Requiring Use of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that requires all prescribers to check the state-run prescription database (known as CURES 2.0) before prescribing opioid painkillers, sedatives or any other schedule II, III or IV drugs. Legislators approved the bill unanimously. California becomes the ninth state with a required check and the fourth to do so this year. A Prescription Drug Monitoring Program can save lives by alerting doctors to early signs of addiction (such as doctor-shopping) and preventing them from accidentally prescribing a lethal combination of pills, such as an opioid like Vicodin along with a sedative like Xanax.