The Relationship Between Electronic Health Records and Malpractice Claims

Comment. Leaders in our region are concerned regarding the extent of nonmedical use of prescription drugs and are taking a multifaceted approach to address prescription drug abuse, including increased interprofessional provider education that focuses on patient screening and collaborative accountability; expanded utility of the controlled substance monitoring databases; and propagation of local take-back events. This approach is in alignment with the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s 2011 Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan. Participation in take-back events is the only direct, environmentally sound method for patients to remove scheduled medications from their home. In a region where 12.1% of 12to 17-year-olds and 6.2% of individuals 18 years and older reportedly use OPRs for nonmedical purposes and sales of OPRs per capita are disproportionately high, removal of 1128 containers and more than 11 000 doses of controlled substances may have a considerable impact on the potential for drug diversion in this region. It is noteworthy that a majority of donors traveled 10 miles or less to a donation site, which reveals the limited geographical coverage of take-back events in our rural Appalachian region. These data suggest that geographical proximity needs to be considered as permanent controlled substance disposal methods are legislated and developed. Moreover, the regional impact of take-back events may be enhanced considerably by expanding the number of local and communitybased take-back events. Conservatively, we would need to execute 5 to 10 times as many take-back events to encourage optimal regional participation; however, the challenges of take-back event expansion can be considerable because many resources for implementation are required, including collaboration between the DEA, law enforcement agencies, and community volunteers. The Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010 encourages “a variety of methods of collection and disposal of controlled substances.” Drug take-back events serve multiple purposes through proper disposal of medications donated by regional residents; however, the extent to which such programs are addressing the prescription drug abuse epidemic has yet to be determined.