Missouri Works to Get Statewide Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Off the Ground

Missouri is in the process of creating a database to prevent people from getting more controlled substances, like opiates, than their doctor prescribes. The Legislature passed and Governor Parson signed a bill into law this year requiring the creation of a system to keep track of prescription drugs. Greg Gilmore, owner of Grand Pharmacy in northeast Missouri’s Hannibal, says he hopes the program will monitor prescriptions in real-time.

“I know some states in the past, it’s been a week’s time period for a delay and that would make it kind of tough to be useful,” he says.

Palmyra police chief Eddie Bouge (boeg) says he thinks the database will help to prevent people from trying to fill fake prescriptions. Missouri is the last state in the country to adopt the system.