State Launches New Online Portal To Report Suspected Opioid Abuse

A new online portal allowing doctors and pharmacists to report suspected opioid or other prescription drug issues is now live, officials announced Thursday.

The Suspicious Activity Report portal is a service of the state's Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) of the Division of Consumer Affairs. The portal allows medical professionals to report suspicious activities by patients who want to obtain opioids or other controlled medications. Professionals can also report patients they think may be "doctor shopping" to stockpile drugs or those who may be trying to use forged or stolen prescriptions.

Information filed will be reviewed for possible administrative and criminal enforcement.

“As the deadly scourge of addiction continues to claim lives in our state, we’re making it easier than ever for New Jerseyans to fight back,” Porrino said in a news release. “By taking a few minutes to submit a Suspicious Activity Report online, you could be preventing a fresh supply of habit-forming drugs from hitting the streets and destroying lives.”

The addition of the portal to the PMP, which contains 74 million prescriptions written or filed in New Jersey. Records contains the names and addresses of the patient, doctor and pharmacy involved in a specific prescription.

Medical practitioners are required to check the PMP the first time they prescribe a Schedule II controlled dangerous substance to a patient for acute or chronic pain and then again if the patient continues to receive the medicine for three months.

Eleven other states besides New Jersey, including New York and Pennsylvania, share data with the PMP.

The database has been used to successfully prosecute health care professionals linked to "pill mills" that distribute narcotics.

For more information about the portal, click here.

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