NEWARK
– Sharpening the State’s focus
on the fight to halt prescription drug diversion
and abuse, Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa
today announced a reorganization and expansion
of the Enforcement Bureau within the New Jersey
Division of Consumer Affairs – the body
responsible for investigating allegations
of professional misconduct on behalf of the
47 professional licensing boards, including
the Board of Medical Examiners and Board of
Pharmacy, that regulate 500,000 licensed and
registered professionals across New Jersey.
“The
New Jersey Prescription Monitoring Program
is just one component in the Division’s
comprehensive, statewide plan to fight the
diversion and abuse of prescription drugs,”
Attorney General Chiesa said, referring
to the recently-launched program that is
currently monitoring the dispensing of controlled
dangerous substances by New Jersey pharmacies.
“The next step is to deploy skilled
and experienced investigators to analyze
the data, and to develop other available
methods to identify the unlawful distribution
and diversion of prescription medications.
This reorganization and expansion will provide
us the infrastructure to take on these new
challenges.”
Pursuant
to the reorganization and expansion announced
today, the Enforcement Bureau will now be
comprised of the following three investigative
sections, each playing a key role in the
Division’s effort to curb prescription
drug diversion and abuse:
-
Drug Diversion Section
– currently staffed by seven experienced,
undercover drug diversion investigators
focusing on investigating cases related
to the distribution and diversion of prescription
drugs; indiscriminate prescribing and
dispensing; prescription fraud; and enforcing
the bans enacted by the Division of Consumer
Affairs on so-called “bath salts”
and other designer drugs. The Division
plans on adding two new investigators
to this section, one of whom was recently
hired, bringing the total number of diversion
investigators to nine.
-
Pharmacy Inspection Section
– currently staffed by nine licensed
pharmacists and other investigators with
unique expertise in the inspections of
pharmacies and examinations of security
protocols designed to prevent theft of
controlled dangerous substances. The Division
plans on adding four more pharmacist/investigators
to this section, bringing the total number
of pharmacist/investigators to 13.
-
Quality of Healthcare Section
– currently staffed by
seven registered nurses and other experienced
investigators overseeing investigations
related to the Board of Medical Examiners
and the Board of Nursing, to include matters
of drug impairment and self-use by practitioners,
and health insurance fraud. The Division
plans on adding three new nurse/investigators
to this section, one of which was recently
hired, bringing the total number of nurse/investigators
to 10.
Additionally,
the Enforcement Bureau is comprised of the
following two investigative sections, the
investigators in each being available for
cross-designation as needed to supplement
the Division’s efforts to combat prescription
drug diversion:
-
General Investigations Section
– staffed by six experienced investigators
who conduct investigations and inquiries
for all the licensing boards, including
investigations into unlicensed practitioners.
-
General Inspections Section
– staffed by 14 experienced investigators
who mainly inspect licensed facilities
such as cosmetology locations, dentistry
offices, electrology offices, funeral
homes, ophthalmic locations, and optometry
offices.
“During
2011, the Enforcement Bureau completed 64
investigations into alleged prescription
drug diversion, indiscriminate prescribing,
unlawful distribution, and theft of prescription
blanks,” Thomas R. Calcagni, Director
of the Division of Consumer Affairs, said.
“The Bureau’s current staff
and our new hires include highly-seasoned
and skilled investigators, many of whom
have indispensible experience as registered
nurses or pharmacists. This expansion and
comprehensive reorganization of resources
reflects our commitment to halting the soaring
problem of prescription drug abuse –
a nationwide epidemic that’s sending
thousands of New Jerseyans into addiction
treatment every year, and resulting in multiple
deaths throughout the country every day.”
Prescription
drug abuse is growing at an alarming rate
in New Jersey and nationwide:
-
In 2010, New Jersey saw 7,238 admissions
to State-licensed or certified substance
abuse treatment programs as a result of
prescription painkiller abuse. That number
represents a striking 230 percent increase
from 2005, according to statewide statistics
collected by the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
-
Every day, 40 Americans die from abusing
narcotic prescription painkillers, according
to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. Prescription drug abuse
deaths have more than tripled in the past
decade and now kill more people in the
U.S. than heroin and cocaine combined.
Opioid pain medication abuse accounts
for the most common poisonings treated
in emergency departments and nearly 1
million Americans are currently addicted
to some type of opiate – costing
insurance companies, according to some
reports, upwards of $75.5 million a year.
-
The New Jersey State Commission of Investigation
in June 2011 reported that a growing number
of young people are abusing prescription
drugs, and noted a significant trend in
which young people who became addicted
to painkillers eventually turned to heroin
as a cheaper substitute.
Attorney
General Chiesa on January 18 announced the
launch of the New Jersey Prescription Monitoring
Program (NJPMP) as one component of the
Division of Consumer Affairs’ comprehensive
effort to halt prescription drug diversion
and abuse (press release: www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases12/pr20120118a.html
).
Further
aspects of the Division’s comprehensive
initiative include the following:
-
Effecting a reduction in supply, by encouraging
practitioners to prescribe only the amount
of medication needed for treatment; working
with pharmacies to develop a set of statewide
best practices for drug security; and
encouraging parents and grandparents to
maintain their medication securely within
the home, and to dispose of their unwanted
medications safely and responsibly through
Project Medicine Drop (see www.NJConsumerAffairs.gov/meddrop
for details), a pilot program providing
New Jerseyans medication disposal opportunities
24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
-
Educating constituencies, including an
outreach campaign for prescribers, pharmacists,
parents, and teenagers, about the dangers
of prescription drug abuse and ways to
prevent it.
-
Enabling recovery for persons struggling
with addiction by advancing measures that
will facilitate abusers’ access
to treatment and the treatment community’s
access to patient-specific prescription
information.
For
much more information on the New Jersey
Division of Consumer Affairs’ initiative
to halt the diversion and abuse of prescription
drugs, view the Division’s NJPMP website
at www.NJConsumerAffairs.gov/pmp,
and the Division’s Project Medicine
Drop website at www.NJConsumerAffairs.gov/meddrop.
Follow
the Division of Consumer Affairs on Facebook,
and check our online calendar of upcoming
Consumer
Outreach events.
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