SACRAMENTO, Calif. - As state lawmakers reviewed the effectiveness of the State Medical Board Monday, lawmakers and consumer advocates voiced their concerns about prescription drug abuse in California.
One of the board's duties is to investigate complaints against doctors who are accused of overprescribing medications. 8 members of the board are physicians themselves.
Consumer Watchdog, a patient advocacy group, says the board takes too long with its prescription abuse investigations, so want lawmakers to create a new independent board with a majority of public members instead of physicians.
But the group says a new board could do a better job and play a more objective role in prescription drug abuse.
"Sometimes, it's nothing devious it's just part of the culture that if you are overseeing your colleagues, you're sort of overseeing yourself," said Senator Mark DeSaulnier, a Democrat out of Concord. "So it's hard to be objective in that view, and i think built into that is in our culture we put a lot of trust in physicians, we have them have amazing investments in education and continuing education and sometimes it's hard for them to recognize if something is amiss within their profession."
DeSaulnier introduced a bill to raise licensing fees for physicians. The money would go toward a fund to modernize a statewide computer database called "Cures", which helps crack down on patients who doctor shop and doctors who over prescribe medications.
Dozens of patient's families gathered along the north steps of the capitol Monday, holding photos of loved ones who have died from prescription drug overdoses.
Some Medical Board members say budget cuts and reduced staff make it tough to investigate irresponsible doctors who overprescribe medications.
"people die and get addicted as i mentioned 100 a day in this country over and over again," DeSaulnier added, "So the urgency is very very real."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 100 people die a day in the United States from prescription drug overdoses.
