Brakes Put On Prescription Drug Tracking Bill In Harrisburg

By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) - A fast-tracked bill that has raised some concerns about privacy and prescription drugs has hit a speed bump in Harrisburg.

The bill would create a prescription drug tracking database in Pennsylvania. While the ACLU has raised privacy concerns about it, Dr. C. Richard Schott – president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society – says his group is backing it.

"We support the bill because doctors in Pennsylvania we feel are at high risk for being scammed by pill shoppers – people that go around from doctor to doctor, trying to get prescriptions."

Schott says surrounding states already have a database allowing doctors to check a patient's medical history. But the Medical Society is balking at a proposed amendment that would require that the database automatically notify the state attorney general's office of any irregular patterns of prescribing or receiving drugs. The bill has been put on hold for now while concerns about the proposed amendment are addressed.