Perrin supports changing law to require medical professionals to report drug diversions - Kingsport Times News
KINGSPORT — Sullivan County Assistant District Attorney Gene Perrin has prosecuted more than 30 medical professionals who were diverting controlled substances.
Among those prosecuted were doctors, pharmacists, nurses, pharmacy technicians and a speech pathologist.
While some of the professionals were diverting these drugs to sell to others, Perrin said the vast majority were diverting the drugs to support their addictions, in many cases depriving their patients of the medication needed to address their pain.
Which is why Perrin and the Sullivan County District Attorney’s office supports a change to state law requiring medical professionals to report drug diversions to law enforcement. Currently, there is no requirement.
“These licensed professionals were entrusted with the care of their patients yet were under the influence of narcotics at the time,” Perrin said.
When caught diverting controlled substances, a common practice of employers is to simply dismiss the person, resulting in them seeking other employment to obtain their drugs. Even when the employer reports the diversion, law enforcement is not contacted to begin a criminal investigation, and when law enforcement is made aware, Perrin said there are significant obstacles to getting needed information due to state confidentiality laws.
“In the past, I was fortunate to have the assistance of the Board of Nursing and local medical employers, which is crucial to the identification and prosecution of these diverters,” Perrin said. “This assistance has waned in the past years leading to the effort to require the reporting of this criminal activity to law enforcement.”
State law already requires mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse and vulnerable person abuse, and Perrin’s proposed change regarding the diversion of controlled substances would be similar. In addition to notifying law enforcement, the proposal would require the cooperation of the Division of Health Related Boards of the Tennessee Department of Health.
“We believe the principle behind this mandatory reporting should hold true for medical professionals who are entrusted with the medical care of our most vulnerable citizens,” Perrin said. “Whether the criminal conduct of diversion deprives the patient of his or her medication or that the ‘professional’ entrusted with the patient’s care is a drug addict who is impaired.”
Perrin prepared the proposal and submitted it for adoption by the Tennessee District Attorney General’s Conference for sponsorship earlier this year, but it did not make the cut of the proposals the conference was willing to back.
“As the drug epidemic continues to spiral out of control, I am not blind that addiction continues to exist in the medical profession and sincerely hope that our community partners and state administrators will join us in eliminating this threat,” Perrin said.
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source: https://www.timesnews.net/news/local-news/perrin-supports-changing-law-to-require-medical-professionals-to-report-drug-diversions/article_a3ec309e-5927-11ec-8f07-3f5dbc930d57.html
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