Reporting law would help combat drug diversion | Editorials | timesnews.net - Kingsport Times News
Would you recognize a drug addict if he or she passed you on the street? Some think so. They believe there’s little difference between an addict and the homeless.
But your doctor might be an addict, or your pharmacist, or nurse, or maybe the speech pathologist helping your child. Fact is, members of all of these professions — and many others — have been prosecuted in Sullivan County, says Assistant District Attorney Gene Perrin, most of them for diverting drugs.
Drug diversion is a medical and legal concept involving the transfer of a legally prescribed controlled substance from the individual for whom it was prescribed to another person for any illicit use. It’s a big problem, here, and nationwide.
“I don’t think most people realize how big the problem is,” said Tom Knight, CEO of Invistics, a drug supply tracking software company and also chairman of the Healthcare Diversion Network. “Published research has estimated between 8 and 12% of providers will divert drugs from patients at some point in their careers. But it is hard to accurately track the problem.”
“The health care executives we talk to are really feeling the heat because they know there’s diversion happening in their facilities,” Knight said. “They might not know who is diverting, but they fear the reputational harm if reports of diversion make the news.”
You may assume that if an employer has knowledge of a pharmacist or other professional diverting narcotics, the employer would immediately file a police report. But in Tennessee, there’s no requirement that they do so. And that must change.
As we have reported, when an employer catches an employee diverting controlled substances, a common practice 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. When law enforcement is made aware, Perrin said there are significant obstacles to getting needed information due to state confidentiality laws.
Perrin supports a change in law requiring mandatory reporting of suspected diversion of controlled substances. 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. He asked the Tennessee District Attorney General’s Conference for support but didn’t get it.
He shouldn’t need it. Members of the region’s delegation to the Tennessee House and Senate should be in touch with Perrin and others about the details and sponsor this legislation next month. We need this tool in the fight against the illegal drug use that has Northeast Tennessee in its grip.
View the rest of the Meth Mountain series by clicking here or visiting this link: https://www.timesnews.net/news/meth_mountain/.
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source: https://www.timesnews.net/opinion/editorials/reporting-law-would-help-combat-drug-diversion/article_56750492-5eb0-11ec-af88-ef0795683ba2.html
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