Pill mill law expiration catches former lawmaker Mike Fasano by surprise

State Sen. Mike Fasano is considered the father of Florida’s pill mill laws, having worked tirelessly in 2009, 2010, and 2011 on the issue.

The former senator was shocked to hear on Thursday that portions of Florida’s law expire in January 2016 unless the Florida Legislature passes a bill to keep them intact.

“That amazes me,” Fasano, now Pasco County Tax Collector, said, adding he was pleased that there are legislators in Tallahassee who see the merit of the law and will champion keeping it on the books.

Senate Banking and Committee Chairman state Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto is the sponsor of SB 450, a one- page bill that deletes from current law the Jan. 1, 2016, expiration date of pain management clinics, which are regulated in the medical physician and osteopathic physician licensure statutes.

Benacquisto issued a press released declaring that the laws were too important to let expire and that Florida was making great strides to abate its pill mill image. “Addiction to prescription pain medication continues to be a problem in many communities, so we must give the state and law enforcement the tools to combat bad actors.”

Florida Medical Association Executive Vice President Tim Stapleton said his organization is supporting Benacquisto’s bill. A Florida Board of Medicine committee charged with tracking legislation and rules also backs the the current law and voted to support it at a December 4 meeting in Tampa.

According to the attorney general’s website there has been a decrease in the number of pain management clinics, from 900-plus in 2010 to 367 as of January 2014. The number of prescription drug-related deaths also has dipped, from 2,710 in 2010 to 2,090 in 2012.

Fasano recalls working closely with Attorney General Pam Bondi in 2011 on revamping the laws related to the establishment, management and operation of pain management clinics, including the regulations impacting physicians who practice medicine at pain management clinics.

The House, however, took a different approach to the pill mill problem. Its initial proposed committee bill would have eliminated the underlying registration laws and would have prohibited dispensing of controlled substances altogether.

Fasano recalls tagging a strike-everything amendment onto the bill that had been worked on in the waning hours of the session. However, he didn’t notice the expiration date in the strike-all amendment.

“Shame on me for not recognizing it,” Fasano said. “Those little devils.”