Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Tuesday requiring doctors and other health-care professionals who prescribe pharmaceutical drugs to check a monitoring database designed to detect "doctor shopping" and other abuses.
SB 482 by State Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, requires all prescribers issuing so-called "Schedule II, III, and IV drugs" — such as painkillers and amphetamines — to consult California’s Controlled Substance Utilizations Review and Evaluation System (CURES) before prescribing.
California has had a prescription drug monitoring program for the past two decades, and this year launched a modernized version of CURES. CURES 2.0 rolled out in January after a soft launch in summer 2015.
The modernized platform gives qualified users a secure, browser-based login where they can interact with data that flags patients suspected of "doctor shopping" or are prescribed medications that might be fatal when used in combination, among other functions.
"Overdoses claim tens of thousands of lives each year and more than half of those are attributed to abuse of opioid and prescription drugs," Lara said in a statement on Tuesday. "With the governor's signature, we will help prevent doctor shopping and work to curtail untimely deaths caused by drug abuse. I've met families across California who lost their mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and friends to the prescription drug abuse epidemic and it is truly heartbreaking. This law will play a critical role in curbing excess prescribing and keeping prescription drugs out of the hands of those who abuse them."
Before SB 482, consulting California's CURES database was voluntary (although doctors and other prescribers were required to register onto CURES 2.0 by July 1).
The legislation, which goes into effect in 2017, stipulates that prescribers who don't check CURES will be referred to their licensing board for administrative sanctions. Under the bill, prescribers must check CURES when prescribing drugs to a patient for the first time, and at least every four months thereafter as treatment continues.
Consumer Attorneys of California, which supported the bill, said two dozen states already require doctors to check similar databases. The group said doctor shopping for multiple prescriptions has been reduced in those states by as much as 75 percent.
More than 1,000 emergency room visits and 78 deaths every day across the U.S. are attributed to opioid use, the San Jose Mercury News reports. One national advocate told the newspaper that more than 4,000 Californians die each year from opioid addiction.
CURES initially was launched in 1997 and is managed by the California Department of Justice. The effort to build an updated version started in 2013. The project is expected to cost $5.2 million, according to state records.
Separate legislation signed in 2013 (SB 809) required physicians, pharmacists and "healing arts" practitioners who prescribe Schedule II, III and IV controlled substances to enroll in the CURES 2.0 system. The CURES modernization is being funded by taxes levied on drug manufacturers and licensing fees paid by doctors.
