Law enforcement agencies across Central Florida are continuing their attack on the illegal possession of prescription pills and sale of prescription drugs. Over the past several months law enforcement agencies including the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) have added more officers, detectives and agents to combat the overwhelming increase in illegal possession of the prescription drugs. With this increase in law enforcement, the Courts across Central Florida have clearly seen a growth in illegal prescription drug cases.
CVS Decision Impacts More Than Just Florida Doctors
In an unprecedented act, a national pharmacy chain has informed a small number of Florida doctors, including a few in Orlando, that any prescriptions written for certain pain killing drugs (Schedule II narcotics) will not be filled by the pharmacy.
As Prosecutors crack down on Prescription Pills, Manufactures increase potency
Prescription Pill abuse has forced law enforcement agencies across the country to target pain clinics and pain management doctors. As law enforcement cracks down on the abuse of prescription pills, an article written by the Daily Mail Reporter indicates that at least four manufactures are in the process of patenting the addictive ingredient hydrocodone in a pure form. Do we really need a "pure form" of hydrocodone? The Pharmaceutical companies will have doctors argue that this is just another "tool" for doctors to manage pain. However, the overwhelming addiction abuse associated with these pain medications has forced law enforcement and legislatures to increase penalties for illegally possessing these pain medications. The article in the Daily Mail, quotes Andrew Kolodny, president of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing who told CBS: 'You've got a person on your product for life, and a doctor's got a patient who's never going to miss an appointment, because if they did and they didn't get their prescription, they would feel very sick. 'It's a terrific business model, and that's what these companies want to get in on.' These drug companies are going to produce a drug that is 10 times stronger than Vicodin. The reality is that the increased potency is going to lead to an increase in addiction and an increase in Pharmaceutical drug crimes. Some responsibility needs to come from the pharmaceutical drug manufacturers. Even as the criminal penalties increase, pharmaceutical manufacturers should have some type of ethical and legal responsibility to control its distribution.
