Following the passage of House Bill 1 last week, some pain physicians are questioning the necessity and logistics behind the bill's requirement that physicians consult the state's online drug database, KASPER, prior to prescribing pain medication to a patient, according to a Courier-Journal report.
Shawn Jones, MD, president of the Kentucky Medical Association, argued that physicians should not need to check KASPER before prescribing pain medication to a small child after a tonsillectomy, for example. He also said running multiple KASPER reports may be very challenging for busy physicians. The process takes him 10 minutes per patient, he said, so if he has 15 patients, take accounts for more than two hours per day — a time crunch that may lead some physicians to stop prescribing narcotics, he said.
James Murphy, MD, a Louisville pain specialist, agreed that the law could lead some physicians to stop prescribing narcotics. "If that happens, people are not going to get what they need. You're going to drive legitimate pain patients to go to Florida or get their pills in the back alley behind the doctor's office," Dr. Murphy said.
Despite concerns, the KMA plans to educate physician members on how to follow the new law and has no plans to fight the legislation next year, according to Dr. Jones.
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Shawn Jones, MD, president of the Kentucky Medical Association, argued that physicians should not need to check KASPER before prescribing pain medication to a small child after a tonsillectomy, for example. He also said running multiple KASPER reports may be very challenging for busy physicians. The process takes him 10 minutes per patient, he said, so if he has 15 patients, take accounts for more than two hours per day — a time crunch that may lead some physicians to stop prescribing narcotics, he said.
James Murphy, MD, a Louisville pain specialist, agreed that the law could lead some physicians to stop prescribing narcotics. "If that happens, people are not going to get what they need. You're going to drive legitimate pain patients to go to Florida or get their pills in the back alley behind the doctor's office," Dr. Murphy said.
Despite concerns, the KMA plans to educate physician members on how to follow the new law and has no plans to fight the legislation next year, according to Dr. Jones.
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