Avelar touts passage of bill to expand prescription drug protections

State Rep. Dagmara Avelar touted the passage of her bill which she argued would keep prescription drugs out of the wrong hands.

The Illinois House of Representatives passed her bill requiring all controlled substance drug prescriptions to be sent electronically to pharmacies, according to a news release.

“As a nation, we are facing an opioid epidemic that is claiming thousands of lives,” Avelar, D-Bolingbrook, said in the release. “Many times, people become addicted to the drug after receiving pain medications due to an injury or surgery.”

Avelar’s bill, H.B. 3596 requires prescriptions for drugs in schedule II, III, IV or V to be sent electronically to pharmacies. Doctors can opt out of sending prescriptions electronically if they certify to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation that they will not issue more than 25 prescriptions in a 12-month period.

“This can begin a cycle of clients continuing to go back to doctors to receive more medication or even people trying to forge prescriptions,” she added in the release. “By having doctors send prescriptions electronically, we are adding one more protection to prevent abuse of opioid drugs.”

The Senate will have to approve the bill.