Strickland Administration creates prescription drug task force

Gov. Ted Strickland signed an excutive order last week to create the Ohio Prescription Drug Task Force, a group charged with developing strategies for addressing illegal prescription drug use (Source: “Ohio Gov. Strickland goes after illegal prescription drug business,” MedCity News, April 2, 2010).

In a press release announcing the task force, the governor’s office said “The task force will include officials from public safety and public health, from medical and pharmacy backgrounds, and from local, state and federal government. It will regularly report its findings and recommendations to the governor and to the leaders of the Ohio General Assembly.”

According to statitics from Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office, unintentional overdose deathes in Ohio increased from 327 in 1999to 1,351 in 2007. In 2007, unintentional drug poisoning became the leading cause of injury death in Ohio.

Strickland said he supports legitimate pain clinics and other legal means that provide addictive medications to patients. He called on the state’s doctors and pharmacists to check the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System –- a prescription tracking database -- every time they prescribe or dispense pain medications.