93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
(Missourinet) The Missouri Senate Majority Leader says prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) legislation could hit the Senate floor in Jefferson City this week.
State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, and House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, address Capitol reporters about PDMP on February 7, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)
Missouri is the only state in the nation without a PDMP, which is an electronic database that collects data on controlled substance prescriptions within a state.
Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, tells Missourinet PDMP could go to the floor for debate this week.
“I think you’ll have a (floor) conversation sooner than later for sure,” Rowden says.
Rowden backs PDMP legislation from State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, R-Parkville, which has bipartisan support.
“I think having a conversation about maybe why the state should take it over and not let St. Louis County and (St. Louis County Executive) Steve Stenger run PDMP for 85 percent of the state I think is something that a lot of folks in the Senate are interested in,” says Rowden.
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) is calling on lawmakers to pass PDMP, saying drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in Missouri and the nation.
Blunt addressed the Missouri House earlier this month, noting that firefighters in the St. Louis suburb of Maryland Heights tell him they’re ten times as likely to respond to a drug overdose as a fire.
Luetkemeyer’s legislation is Senate Bill 155.
The Missouri House voted 103-53 in February to give final approval to PDMP legislation from State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston.
Rehder has said that while about 87 percent of Missouri’s population is currently covered by county PDMP’s, only about 60 to 70 counties have it. She says that many small, rural counties that lack PDMP are suffering because of the opioid crisis.
