Attorney General Jack Conway isn’t upset the General Assembly’s so called “Pill Mill Bill” failed to place the KASPER prescription drug monitoring system with his office. Conway says his priority is just making sure the system is used to its full potential.
“If it goes to some other law enforcement agency, fine. If they’ll give us access to the data to let us do our jobs, fine. So I’m not concerned about having it in my office; this is not some sort of power grab on my part. But law enforcement needs to be able to see this data because we’re flying blindly without it.”
Governor Beshear has said he may issue an executive order placing KASPER under the Attorney General. Conway says he hasn’t discussed that option with the governor, but says he would be glad to use the system if it was transferred. Several doctor groups, including the Kentucky Medical Association, have opposed the transfer over patient privacy concerns. Conway says he would take steps to ensure privacy was protected. And he says no matter where KASPER ends up, the Pill Mill Bill contained several important tools that will help curb prescription drug abuse in the Commonwealth.
