Pill mills should be shut down, says Florida Medical Association
by Michael C. Bender | April 2nd, 2010The Florida Medical Association announced today that it supports legislation to help shut down so-called pill mills in Florida. From FMA President James B. Dolan:
“The Florida Medical Association is appalled by the unscrupulous and deadly ‘pill mill’ clinics, the vast majority of which are not owned by physicians. We are also saddened by and extremely concerned about the growing number of tragic deaths that continue to occur as a result of these clinics.
“That is why the FMA strongly supports efforts, including a legislative proposal in Tallahassee, to assist local governments such as Palm Beach County to enforce laws that prevent the operation of these clinics. Additionally, we continue to support efforts to give the Florida Department of Health the tools it needs to shut the clinics down.
“To suggest that Florida’s physicians are not doing enough to police their own not only misses the mark; it is blatantly untrue. Unlike the Florida Bar, the FMA does not have the authority to penalize or otherwise discipline physicians. That authority rests with the Board of Medicine.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the Florida Legislature and the Department of Health to assist local governments as they shut these clinics down, once and for all.”
Tags: pill mills
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April 2nd, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp has addressed this issue in his capacity of overseeing Drug Council and has promised to fight against the Pill Mills if elected as Florida’s next Attorney General.
April 2nd, 2010 at 3:31 pm
I think shutting down all the all the pill mills is a great idea.It is the only sure way to end the problem.
If your not a doctor you should not be able to just get a doctor’s office going.
this issue has gotten way out of control and needs to be addressed in a quick,aggresive manner.
April 2nd, 2010 at 4:01 pm
they are only mad because the insurance companies want more money for themselves
April 2nd, 2010 at 4:32 pm
It’s appalling how many narcotics are being prescribed around the country in the name of “pain management”. No exam findings, no positive diagnostic testing, just say you have pain and, BINGO you receive hundreds of narcotics in exchange for cash. Shut them down!!!
April 2nd, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Then what is Rush Limbaugh going to do? I bet he’ll twist this and say that this is not what Floridians want and that the government is going to raise taxes to make it happen.
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:48 am
These pill mills all need shutting down.
When you can pick up 250 Oxy in a visit, that requires no examination, something is terribly wrong.
April 3rd, 2010 at 1:19 pm
[...] Pill mills should be shut down, says Florida Medical Association … [...]
April 3rd, 2010 at 5:44 pm
[...] Pill mills should be shut down, says Florida Medical Association | Post on Politics [...]
April 3rd, 2010 at 9:21 pm
THIS IS NOT MEDICINE AND REAL PATIENT CARE!!! THIS IS MEDICAL EXPLOITATION AND MURDER FOR PROFIT…
Since pill mill doctors prescribe LETHAL combinations of oxycodone( or any synthetic opiates) and Xanax together, they are killing people with their so-called pain relief and causing their clients to overdose and likely die!!
Their clients are really not their patients since they are not using the hippocratic oath real doctors take in regard to their practice of medicine!
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:01 pm
[...] Pill mills should be shut down, says Florida Medical Association … [...]
April 4th, 2010 at 3:01 am
[...] Pill mills should be shut down, says Florida Medical Association … [...]
April 5th, 2010 at 12:20 am
Pills kill people prescribed by a doctor or gotten at a pill mill…whatever.
April 5th, 2010 at 12:22 am
pill mills are a bit dangerous it seems..
April 5th, 2010 at 12:24 am
I agree, pill mills should be shut down..danger to the public
April 5th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Thank you for your support as the legislation moves forward.
The Board of Medicine, duly authorized to penalize and discipline physicians, needs to have a stonger arm to ack quickly and swiftly. Violations by “Pill Mills” and their contracted “dispensing practitioners”, need to be criminal. Our children are dying. And current legislation is spending more dollars on a saving the Manatess, than saving our children. The soaring death rates are not tolerable.
April 5th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
That lady, Shaner, needs to wake up. Like so many of her ilk, she’s so blinded by her hatred of Conservatives, that she can not even discuss the very serious issue of the pain management clinics in a rational manner. The “pill mills” should be closed up immediately. Easy access to the poisons that they peddle is causing untold grief and misery to our population. I even had a neighbor recently die from an overdose of pain pills. Enough is enough!!
April 6th, 2010 at 10:13 am
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April 6th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Can not the FDA help? I have seen some labeling changes by manufacturers.
For example: OxyContin….”tablets are to be swallowed whole and are not to be broken, chewed, or crushed…” “This leads to a rapid release and absorption of a potentially fatal overdose.”
This is whats happening, crushing and smoking or injecting.
“These tables are NOT intended for use as a prn analgesic”
The well published and documented widespread misuse, misprescribing, or therwise trafficing,is causing death. The number one item listed on the FDA Safety Information and Adverse Reporting Program form used for VOLUNTARY reporting.
What is mandatory reporting? How can the FDA act quicker?
It is very obvious the the BOM’s administrative process is much too slow.
Current draft proposal for “Standards of Practice” may take up to 2 years to be implemented. The death rate associated with misuse and misprescribing is astronomical. We can not afford to wait. We need to expedite any and all ways in getting control of the gross negligence.
April 8th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Where was the Florida Medical Association for the past 3 years while our kids were dying from these Oxy pills distributed by pill mills. I would be embarasses to work for, or be a member of the FMA while this is going on. Once again they place the blame but do nothing to fix the problem. They have no power….what a cop out, what a spineless organization.
April 14th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Am I able to order more then one at a time?
April 16th, 2010 at 12:32 am
@ bob w. Why would you think I was a woman….Also I hate all politicians equally, there all scum in my eyes. So just because old fatty rush is a conservative does not mean I’m a liberal. Next time think before you make ASSumptions. You sound like the type that looks at what ever side you choose, right or left, like a football team. It doesn’t matter what the issue is as long as your team wins. Of course I could be wrong…..I doubt it though.
April 16th, 2010 at 4:10 am
@ bob w. sorry I forgot. Yes all of these clinics need to be shut down. It’s an embarrassment for the state and people are dying and their family members go through a lot of pain watching their loved ones slowly kill themselves. I was just trying to get a rise out of you ditto heads that believe anything that comes out of his drug addict mouth. If you took the time to fact check his show you would know he is full of sh!t. But again, as long as your team wins, it doesn’t matter if it is true or not.
April 16th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Acai berry is quite good, but you need to select the proper brand for the best quality!
April 18th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
On April 6th, I made the below comment.
Where is the response from the FMA?
In addition, who supported the defeat of a 72 hour limit on dispensing? The FMA and “other physician groups”. WHY? According to information from Tallahassee, it appears to be due to patint inconvenience”. Where is the data, from those patients, to support that?
And perhaps more importantly, it would include those “dispensing practitioners” “who accept cash, checks or credit cards rather than insurance”.
So, the good doc’s would be excluded from this proposal. Because the good doc’s accept insurance…as accepting insurance requires other mandates.
Need a response as soon as possible.
The FMA has failed the public, failed your members in good standing, and most importantly have failed to prevent 6 deaths a day, due to patient inconvience, of which no data was supplied.
Can not the FDA help? I have seen some labeling changes by manufacturers.
For example: OxyContin….”tablets are to be swallowed whole and are not to be broken, chewed, or crushed…” “This leads to a rapid release and absorption of a potentially fatal overdose.”
This is whats happening, crushing and smoking or injecting.
“These tables are NOT intended for use as a prn analgesic”
The well published and documented widespread misuse, misprescribing, or therwise trafficing,is causing death. The number one item listed on the FDA Safety Information and Adverse Reporting Program form used for VOLUNTARY reporting.
What is mandatory reporting? How can the FDA act quicker?
It is very obvious the the BOM’s administrative process is much too slow.
Current draft proposal for “Standards of Practice” may take up to 2 years to be implemented. The death rate associated with misuse and misprescribing is astronomical. We can not afford to wait. We need to expedite any and all ways in getting control of the gross negligence.
May 5th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
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May 8th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
these so called doctors should be ashamed of themselves they went to many years of school to become murderers..the oxycodin drug war is on thanks to these doctors who are making millions off the deaths of our young adults and teens. They should be put in jail and they should also have to pay for and establish rehabs for the teens and young adults that they have helped to make drug addicts. Do you know that it cost more for perscriptions for Suboxin that helps you get off of Oxicodin and this is from the same doctor. So he will charge more for the cure then for the cause. We need to stop the manufacturers from distributing this deadly addictive drug we need to do everything we can to stop the deaths of our children.