By Greg Giordano
State Senator Mike Fasano Announces that E-FORCSE (Electronic – Florida Online Reporting of Controlled Substances Evaluation), the prescription drug monitoring program, goes “live” today. All physicians in Florida will now have the ability to access the prescription drug history of patients in Florida. The monitoring program came about due to efforts of Senator Fasano and others over the pat ten years. Senator Fasano was the prime sponsor of various pieces of legislation during the past decade that led to the launching of the database. The database will assist physicians in identifying both doctor shoppers as well as patients who may not be using their medications properly.
Prescription-drug overdoses killed nearly 1,270 people in Florida during the first half of this year, according to a statewide report released Thursday. State medical examiners continue to find prescription drugs more often in the bodies of the dead than illicit drugs, documenting the fatal consequences of the nation’s prescription-drug epidemic.
It’s a community that prides itself on being family-friendly and close knit, but many residents in Boca Isles want nothing to do with a potential new neighbor. “It’ll only bring more crime to the neighborhood,” said Carletta Nonziato Murphy who has called Boca Isles home for the past 5 years.
NORTH PORT – Overdose deaths in North Port have doubled since 2008, an alarming trend in the city that is part of a countywide trend placing Southwest Florida ahead of the state as a whole for prescription drug fatalities.