L.I. Moms Make Desperate Plea For Passage Of ISTOP Legislation In Fight Against Drug Overdose
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A group of Long Island mothers, who have lost children to a drug overdose or have come close to it, are pressing Albany to pass legislation that would make it illegal to doctor shop and fill prescriptions without questions.
The mothers want lawmakers to pass the so-called ISTOP legislation that would would track prescriptions and require doctors and pharmacists to check an online database before dispensing painkillers.
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"They don't understand that our kids are getting hooked on it, our kids are selling it...our kids are dying from it," one mother told reporters, including 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera.
Teri Kroll is among the group of mothers who has been impacted. Her son, Timothy Kroll, a graduate of Holy Trinity and Farmingdale State, overdosed in the family home.
"We went to wake him up and he didn't respond. My husband called an ambulance," Kroll tearfully told CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan.
Kroll's message on Friday was clear.
"Doctors and pharmacists need to be managed and held responsible for rapidly increasing flow of narcotics getting into the hands of our young people," she said.
As Long Island approaches the one-year anniversary of the murder and robbery at Haven Drugs in Medford, and four months after the deadly shootout at a Seaford pharmacy, officials are asking why there isn't anything on the books requiring the tracking of prescribers and pharmacists.
"Elected officials, quite frankly, tripped over themselves to come out and say 'enough is enough -- we're going to enact swift legislation that will stop doctor shopping and clamp down on the misuse and diversion of prescription meds,'" said Jeffrey Reynolds, of the Long Island Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence.
The heartache of victims' families is very real, but even so, the Internet System for Tracking Over Prescribing legislation is languishing.
"The ISTOP bill would make such a big difference because Tim's prescriptions were covered under insurance.They were prescribed by one doctor. He went to one pharmacy to get them filled. The ISTOP bill would make that impossible," Terri Kroll said.
The office of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman released a statement Friday, saying the office is "Engaged in ongoing, productive negotiations with the Governor's Office and the Legislature on a bill to address N.Y.'s growing prescription drug epidemic, which we believe will pass this session."
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