A bill filed in the state Senate would require a doctor’s prescription for patients to receive cough medicine.
The measure, sponsored by Sen. Mike Fair (R – Greenville), is an attempt to limit the sale of pseudoephedrine, which is used to make methamphetamine.
At present, when someone wants to purchase any medication containing pseudoephedrine, a photo ID must be presented to the pharmacist. The pharmacist then looks the person up in a system called NPLEX which tracks how often a customer purchases medicine containing pseudoephedrine. If a patient exceeds the legal amount prescribed within a certain time period, the pharmacist is not permitted to continue the transaction.
Fair sponsored the legislation last year that put the system in place. But, he told Fox Carolina that the system isn’t working. Meth users often get other people to make the purchases for them, thereby circumventing the system.
Other states have had success in passing laws such as the one Fair is proposing. Oregon passed such a law in the mid-2000s and by 2011 there were no recorded arrests of people operating meth labs.
Not everyone thinks the legislation is a great idea, particularly busy parents that would have to deal with the inconvenience of getting a prescription and going to a pharmacy to treat a comparatively minor problem such as their child’s common cold.
At least one medical doctor thinks other solutions are needed.
According to Dr. Roland R. Craft, III a surgeon at Palmetto Health in Columbia, “In addition to creating a number of burdens on law-abiding consumers, a prescription requirement would also exacerbate the growing strain on our state’s healthcare system," Craft said. "According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, nearly 200 areas in our state are already experience primary-care physician shortages. If a prescription requirement were added to the mix, the surge of annual visits to primary care physician offices and emergency departments would make this serious problem even worse. Not only would patient's pocketbooks be affected, so would their access to timely and quality health care.”
Fair’s bill is expected to be reviewed by the Senate Committee on Medical Affairs later this month.
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