The California State Senate Business and Professions Committee recently passed out of committee SB 809, a measure which will levy a 1.2% license fee for pharmacists, NPs, physicians, and podiatrists to increase funding for the Department of Justice’s Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (otherwise known as CURES). 

This system allows registered practitioners to obtain a record of all controlled substances dispensed to a patient over the previous 12 months. Although many clinicians work in settings where internal systems can track pharmacy claims (including Partnership’s), narcotics obtained by a patient choosing to pay cash for a prescription obtained from a different clinician would go unnoticed. This is a common strategy for those abusing drugs or for those obtaining questionable prescriptions, paying cash, and then selling the drugs for a profit (i.e. OxyContin Express).

Through using the CURES report, encouraged by PHC policy, clinicians can discover if patients are obtaining controlled substances outside their medical home. I am a CURES user and regularly screen patients for their controlled substance use. The results are eye opening and help reign in abuse. Besides obtaining prescriptions from non-medical home practices, other common sources include Emergency Departments and dental practices.

An additional piece of the legislation requires clinicians who prescribe controlled substances to register for CURES. Currently, only 7% of those licensed to prescribe or dispense controlled substances are registered with CURES. Signing up with CURES is fairly easy and inexpensive, with the most costly portion being the price of notarization and the time required to assemble the paperwork. At PHC’s recent Santa Rosa conference on prescription drug abuse, a staff person from the CURES/DOJ office attended, gave a talk, and registered participants for free. PHC is planning a similar meeting, to be co-sponsored with Touro University and Solano County Family Health Services, in the Solano/Napa/Yolo region. Stay tuned.

Regardless of the outcome of SB 809, we encourage our clinicians to register with and use the CURES system. Go to https://pmp.doj.ca.gov/pdmp/index.do for more information.

Marshall Kubota, MD