Doctor-shopping for prescription painkillers is a major contributor to the nationwide epidemic of drug overdose deaths.
Both houses of the California legislature have approved a bill designed to limit the practice.
The measure, SB 482, would require doctors to check the state’s prescription drug database, known as CURES, before prescribing controlled substances, including opioid painkillers like Vicodin and OxyContin.
Currently, physicians in California are required to register with CURES, but they don’t have to use it.
Carmen Balber, executive director of the nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog, said the bill doesn’t tell doctors how to practice medicine.
“This legislation only requires physicians to check the prescription history, so they have all the information at hand," Balber said. "There’s nothing prohibiting a doctor from them making their own informed choice.”
At least 29 other states have similar mandates.
California's bill would exempt emergency room physicians from the requirement, as long as they prescribed no more than a seven-day, non-refillable supply of opioids.
Pharmacists would also be exempt.
Prescription drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death nationwide.
