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Northeast Florida Senator Wants To Help Pain Patients Get Meds

Before instituting new pain medication rules, Florida was known as one of the worst places for prescription drug abuse. Now, the state's overdose rate has dropped 25 percent, but some legitimate patients have also been affected.
Frankie Leon
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
Before instituting new pain medication rules, Florida was known as one of the worst places for prescription drug abuse. Now, the state's overdose rate has dropped 25 percent, but some legitimate patients have also been affected.
Credit Frankie Leon / Flickr Creative Commons
/
The Florida Channel
Before instituting new pain medication rules, Florida was known as one of the worst places for prescription drug abuse. Now, the state's overdose rate has dropped 25 percent, but some legitimate patients have also been affected.

Since Florida implemented its prescription drug monitoring program four years ago, prescription overdose deaths have dropped by 25 percent. That’s according to a new University of Florida study.

But the new state regulations have also had an unintended effect — people who have a legitimate need for pain medication are having a harder time finding it.

For one thing, Senate Health Policy Chair Aaron Bean says a 5,000-pill cap for pharmacies creates artificial scarcity.

“A lot of times pharmacists and pharmacies just aren’t able to keep the medicines in stock and we think one of the problems is that state law put some caps in place,” Bean says.

He says his office has been inundated with calls from constituents suffering with debilitating diseases who say they’re lives have been negatively affected. His announcement also comes after extensive reporting from the News Service of Florida.

The Fernandina Beach Republican Senator says he’ll soon file a bill removing the cap, but leaving other aspects of the prescription-management program in place. 

Copyright 2020 WJCT News 89.9. To see more, visit .

Ryan Benk is a reporter for WJCT in Jacksonville. He came from Tallahassee, where he worked as a news researcher and reporter for NPR affiliate WFSU. Originally from Miami, Florida, he graduated with a bachelor of arts in English literature from Florida State University. During his time in Tallahassee, Ryan also worked as a policy and research analyst for legislative-research firm LobbyTools before returning to public radio at WJCT.
Ryan Benk is originally from Miami, Florida and came to Tallahassee to attend Florida State University. He worked on Miami Dade College’s Arts and Literature Magazine- Miamibiance Magazine and has published poetry and a short film called “ The Writer.” He’s currently working as the Newsroom’s Researcher while finishing his Creative Writing Bachelor’s Degree at Florida State University. When he’s not tracking down news, Ryan likes watching films, writing fiction and poetry, and exploring Florida.