A national database for anyone who needs a perscription.
Forty states have passed legislation to allow prescription drug monitoring programs, but only 34 are operating.
Under the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act signed by President Bush in 2005, more than $50 million has been appropriated to states for programs where doctors and other authorized users, such as police in some cases, can access patient records.
The law aims to have a coordinated national system, but there are no estimates what that would cost and a majority of the federal money hasn't been allocated.
Some privacy groups are concerned databases could invade patients' privacy. Virginia's database was hacked into in April 2009 and millions of electronic records were stolen by a thief still at large.
"There is a significant intrusion into the lives of individuals who are taking these medications legitimately," said Pam Dixon of World Privacy Forum, a nonprofit public interest research group. "There needs to be more restrictions about who can access this information."
Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=10537736