Kelley arrested a suspect last fall who stole drugs from a parked UPS truck at a convenience store on the Knott-Perry county line while the driver was inside. The suspect knew what he was looking for, Kelley said.

"These people who get those pills through the Internet, they know how these things are packaged," said Kelley, the state trooper.

Many of the pill packages list "Customer Care Center" and Florida cities as return addresses.

So far, Kelley said, such robberies are rare, although some areas of Eastern Kentucky average up to 25 prescription-drug deliveries a day.

"You talk to the delivery drivers -- they have to do their job -- but they're concerned about this," he said.

George Moore, commonwealth's attorney for Montgomery, Rowan, Bath and Menifee counties, said he has been surprised that a UPS or FedEx driver has not been killed by someone looking to steal the pills.

Drivers have reported people following their trucks or trying to flag them down before they reach their destinations, Kelley said.

"Most of the people who get the stuff are willing to pay for it," Kelley said. "They just can't wait for it to get to their house."

Matt Montgomery, president of UPS Union Local 651, which represents about 300 drivers in Eastern and Central Kentucky, said the problem is bigger than the public realizes.

He cited recent incidents in Powell and Clark counties. In Stanton, he said, police were called when an irate man went into a UPS facility demanding his prescription drugs. In Clark County, a man was involved in a car accident after he couldn't get his prescription at a UPS building.

"Our drivers are calling us and telling us, 'We're being pulled over on the side of the road and being demanded to give over their drugs,'" he said. "Drivers have called and said, 'Hey, we've been offered cash to let us get our package so you don't have to give us the proper ID.'"

Drivers delivering drugs now require recipients to show driver's licenses.

UPS officials did not return a call seeking comment yesterday.

Under Kentucky's proposed legislation, Internet pharmacies also would have to connect to the state KASPER system, which tracks prescription drugs in Kentucky.

"If they ship here and we identify that they're not registered and they're not meeting standards of the act, then we confiscate their drugs," Stumbo said.

In cases where drugs are being shipped in unmarked packages, law enforcement agents will rely on information from UPS drivers, such as frequent deliveries and multiple packages addressed to different names at the same house, Stumbo said.

That would provide legal grounds for a search warrant, he said.

The bill also would require Kentuckians to have proof of a face-to-face meeting with a doctor within six months before the prescription is delivered in order for it to be valid.

Any entity found to be illegally shipping drugs could be fined by the Board of Pharmacy up to $100,000 or could be charged with a felony, Stumbo said.

The bill will be sponsored by Rep. Mike Weaver, D-Elizabethtown, in the House and Sen. Dick Roeding, R-Lakeside Park, in the Senate.

Weaver said he expects the bill to be on a fast track and reach the House Judiciary Committee by the end of next week.


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