Editorial: Florida taking necessary steps to reverse opioid epidemic

The Sunshine State is in the grip of an opioid epidemic.

Has it touched your life?

During the first half of 2016, more than 3,000 Floridians died from prescription drug use, according to a May report by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission.

The report also identified the drugs causing the most deaths, including fentanyl (704), cocaine (643), benzodiazepines (632), morphine (559), heroin (406) and oxycodone (324).

“Total drug-related deaths increased by 13.9 percent when compared with the first half of 2015,” the report stated.

Each of the 3,044 Floridians who died was more than a statistic — each was a son or daughter, father or mother, friend or neighbor.

Just how bad is the problem in Florida? It can be seen in the number of babies born addicted to drugs. In 2007, 536 babies were born with an addiction, according to data from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. By 2016, the number had skyrocketed to 4,215.

The state’s largest insurer — Florida Blue — announced recently it will no longer cover OxyContin. Instead, beginning Jan. 1, Florida Blue will cover an alternative: Xtampza ER. It is similar to OxyContin, but more chemically suited to prevent users from crushing, snorting or injecting it.

Legislative action

To reverse Florida’s opioid epidemic, two state lawmakers have filed companion bills designed to curb prescription drug abuse. Florida Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, and Rep. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, have targeted a problem that merits attention: the over-prescribing of opioids.

Both Senate Bill 8 (Benacquisto’s bill) and House Bill 21 (Boyd’s) would limit doctors to writing a three-day prescription of opioids, though a seven-day regimen could be prescribed if the practitioner deemed it a medical necessity.

There would be exemptions to the three-day/seven-day rule — i.e., for patients confronting terminal illness — but these exemptions have yet to be added to the legislation. During the upcoming session, lawmakers need to flesh out this issue and make sure they include exemptions for those whose medical conditions necessitate access to opioids beyond seven days.

That said, Florida is moving in the right direction by proposing limits on prescription drugs. A recent study, published in March by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found the likelihood of becoming addicted to opioids increases with the length of use. Researchers discovered those with a three-day prescription had a 3 percent chance of developing a long-term addiction. Those with a 10-day prescription had a 20 percent chance of becoming addicted. The probability of becoming addicted jumped to 30 percent for those who had 30-day access to an opioid.

Limiting patients’ access to opioids, while simultaneously carving out exemptions for exceptional cases, makes a lot of sense.

Doctors

The Benacquisto/Boyd bills contain two additional — and important — provisions. One would require doctors to access the state’s prescription drug-monitoring program before writing a prescription for controlled substances. Currently, only pharmacists are required to use the system.

Created by the 2009 Florida Legislature, the database tracks a patient’s prescription drug record. It was put in place to make it more difficult for patients to get multiple prescriptions from different doctors.

Given the fact that doctors write prescriptions, why aren’t they required to use the prescription drug monitoring program? They should be.

The second provision would require pharmacists to check the photo ID of patients before dispensing opioid prescriptions. This, too, should be standard.

For the most part, the proposed bills constitute a common-sense approach to reversing Florida’s opioid crisis.

Treasure Coast Newspapers and the Daily News are part of the USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida.