S.C. Sen. Kevin Bryant (R-Anderson) is slamming his state’s largest agency for what he refers to as “nanny government.”
Bryant, a pharmacist, says the latest regulation promulgated by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) is part of a disturbing trend of government ” punishing the whole public” in an effort to punish “the few out there abusing the system.”
Bryant is referring to SCDHEC’s order requiring pharmacies to submit narcotic prescription records to the agency on a daily basis. This database will then be provided to law enforcement.
“As you know, South Carolina has a bad history with its citizens’ databases,” Bryant wrote on his website. “Here’s one more database for hackers and a good victory for nanny state!”
We agree …
South Carolina has no more business waging war on “illegal” drugs than it does over-regulating legal ones. Both efforts violate liberty and privacy – and are doomed to fail.
SCDHEC did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
21 comments
Why do doctors and pharmacists not want narcotic prescriptions tracked? Could it be that they are afraid they could lose an income stream?
It means they will have to hire another person to keep track of the narcotics and fill out DHECs paperwork. They will then have to raise their rates to pay for that person. Which means more of our hard earned money we would then have to pay just to appease the Bureaucratic Gods. In other words it’s another tax on us.
Not to mention DHEC will now have to hire and train more government workers and have their budget increased which lawmakers will raise taxes to cover.
Isn’t Big Brother Nanny government great! “Let them eat cake and drink the kool-aid!”
except they wont hire or train new people, they will add the work load onto their current employees, eventually forcing them to quit because of the work load
Government mules rarely quit. Most have no backbone and many no ability to survive in markets that are performance oriented.
Rarely will they get fired for being unproductive. They might bitch and moan to their colleagues, but they won’t ever jump off the gravy train and their bosses know that and beat them unmercifully.
So private pharmacy employees are “government mules”? Oh, that’s right, you’re stupid.
DHEC? Duh huh.
DHEC won’t hire more people either. They will try to do what they are supposed to do with the information for a little while then just throw it in the garbage (or delete it) because “no one looks at that stuff anyway”.
I’m not so sure this is something new. As a doctor in SC, we have had access to patient level data on controlled substance prescriptions issued for about 4-5 years. If a patient comes in and seems suspicious or requests certain drugs, I can look up when and where they had controlled substances dispensed. Physicians have to take a course to have access to the data. It is most commonly used in Emergency Rooms. That said, I think the difference in the program I just described and what is proposed is the timeliness of turning over that info and the fact that law enforcement would also have access. I think the time from dispensing to appearing in the database is 10-14 days in most cases.
Maybe so in SC but different story in south FL.
Every day, there’s more laws creating more paperwork to be submitted to our masters.
While tremendously burdensome to individuals and corporations, our masters have no hope of enforcing every law on the books on everyone; especially as they add more daily.
Sure, they can pick you out randomly and assuredly find some law you’ve broken if for some reason you’ve upset them. But, if you stay below the radar and run with the herd of other zebra, the government hyena’s will instead devour the carcasses of the old, young, stupid or infirmed.
They need the rest of the herd to maintain their food source and if you are smart about it, you are too much of a hassle to devour.
Sort of like the MORLOCKS and the ELOI…………………
Precisely.
It’s all about the money. When Obama slashed DEA’s budget by around 40%, these funds are being transferred into state coffers for “rehab”. Cue the Solicitor’s Office.
Senator Bryant,
You are applauded,
Yes, deregulate Dilaudid.
Restock your bins
With unlimited tins
Of Vicodin and Oxycontin.
Release veritable Niagaras
Of the various Viagras–
And don’t let the gubmint tally ’em.
Now, while you’re “up”–
Pass me some Valium.
A handful will do. Or at least seven.
Those of us in a haze say
“Thank you,” Kevin.
A Cockroach bitching about another Cockroach ain’t worth a comment
Always nice to see an elected legislator looking out for his own self-interest.
To “bowtieslayer” — it’s now open season on any creature wearing a bowtie……
They are all self interested. To think otherwise is fooling.
Dudes wearing bowties are gay. I should know.
He wants to protect his pill head customers and the doctors writing those prescriptions for as long as he can.
What about the fraudulent birth certificate created by DHEC? See, http://lillycollette.blogspot.com