STATE NEWS — Each day in Tennessee, at least three people die from an opioid-related overdose. That’s more Tennesseans than the number of daily traffic fatalities. Tennessee exists in the top 15 states in drug overdose deaths and according to the state website, “more opioid prescriptions are written than there are people living in Tennessee, with more than one million prescriptions left over.”

It’s long overdue according to some area pharmacist we talked to, but beginning in 2020 doctors will now be required to move toward submitting prescriptions for powerful painkillers electronically.

The aim of the new law is to cut down on pharmacy shopping, doctor shopping, and patients who forge prescriptions. It’s a problem many local pharmacist says they’ve seen themselves. The new law will focus on all schedule II drugs like methadone, oxycodone, and even drugs like cough medicine with codeine. The new law will allow some exemptions for doctors in rural areas who might not have the technology in place to transmit electronically.

The TN Together Initiative addresses the state’s opioid crisis in three ways 1) prevention, 2) treatment, and 3) law enforcement. The new law is one of 12 new laws (and $16 million in new state and federal funds) being used to fight opioid addiction in Tennessee under the initiative. Governor Haslam signed the law into effect last spring but Tennessee physicians have one year to make the switch.

For more information, visit the TN Together website by clicking here. •

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