Bill to crack down on pill mills also could be used to expand KASPER's reach

What started as a bill to regulate and license pain clinics so they don’t become pill mills could also be used to expand requirements for prescription tracking.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday debated a bill proposed by Republican Sen. Jimmy Higdon of Lebanon that would require any pain clinics to be owned and operated by licensed physicians who undergo background checks.

The committee didn’t vote on the bill Thursday.

Democratic Sen. Ray Jones of Pikeville said during the discussion that the bill, as written, doesn’t do enough to regulate prescriptions. Kentucky has a tracking system, called KASPER, in which the prescriptions doctors write are recorded for the Board of Medical Licensure to review — and potentially for use in law enforcement investigations.