LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- It's been called an epidemic and Kentucky's newest killer. On Wednesday, two months after the pill mill bill took effect, lawmakers are looking at how it's working.
Recovering addict Kenneth Sexton says, "When I was about 30 years old, I was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease. I was put on 80 milligrams oxycontin...I was also diagnosed with thyroid cancer shortly after that, so getting prescription medication was pretty easy for me."
Sexton told lawmakers exactly how he worked the system: "I was real meticulous. Things I would do, I would take my MRI and put your personal information in them."
Sexton admits he had a stable of people faking pain and a stable of Louisville doctors ready to write a prescription. He explains, "120 oxycontin times $70 is $8400 and that motivated me a whole bunch."
This was the third in a series of hearings to review the effectiveness of House Bill 1. The so-called pill mill bill places strict regulations on who can prescribe and receive addictive medications such as oxycontin.
Reports say Kentucky ranks among the top five most prescribed states in the nation. Van Engram of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy says, "The problem just continues to grow and grow and grow, and hopefully this bill will stop the bleeding."
Since the new rules took effect in July, officials say six pill mills have closed and the license for 13 others are under review. But some doctors are pushing back against the bill, saying it actually makes it harder to treat people with legitimate pain.
Leaders say the law will likely be tweaked in the next legislative session. Van Engram says, "Certainly I think there will be changes to administrative regulations with the bill and some minor technical changes, but I think the heart and substance of the bill will remain the same."
As the new law makes it harder to receive illegal drugs, the hearing revealed a greater need for rehab centers throughout Kentucky -- centers such as the Healing Place, where Sexton got clean. He explains, "They ended up hiring me and keeping me on staff and I even got some benefits now, so everything is much better."
According to the Kentucky Attorney General's office, the number of people dying from prescription drug abuse has more than doubled in the last decade to about one thousand people a year.
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