FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Attorney General Jack Conway has told political leaders from across the nation that Kentucky is making progress in curbing an epidemic of prescription drug abuse.
Conway briefed the National Governor's Association Policy Academy on Reducing Prescription Drug Abuse on Tuesday about Kentucky's efforts via a video link from the Capitol.
In particular, Conway touted a law passed by the Legislature last year that has beefed up oversight of the prescribing practices of Kentucky physicians. That law requires most doctors to use a computerized prescription monitoring system that can easily spot "gross deviations" from normal prescribing practices.
Those deviations are reported to the Board of Medical Licensure and to law enforcement authorities for action.
That, Conway said, is important in a state where more people die from prescription overdoes than car crashes.
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