S.C. Inspector General: Prescription drug abuse a ‘cancer’ in society

South Carolina’s inspector general told hundreds attending a prescription drug and medicine abuse summit at Winthrop University that prescription drugs represent a cancer and a silent epidemic in our society.

Pat Maley says South Carolinians are at a tipping point where things as they are can no longer be tolerated.

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Maley says he will make recommendations to Governor Nikki Haley in the next two weeks to address the prescription drug abuse problem in a rigorous and aggressive manner.

He says much of the solution to the problem is something called prescription drug monitoring.  Other says other states are using those methods,  despite being another administrative requirement for doctors.

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And the monitoring, he says, will allow doctors to make better decisions when writing prescriptions for painkillers.

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Maley says doctors realize there’s a prescription drug abuse crisis in the state,  but that so far only 22 percent of them have signed up for prescription monitoring.

So far though, he says only 22% of doctors in South Carolina have signed up for the monitoring program.