Gov. Mary Fallin is praising a bill designed to crack down on prescription drug abuse in Oklahoma by requiring doctors to check an online prescription database before prescribing highly abused narcotics.
A Senate committee has approved the bill by Guthrie Republican Sen. A.J. Griffin. It now can be scheduled for a hearing in the full Senate.
Fallin said 81 percent of drug-related deaths in Oklahoma are caused by prescription drugs. She cited a recent survey that showed nearly 8 percent of Oklahomans are abusing prescription painkillers, nearly twice the national average.
Fallin signed a bill last year to create the program for monitoring the prescription of certain drugs, but law enforcement officials say not all doctors are using the program.
Topics Oklahoma
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Oil Falls as Trump Signals Restraint on Iran Despite Fresh Shipping Attacks 
New Florida Property-Tax Cut May Bring an Unwanted Side Effect 
OpenAI Sued Over Claim That ChatGPT Drafted Lethal NC Poisoning Plan 
Some 40% of Planned Data Center Capacity Is in States Wanting to Hit Pause 
