LAS VEGAS - Prescription drug abuse has become a silent killer. Last year, 30,000 people died nationwide from prescription drug overdose.
"We have a horrendous problem," said Las Vegas Recovery Center Medical Director Dr. Mel Pohl.
Alcoholism used to be the reason most patients entered the Las Vegas Recovery Center. Now, it's prescription drug addiction. Dr. Pohl says people from all walks of life get hooked.
"Prescription drug abuse can affect anyone. Physicians really are at a higher risk because of access," he said.
This month's arrest of Dr. James Eells is shedding light on this deadly danger. He's accused of fraudulently writing prescriptions to fuel a powerful addiction.
Paul Oesterman is an associate professor of pharmacy practice at the Roseman University of Health Sciences in Henderson.
Under Nevada's prescription monitoring program, an electronic database collects prescriptions doctors write and how often patients get them filled.
"If we didn't have the database, I'd think we'd have a lot more misuse of controlled substances," he said.
From doctor shopping to a physician over-prescribing, the database tracks trouble and helps doctors and pharmacists stop abuse.
"The flags are always immediate. As soon as the prescription is filled by the pharmacy, it goes into the database. So if you were to get a prescription filled today, being Tuesday, at a pharmacy, and you tried to get another prescription filled on Wednesday at a different pharmacy, and that pharmacist were to check the database, today's information would be there, and they would know that's a red flag," Oesterman said.
The database contains a list of confidential medical information, but it is protected. To gain access, a doctor or pharmacist needs to have other information besides just a patient's name.
Dr. James Eells
