Oct 22, 2013 4 min read

Washington County’s district attorney is touting legislation moving through Harrisburg to install a statewide prescription drug database that would help pharmacists and doctors track and prevent abuse.

“It’s badly needed for Pennsylvania,” District Attorney Gene Vittone said. “We’re an area that is exploited by drug users because we don’t have that system in place.”

The state House voted 191-7 to approve HB 1694 late Monday and will now send the bill to the state Senate for consideration. If ratified, the bill would create an electronic monitoring system so pharmacists and doctors could better track people who use forged prescriptions or claim their medication is stolen or lost.

“Pharmacists don’t know who these people are in front of them or how many times they’ve had these scripts filled,” Vittone said.

“It’s a way for doctors and pharmacists to identify people trying to beat the system,” Neuman said, “and also identify people who have addiction problems.”

The Washington, D.C.-based Trust for America’s Health ranked Pennsylvania 14th in the number of drug overdose deaths, part of which came from prescription drug abuse. The state had 15.3 overdose deaths per 100,000 residents in 2010, the group said.

In Washington County, drug overdose deaths have increased exponentially over the past decade, according to the Coroner Tim Warco’s office. Four people died from drug overdose deaths in 2000, and that number has steadily climbed to a record-keeping high of 46 in 2011. Thirty-six people died from drug overdoses last year, according to the coroner’s office.

Neuman called the House bill a “great first step” for implementing a system to prevent abuse and hoped the state Senate will move on the legislation early next year.

Smith couldn’t put a timeline on the debate, but thought it was possible they could make improvements and send it back to the House for final authorization next year.

“Given the fact we’re so close to other states, we need to ensure our laws with prescription drug abuse are as stringent at those (neighboring) states,” Smith said. “We’ve got to take action to address this issue because it’s certainly an issue that isn’t getting better.”

Meanwhile, the Washington County district attorney’s office is teaming up with local and federal law enforcement officials from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday for the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. The 18 local “take-back” locations accepting unused or unwanted medications can be found on