WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) held a roundtable discussion to discuss increasing rates of prescription drug abuse and ongoing efforts to combat illegal drug diversion and fraud in Chillicothe today. Local health care providers, law enforcement, judicial representatives, and State Representative Raymond Pryor (D-Chillicothe) attended the meeting to share their ideas and experiences with this issue. 

"Prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic in our state and we must find a way to allocate more resources to behavioral health and substance abuse programs," Brown said. "Every state has been forced to make difficult budget decisions, but we must find a way - whether at the state or federal level - to support these critical programs while improving collaboration between state and federal agencies to better educate Ohioans about the dangers of prescription drug abuse."

Prescription drug abuse is an epidemic in Ohio. In 2007, unintentional drug poisoning became the leading cause of injury death in Ohio, surpassing motor vehicle crashes and suicide for the first time on record. Prescription pain medications, such as oxycodone, morphine, and methadone are largely responsible for increasing numbers of overdoses and deaths in Ohio.

Community leaders in Southern Ohio and rural counties across the state have expressed concerns about the increasing problems with drug abuse and often attribute the rise in abuse to drug diversion (the unlawful channeling of regulated drugs from medical sources to the illicit marketplace of pain medications), doctor shopping (using multiple prescribers), and pill mills (doctors, pharmacies or illegal pain clinics that prescribe and dispense prescription drugs inappropriately or for non-medical reasons or personal financial gain).

Today's roundtable follows a first-of-its-kind roundtable convened by Sen. Brown's office in March 2010 that brought together federal officials from the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and state officials from the Attorney General's office, Department of Health, and Department of Jobs and Family Services.

Brown is working to combat the growing problem of prescription drug abuse and Medicaid fraud in Ohio on all fronts. Earlier this year, Sen. Brown wrote to President Obama in support of the President's proposals to combat Medicaid prescription drug fraud and joined a bipartisan group of Senators in introducing legislation to reauthorize the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Drug Reporting (NASPER) Act. In addition, earlier this year Sen. Brown called for increased state and federal collaboration in fighting drug diversion and drug fraud.

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