House Overwhelmingly Passes "Pill Mill" Bill

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...A proposal by House Speaker Greg Stumbo, a Prestonsburg Democrat, to battle the problem of addictive pain medicines prescribed by unscrupulous clinics known as "pill mills" overwhelmingly passed the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. The bill would move the KASPER prescription drug-monitoring program from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to the attorney general's office and require that the attorney general, state police and medical licensure board share KASPER information. It also would require that pain clinics be owned by physicians or nurse practitioners and that those who prescribe strong painkillers like OxyContin and Hydrocodone register with KASPER.