Iowa database will help ID addicts who 'doctor shop'

By early March, Iowa regulators plan to offer a centralized computer system that will track purchases of most kinds of prescription drugs anywhere in Iowa. The goal is to block the practice of drug abusers who visit multiple doctors and complain of pain or other symptoms so they can receive duplicate prescriptions for powerful medications. The patients then take the prescriptions to a series of pharmacies so pharmacists won't notice they're filling multiple orders for the same person. The system was approved by legislators in 2006, but it has been delayed by controversy and technical complications.