Springfield closer to launching local prescription drug monitoring program

Springfield is a step closer to launching a local prescription drug monitoring program.

Opioid death rates have skyrocketed nationwide, and local experts say Greene County is no exception.

As Missouri remains the only place in the country without a statewide prescription drug monitoring program, City Council will consider joining a group of other Missouri cities and counties that have decided to take charge without the help of the state legislature.

More than two dozen jurisdictions, led by St. Louis County, have formed a consortium that is applying for federal funding. The funding recently became available to cities and counties — not just states — to pay for prescription drug tracking systems.

Clay Goddard, assistant director of health at the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, said the members of the consortium can also share information about where patients are filling prescriptions for controlled substances. It's meant to prevent people who intend to misuse prescription medications from "doctor shopping."

A Springfield City Council committee decided Tuesday afternoon to let the full council vote on a bill that would create a local prescription drug monitoring program.

Goddard said the monitoring program would be implemented through a browser-based system and would cost Greene County and Springfield $16,447 a year. The first two years would be funded by a federal grant if the grant application is approved.

The Springfield bill is a "cookie cutter" version of the ordinance implemented in St. Louis County, Goddard said.

According to a document from the St. Louis County Department of Public Health, prescribers are not required to check or submit information to the monitoring program. Dispensers, such as pharmacies, are mandated to submit data to the program, but they are eligible for waivers under special circumstances.

City spokesperson Cora Scott told the News-Leader Tuesday afternoon that a first hearing for the bill has not yet been scheduled.

Goddard said a prescription drug monitoring program is "not a silver bullet" but will help health officials and law enforcement "reduce opioid misuse, save lives and reduce crime."

Dr. Howard Jarvis, medical director of the emergency department at CoxHealth, spoke at the council committee meeting.

"It's frightening, it's ridiculous, it's embarrassing that as a state, we do not have have (a prescription drug monitoring program)," Jarvis said. "We're relying on this council and other councils in neighboring communities to do the next-best thing."

Jarvis talked about the growing opioid epidemic in Greene County.

The health system's use of Narcan, an emergency treatment for opioid overdoses, has increased 120 percent between 2015 and the first quarter of 2017, Jarvis said.

The rate of overdose deaths in Missouri is 57 percent higher than the national average, Jarvis said.

"I think that's clearly related to the fact we do not have a drug database in this state."

Major Kirk Manlove with the Springfield Police Department said prescription drug medication abuse is directly linked to rising rates of heroin usage.

Nationwide, 70 percent of heroin users start out with prescription drugs, either prescribed to them for pain management or obtained illegally, Manlove said.

Manlove said people can get addicted to prescription medication, then turn to heroin because it is oftentimes cheaper and easier to get.

Springfield police say the amount of heroin they seized during investigations increased by more than 900 percent between 2015 and 2016.

Not only is heroin more widespread, it's becoming more lethal.

Manlove said Springfield police have been seeing heroin laced with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid. It's similar to morphine, but 50 to 100 times more potent, according to the National Institute on drug abuse.

Fentanyl can be absorbed through the skin, and a few specks can kill an adult. An Ohio police department reported in May that an officer suffered an accidental overdose after a drug arrest when he touched powder on his shirt without realizing it was fentanyl.

Springfield detectives carry Narcan, Manlove said, to use on themselves in case of a dangerous exposure.

Greene County Commissioners Harold Bengsch and Lincoln Hough also attended the Tuesday meeting to show support. The Greene County Commission will likely be implementing a prescription drug monitoring program alongside City Council to cover areas of the county outside of Springfield city limits.

In March, City Council passed a resolution that authorized the mayor to sign a letter of support for a grant application by the St. Louis County Department of Public Health to the Department of Justice. Councilwoman Kristi Fulnecky was the only member to vote against the resolution, saying she did not believe the "other side" of the debate was represented during the public hearing.

The resolution basically reserved enough money in the St. Louis County-led grant application to cover the cost of implementing a local drug monitoring program. It did not require Springfield or Greene County to create a monitoring program.

Councilman Tom Prater asked the health department to move as quickly as possible in implementing a local program.

"There aren't too many things City Council can do to save a life, but this is one of them," Prater said.

USA Today contributed to this report.