MARCH 10, 2020 - The Missouri Senate has given approval to House Bill 1693, sponsored by Rep. Holly Rehder, and handled in the Senate by Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, that would establish a prescription drug monitoring program in Missouri.
Missouri is the only state without such a program. In fact, many counties and most of the population in Missouri, are already subject to some form of prescription drug monitoring.
Associated Industries of Missouri supports the bill because it may help reduce drug use in the workplace. Currently, doctors may not know of existing prescriptions previously written for a particular patient when writing prescriptions for that patient.
A compromise allowed the bill to receive initial approval following a lengthy filibuster. The compromise allows a task force to oversee the program rather than a government agency.
The bill was referred to the Senate Fiscal Oversight Committee and must be reported from that committee before a final Senate vote. The bill will then return to the House. The Missouri House may then accept the changes made by the Senate or send the bill to a conference committee to work out the differences.
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