National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2005

The National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2005 (NASPER)&mdash;also known as the "Prescription Electronic Reporting Act"(H.R. 1132), became Public Law 109-60 when it was signed on August 11, 2005, by President George W. Bush, "which requires the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to States to establish or improve programs to electronically monitor dispensing of controlled substances." Edward Whitfield (R, KY) sponsored this bill and introduced it on March 3, 2005.

The bill, which "gives states grant money to create scheduled drug tracking databases," "requires those dispensing controlled substances (such as pharmacists and physicians) to submit information"&mdash;patients' names, addresses and telephone numbers&mdash;to state governments within one week of filling prescriptions for "commonly prescribed medications for pain, anxiety, attention-deficit disorder and sleep disorders." "Data also will be collected on animal owners whose pets are prescribed controlled substances by veterinarians."

Controversy
Although "Congress's stated purpose of the law is to help physicians identify and treat prescription drug addiction and abuse ... the legislation goes much further than its announced intent by also allowing local, state and federal law-enforcement agents to use the nationwide electronic prescription drug data."

"Additionally, the new law will greatly undermine Americans' health privacy because citizens don't have a right to opt out of the state electronic databases. Nor do they have a right to know whether their personal health data are being accessed by many others, including law-enforcement officials."

Vote
The bill was agreed to by voice vote in the U.S. Senate on July 27, 2005, and by unanimous consent in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 29, 2005.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * George W. Bush's domestic spying
 * Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
 * Office for Civil Rights - HIPAA
 * Pharmaceutical industry
 * surveillance: digital surveillance, internet surveillance
 * U.S. prescription drug system

2002

 * David B. Brushwood, "Is NASPER Safe and Effective?" Pain & the Law, October 2002. Bill was introduced as House Bill 5503 in the 107th Congress.

2003

 * "Findings and Recommendations of the Prescription Monitoring Standards Workgroup," State Association of State Controlled Substances Authorities, February 26, 2003. re opposition to National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2002 (NASPER).

2004

 * "House-Passed Bill Would Create Drug Monitoring Program," AAMC, October 8, 2004. re National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2004 (NASPER) (H.R. 3015)
 * Dave Eberhart, "Doctors Group Fights Prescription Reporting Bill," NewsMax, November 22, 2004.

2005

 * Michael Ostrolenk, "National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2005," Liberty Watch/Medical Privacy Coalition, 2005.
 * "Combating Counterfeit Drugs: A Report of the Food and Drug Administration Annual Update," FDA, May 18, 2005.
 * Mike Krause, Op-Ed: "Can Colorado Say No to the Nanny-State," Independence Institute, June 1, 2005.
 * News Release: "President Signs Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2005," Office of the White House Press Secretary, August 12, 2005.
 * Jeralyn Merritt, "Bush Signs Bill for Electronic Prescription Monitoring," Talk Left, August 13, 2005.
 * "Prescription for Privacy Invasions," Institute for Health Freedom/Health Freedom Watch Newsletter, September 2005.
 * L. Manchikanti, E. Whitfield, and F. Pallone, "Evolution of The National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act (NASPER): A Public Law for Balancing Treatment of Pain and Drug Abuse and Diversion," American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians/PubMed, October 2005.
 * Fredrick Kunkle, "Attorney General Targets Prescription Drug Abuse," Washington Post, October 6, 2005.

2006

 * "Experts Call For Balance In Addressing Under Treated Pain And Drug Abuse," Medical News Today, March 21, 2006.
 * M.L. Baker, "FDA to Require Standard Language on Electronic Drug Labels," eWeek.com, May 2, 2006.
 * "Q&As: A Closer Look At State Prescription Monitoring Programs," Office of Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Department of Justice. See chart: "States with Legislation Enabling a Prescription Monitoring Program (as of November 2006)."

2007

 * Virgil Van Dusen and Alan R. Spies, "An Overview and Update of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970," Pharmacy Times, February 2007. (ACPE Program I.D. Number: 290-000-07-001-H03).
 * "Prescription Reporting System to Decrease Doctor Shopping," Nurse.com, April 9, 2007.
 * Ned Potter, David Schoetz, Richard Esposito, Pierre Thomas, and Staff of ABC News, "Killer's Note: 'You Caused Me to Do This' ABC News, April 17, 2007. See page 2.
 * John Aravosis, "Why does the Bush administration have a list of everyone who has ever used anti-depressants?" AMERICAblog, April 18, 2007.
 * Glenn Greenwald, "Our benevolent surveillance state," Salon, April 18, 2007.
 * John Aravosis, "Bush administration is prying into your medical records in violation of the law," AMERICAblog, April 19, 2007.