Prescription Drug Monitoring Bill Moves Forward Despite Funding Source Concerns

With an estimated $1.5 million first-year cost, lawmakers express concerns over missed federal grants and the long-term funding for the vital program.

In due time, medical patients in the Virgin Islands will benefit from a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), as lawmakers greenlit legislation proposing the program’s implementation. On Friday, the Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services met to consider Bill 35-0295, which would require the Department of Health to establish and administer a program “to provide prescription drug monitoring.”

The bill was sponsored by outgoing Senator Donna Frett-Gregory, who said she has worked on developing the proposed legislation collaboratively with the AARP of the Virgin Islands for two years. The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program is expected to be an electronic database that “tracks controlled substance prescriptions.” Per Frett-Gregoy, the program “can also help to identify patients who may be at risk for overdose, and provide potentially life-saving information and interventions.”