Prescriptions for controlled substances such as opioids and narcotics would be moved to a paperless, e-prescription system by 2021 under a bill moving through the Arkansas Legislature.
Senate Bill 174, by state Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, was recommended by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a voice vote Tuesday, its first step toward becoming law. Its next stop is the Senate.
Hammer described his bill as a response to the nation's ongoing opioid epidemic, which data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have shown to be particularly pronounced in Arkansas.
Between 3 percent and 9 percent of opioid prescriptions in Arkansas are forgeries, according to Arkansas Drug Director Kirk Lane.
Electronic prescriptions are harder to tamper with, and the technology to receive scripts through the internet is already available to 98 percent of pharmacists in the state, Lane added.
[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature]
Scott Pace, a lobbyist for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, supported the bill in committee.
Concerns, however, were raised by several committee members about the effectiveness of an electronic system in rural areas and in the event of a natural disaster. Their concerns hinged on another set of statistics provided by Lane: That while almost all pharmacists can receive electronic prescriptions, only 66 percent of health care providers are set up to use the system.
"I have a problem at this day and time with the technology," said Sen. Terry Rice, R-Waldron. "It's far from being complete for rural Arkansas."
An amendment to the bill approved by the committee Tuesday allows for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to grant a waiver from the law in the case of economic hardship, technological limitations or other "exceptional circumstances."
Pace, the lobbyist, told the committee that 14 other states have already moved to an e-prescription network without major problems.
Earlier this month, Reuters news reported on an e-prescription-linked study that reported that such electronic prescribing systems bounced back quickly in 2017 following major hurricanes in Texas and Florida. A third hurricane that year, in Puerto Rico, caused longer-lasting damage to the island's power grid, and prescription levels there took months to return to normal.
Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, said that while he had reservations about moving to an entirely electronic system, he found the bill to be a necessary step in tackling the "immense" problem of the opioid epidemic.
According to data from the CDC, Arkansas ranks second among the states in both opioid prescription rates and in opioid abuse by young people. Both the attorney general's office, and a coalition of counties and cities across the state, have filed lawsuits against drug makers, alleging that the companies' actions contributed to the crisis.
Information for this article was contributed by Amanda Claire Curcio of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 02/14/2019