WASHINGTON D.C. (WTAQ) - Nursing home operators say their residents must wait too long to get some of the medicines they need -- and they blame the nation's war on drugs. U.S. Senate Democrat Herb Kohl of Wisconsin held a recent hearing on the matter, as chairman of the Special Committee on Aging. He was told that patients suffer unnecessary pain because of the delays in approving their medicines. Menasha nursing home operator Michael Schanke says the 40-year-old Controlled Substances Act should be updated. He said the Drug Enforcement Administration requires doctors to be at the residents "beck and call," and that's not always the case.
The DEA says it must ensure that prescriptions are valid so medicines don't get in the wrong hands. But long-term care operators say they're being singled out -- and the theft of narcotics at nursing homes is no more likely than in other health care settings. In hospitals, nurses can be "agents" of prescribing doctors and still get medicine for a patient. But that's not the case with nursing homes. The National Association of Pharmacy Boards takes the middle ground. Director Carmen Catizone says both the DEA and the nursing homes are taking rigid positions.
