Updated Prescription Drug-Monitoring System Unveiled, Wins Praise

By Bill Kidd, Central Bureau ChiefThe Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has opened up the state’s overhauled prescription drug-monitoring program (PDMP) to allow nearly 90,000 health care practitioners quicker access to information on controlled drugs dispensed to patients.Workers' compensation insurers applauded the change as a large step in the right direction.The revised program allows doctors and other authorized users to obtain information online. Until now, users had to submit a written request from the PDMP and a hard copy was delivered to them by DPS. The new program w...