PDMP Heard in Senate Committee

This week, the Senate Seniors, Families and Children Committee held a hearing on HB 188, sponsored by Rep. Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston). The bill establishes a statewide prescription drug monitoring program, or PDMP. The legislation would allow doctors and pharmacists to see what prescriptions patients are receiving. Rep. Rehder noted that Missouri is the only state in the nation that lacks a statewide monitoring program. Numerous witnesses, including the MCC, testified in support of bill. They noted that the PDMP is confidential and allows medical professionals to identify patients who are receiving multiple prescriptions for painkillers, and is a way to address patient opioid misuse. Critics raised concerns about chronic patients who need pain medicine, as well as the possibility of personal health information in a government database being hacked, and questioned its effectiveness in fighting the opioid epidemic. The committee took no action on the bill.