Florida Society of Pain Management Providers applauds Senate President for supporting PDMP

The Florida Society of Pain Management Providers (www.flspmp.org), applauds Senate President Mike Haridopolos, Senator Mike Fasano and Attorney General Pam Bondi for their support of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) and their united opposition to the attempt to repeal the program.

This past Friday Dr. Frank Farmer, Florida's Surgeon General signed a final order that brings to an end the bidding dispute allowing the PDMP to more forward with implementation.

The now soon to be operating PDMP would never have gotten to this point if it were not for Senate President Mike Haridopolos, Senator Mike Fasano and Attorney General Pam Bondi's outspoken support. The citizens of Florida and its neighboring states should as well recognize them for providing the true leadership needed in this most important issue and join us in commending them.

"I'm thrilled that it's going to move forward. It couldn't happen soon enough," said Paul Sloan, president of the Florida Society of Pain Management Providers adding "the database alone won't solve Florida's prescription drug and "Pill Mill" problems as we also need the Board of Medicine's pain clinic regulations that still must be approved by the legislature; neither one individually is the silver bullet, but together they come pretty close."

It is time to let the PDMP and Board rules go into effect. Those two items in combination with the already effective and successful October 2010 legislation sponsored by Senator Fasano that set AHCA licensing requirements which bars felon's involvement in pain clinics and includes state financial oversight and AHCA inspections plus the recently started Department of Health inspections will ultimately bring the "Pill Mill" issue to an end. Conclusive results will only be seen when all that has already been approved over the past two years is actually in effect.

And finally; to those individuals and corporations whose donations made the PDMP a non-taxpayer funded system we as well owe you our gratitude.