Arizona has set up a very unique way of controlling prescription drugs such as addictive pain killers, hormone drugs and steroids. The program is called “The Controlled Substance Prescription Monitoring Program” and was introduced last December under the Arizona State Board of Pharmacy. Its main goal is to address the problem on prescription-drug abuse by allowing physicians and pharmacists to identify individuals who go to different doctors to obtain drugs that are otherwise illegal. There will be a centralized database storing the prescriptions of members of the community and authorized personnel can view these in order to determine if there are some discrepancies or some suspicious activities.

From AZCentral.com:

The Controlled Substance Prescription Monitoring program still is in its infancy, but its database already contains more than 6.5 million prescriptions dating back to April 1, 2008.

Here’s how it works:

When any Arizona pharmacy or doctor who dispenses medication fills an order for a drug listed on Schedules II, III or IV of the federal Controlled Substances Act, the details are forwarded to the outside contractor that maintains the database and are entered within a week or two. The data include the patient’s name, date of birth, prescribing doctor, medication, the date the prescription was filled and the mailing addresses of the pharmacy and patient.

The drugs on the lists include potentially addictive painkillers, sleep aids, medications that contain morphine or certain forms of codeine, and hormone drugs, including steroids.

The main concern of the public is the lack of privacy this program might entail. The state argues that there is a greater benefit from doing this and that access to the database will be recorded and limited to certain professionals only. Illegal drug dealers, pharmaceutical companies and hopefully even hackers won’t be able to override the program.