Mid-Missouri supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton joined together Tuesday evening on the Capitol lawn to advocate for a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) in Missouri.
The program would establish a statewide database containing medication lists of every Missourian that physicians and pharmacists can access. The system is intended to prevent "doctor shopping," when patients go to multiple physicians for addictive narcotics. Proponents have said the program will eventually reduce the number of overdose deaths from prescription drugs and heroin, a cheaper opioid that commonly replacing pills.
Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, filed a bill this session to create a PDMP in Missouri - the only state without one. The legislation has yet to be debated on the House floor.
Katie Starkweather, a Mid-Missouri Clinton campaign volunteer and University of Missouri graduate student, said Clinton has been a longtime supporter of PDMPs.
"The Clinton campaign is particularly interested in a PDMP because of the epidemic of drug overdoses and prescription drug overdoses in the country," said Starkweather. "With Missouri being the only state without a PDMP, we wanted to bring attention to it now before the Legislature is set to vote on it, when we don't know exactly."
Drew Pusateri, Clinton's Missouri spokesperson, said the presidential candidate has a "history of tackling tougher issues" and bringing coalitions together to fight for change.
"So the question is, what kind of issues do we need progress on, do we need change on?" he said. "I think opioid deaths and PDMPs will be an area where her leadership is valuable."
Clinton plans to reward states with PDMPs that mandate prescribers to use the system before handing out prescriptions, Starkweather said.
Privacy concerns have blocked PDMP legislation from passing in previous sessions, and the issue remains in 2016.
"All other 49 states have managed to handle privacy issues, and so I think it's something that's important to be dealt with on a state-by-state basis, but all other states are managing it and Missouri can too," she said.