California Bill Would Require Reporting of Prescription Drug Related Deaths to State's Medical Board

November 28, 2012 02:19 PM

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A bill that would require coroners in California to report all prescription drug related deaths to the Medical Board of California was introduced to the state Senate by Senator Curren D. Price, Jr (D-Los Angeles). The bill aims to help authorities identify physicians whose “prescribing practices may be harming patients,” reports the Los Angeles Times. A Los Angeles Times investigative report indicated that in four California counties 3,733 accidental deaths were related to prescription drugs, and that in almost half of those cases the individual had a prescription for at least one drug that caused the death. California law already requires that prescription drug related deaths suspected to be caused by “gross negligence” by a physician must be reported to the Medical Board. After considering the findings of investigative report, the Medical Board agreed that “all deaths related to prescription drug overdoses should be reported to the board for further investigation,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

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