Atty. Gen. Harris hopeful Senate will back prescription monitoring

Despite the state Senate’s failure to pass a bill Tuesday that would have improved a prescription-drug monitoring program, a spokesman for Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris said the state’s top law enforcement official was hopeful that the measure would succeed this week.

The bill would create a steady financing for CURES, as the state’s prescription drug monitoring program is known, by raising licensing fees on pharmacists and on doctors and other prescribers.

The program is seen as key to preventing prescription-drug addiction and overdoses by identifying doctor-shopping patients an the physicians who cater to them. The bill is supported by a broad coalition of business and interest groups, including the state’s largest physician’s association, health insurers and retailers. Drug makers and their trade groups are working against the measure.

The measure fell four votes short of the 27 needed to pass Tuesday. Proponents are expected to bring the bill back this week. In an effort to assuage drug makers, they plan to drop a provision that would have taxed the companies in order to fund prescription enforcement investigators.

“CURES is a critical tool for protecting public health and safety, but while many have stepped up and shown strong support for SB 809, some powerful forces remain opposed,” said Gil Duran, a senior advisor to the attorney general. “We remain confident that the Senate will find a way to fund an upgrade to this crucial database and provide the resources necessary to enforce the law.”

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