On October 1, 2007, a new law that found its way into the depths of the Iraq Funding Bill may result in millions of patients calling their physicians in anger because their prescriptions cannot be filled, and state Medicaid and Medicare plans may not be paying for the medications.

The culprit is a provision that all prescriptions must be written on "tamper proof" prescription pads. The problem is that the lead time to make the change in the vast majority of states that do not have their own state requirement already is simply too short to convert all of the physicians in the country to the pads and to get patients into their physicians to get new prescriptions. States like New York allowed 18 months to make the conversion when their state laws went into effect. The vast majority of states have no existing law.

Pharmacy groups across the country are protesting the rapid conversion and the fact that the law lacks vital information to allow them to comply. Inspite of protests, CMS reportedly plans to go ahead with plans to enforce the standards October 1.

While not necessarily opposing more secure forms, the pharmacy groups warn that instead of saving $300+ million from reduced forgery of drug prescriptions, it may actually cost money in the sudden presentation of patients to emergency departments nation-wide as they suffer complications of not being able to fill their prescriptions.

The point out there some real problems with trying to comply with the law in addition to the short time for implementation:

• They want a definition of what "tamper resistant" means for enforcement standards
• Who makes the products?
• Where can physicians buy the new forms?
• Can enough forms be distributed in time to make the deadline?
• Who is going to pay for the tens of millions of dollars in new costs to replace all of the existing forms?
• What is supposed to happen when a patient shows up to fill a prescription that is not on the new forms?

This appears to be a case of a potentially good idea being rammed through Congress without any consideration of how to implement it appropriately. It is yet another example of why the US government is not a solution for healthcare problems...multiply the chaos this one move will cause by several million times and you still won't be close to the total catastrophe government "universal health coverage" will inflict on patients and providers.