Agencies Work to Crack Down on Pill Mills

A nationwide group of federal law enforcement officials have new access to a broader array of prescription drug databases, Medicaid and Medicare figures, coroners’ records and other numbers compiled by the Justice Department, and the goal is to stop doctors quickly before they issue pain med prescriptions fraudulently. Investigators from 12 regions across the country see which doctors are prescribing the most drugs, how far patients will travel to see them and whether any have died within 60 days of receiving one of their prescriptions There are legitimate reasons for some doctors to prescribe large quantities of opioids, but a 2018 goal is to put a stop to pill mills, and potentially ask Congress for federal dollars to help in the fight.