Florida Largest Producer of Pill Mills
Posted on January 19, 2010As the prescription drug addiction epidemic continues to rise, so does the number of people seeking help for these addictions throughout the United States. A recent report highlights the skyrocketing number of new pain clinics in South Florida that have allowed prescription drug trafficking to go unchecked. As a result, many new prescription drug pill addicts have been created.
According to reports from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the South Florida Pill Mills are proliferating at an alarming rate. In 2007, there were only four such locations. In 2009, 115 were found in Broward Country, Florida alone.
A grand Jury was convened in Broward County to investigate the huge increase in Pill Mills in South Florida. Aside from their growing numbers, research into this area has also identified that the top 25 dispensing doctors of OxyCodone in the nation are located in Florida, with 18 of them in Broward County.
A Pill Mill is a pain clinic that treats patients for pain through the dispensing of large quantities of controlled substances for non-medical purposes. They tend to be rogue clinics that put out pills for cash. Patients will often go to these clinics faking illnesses and complaining about non-existent pain.
The same individual can visit several Pill Mills all in one day, providing significant quantities of drugs. The clinics are very profitable and drug dealers and traffickers obtain as much of any medication they need.
The Grand Jury in Broward County noted that Florida was delinquent in enacting legislation authorizing a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. Finally, in 2009, the state enacted the legislation; the only problem is it does not go into effect until December of 2010.
