Kamala Harris, California Attorney General, is pushing for funds to improve the statewide prescription drug monitoring database that would increase oversight on so-called “pill mills,” as well as individuals who are selling the drugs on the street.
Riverside Criminal Defense Attorney Houman Fakhimi knows that if Harris is successful, we will likely be seeing a marked increase in the number of drug arrests here in Orange County and throughout the state.
The statewide monitoring program, called the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES), allows health care providers and pharmacists to track patients who may be “doctor shopping,” or tapping more than one doctor for the same prescription, with the goal of either abusing the drug or selling it. Those individuals may be reported to either state or federal law enforcement for further investigation.
The statewide monitoring program, called the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES), allows health care providers and pharmacists to track patients who may be “doctor shopping,” or tapping more than one doctor for the same prescription, with the goal of either abusing the drug or selling it. Those individuals may be reported to either state or federal law enforcement for further investigation.
Officials say that even as it is, these investigations are reportedly lacking because the budget is a bare-bones $400,000 annually. It’s overseen by a single employee in the attorney general’s office.
Although it has advanced into the technological sphere, it has actually existed in some form or another in the state since the late 1930s. In fact, California’s system has been deemed a model for other states when the prescription drug “epidemic” first began to hit a few years ago.
What Harris is apparently hoping to do is expand the program in order to track doctors who may be “recklessly” prescribing the drug. This would reportedly involve hiring two criminal law enforcement teams to evaluate and investigate supposedly suspicious patterns of prescribing.
The cost to do with would reportedly near the $10 million mark, and legislation to do this has already been proposed by Democratic state senators from Sacramento and Concord.
The program would set up an automatic alert to authorities for prescription patterns that appear excessive or questionable. These patterns would include higher-than-usual numbers of painkillers or certain drug combinations that are popular with those who abuse drugs.
The problem, as patients advocates have pointed out, is that suspicion really shouldn’t be drawn based on algorithms. The fear of being investigated may prompt many doctors to refrain from prescribing the drug to people who really need it.
Further, doctors who continue prescribing the drug as necessarily may come under unnecessary scrutiny.
Physicians who believe they are being investigated for these crimes, even now, should not hesitate to contact an experienced defense attorney to represent their interests – even if they have done nothing wrong. There are many instances in which we can head off such charges at the pass.
At least six other states in the country already have programs that do this.
Illegal prescription drug sales or dispensing is covered under California Health & Safety Code 11352. Generally for felony crimes involving prescription drugs, you’ll face up to five years in prison and fines of up to $20,000, barring aggravating factors that could increase the penalties.
Contact Houman Fakhimi trial attorney at (714) 705-6701 as soon as possible if you are arrested for a drug crime in Riverside.