Doctors Are Concerned About New Prescription Pill Law

WKMS | By Todd Hatton

Published August 14, 2012 at 9:01 AM CDT

Some Kentucky doctors are expressing concerns about new state regulations requiring them to meet tougher prescription standards in an effort to stop drug abuse. Dr. Gregory Hood is a Lexington internist with the Kentucky chapter of the American College of Physicians. He says the law passed earlier this year likely will mean some doctors will stop writing prescriptions for controlled substances that treat pain and anxiety. Doctors and other medical professionals will have a chance tomorrow at a hearing in Frankfort to express their concerns. The statute passed by lawmakers this year says licensing boards should police their own industry and gives them until September 1 to draft a final plan. Governor Steve Beshear has signed emergency regulations that put measures into place until then.

Tags

Todd Hatton

Todd Hatton hails from Paducah, Kentucky, where he got into radio under the auspices of the late, great John Stewart of WKYX while a student at Paducah Community College. He also worked at WKMS in the reel-to-reel tape days of the early 1990s before running off first to San Francisco, then Orlando in search of something to do when he grew up. He received his MFA in Creative Writing at Murray State University. He vigorously resists adulthood and watches his wife, Angela Hatton, save the world one plastic bottle at a time.

See stories by Todd Hatton