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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Experts Weigh Impact of Greitens' Prescription Drug Monitoring Program

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Thursday, July 20, 2017   

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – It was a long time coming, but the announcement that Missouri will begin creating a prescription drug-monitoring program is getting a lukewarm response.

Gov. Eric Greitens this week bypassed the state legislature when he issued an executive order to establish the database.

Greitens says he issued the order because the opioid crisis needs to be addressed.

Kimberly Johnson, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), says the vast majority of people battling addiction get medications from a friend or family member, as opposed to obtaining them from multiple doctors.

"Three or four percent do actually get their drugs that way, and that small percentage is also what could put more of that medication out on the street for re-sale on the illegal market," she points out.

Prior to Greitens' announcement, Missouri was the only state in the nation that had not approved a prescription drug-monitoring program. Opponents cite privacy concerns.

Greitens' order has been criticized for its lack of specifics, but other legislators have called it a step in the right direction.

Johnson says prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) not only prevent drug abuse but also are an important tool for physicians who may not have all the necessary information on a given patient.

"They can look and see what else other physicians may have prescribed for their patients and not prescribe things that might have interactions with the medications they're considering," she explains.

In the absence of a state prescription drug-monitoring program, counties already had moved to create their own PDMPs covering nearly 60 percent of Missouri's population.





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