Butler County officials signed an ordinance Friday that will save lives, according to proponents of a prescription drug monitoring plan that could be online by September.
This initiative steps in where state lawmakers have failed, they say.
The county has joined a PDMP program which tracks prescriptions for schedule II, III and IV medications, such as painkillers like Oxycotin and Hydrocodone.
These type of programs try to slow prescription drug abuse by creating a barrier to doctor shopping, the practice of visiting multiple prescribers to secure multiple prescriptions for narcotics.
Because Missouri is the only state in the nation without a way to track these drugs, 32 counties and cities have developed their own system.
It is maintained by St. Louis County and Butler makes the 33rd jurisdiction to join. It will cost a subscriber fee of less than $2,000 a year, which will be covered by the Butler County Health Department.
Robert Hudson, Butler County Health Department administrator, presented the proposal to Butler County commissioners Friday at the Butler County Courthouse.
A 2012 national prescription audit for the state found 95 pain pill prescriptions were being written for every 100 residents of the state, Hudson said.
The jurisdictions already using this PDMP system are filing an average of 12,000 controlled substance prescriptions per day, Hudson continued. The counties and cities cover approximately 600 dispensers, such as pharmacies, and 2,900 prescribers, including physicians and nurse practitioners.
The commissioners signed an ordinance joining the PDMP in front of members of the Poplar Bluff Police Department, Butler County Sheriff's Department, pharmacists, health care workers, the Butler County Community Resource Council and others.
"There are few times in an elected official's career that they can pass legislation that saves lives," said Jeff Rolland, a retired police officer and longtime advocate of the PDMP. "Except for one state senator, you can't find anyone that says the epidemic of opioids in our society is not a problem."
Republican state senator Rob Schaaf of St. Joseph has consistently blocked attempts to create a statewide PDMP. He has said he is concerned about citizens' privacy.
The lack of a PDMP makes Missouri a target for people from across the country, Hudson said.
"This will be a big step for us," said Vince Lampe, Butler County presiding commissioner.
This should have already been done by the state, according to Butch Anderson, eastern district commissioner.
New jurisdictions are brought onto the system at specific times, Hudson said. The county hopes to be online by September or October, he said.
The county's doctors and 15 pharmacies will have access to the system. The goal is to see which prescriptions are being filled in real time, to ensure patients are not receiving the same drugs from multiple sources.