Doctors Must Check Database Before Prescribing Painkillers Under New Law

LANSING (AP) - Michigan doctors will be required to check a prescription database before prescribing painkillers and other powerful drugs under new laws signed by Lt. Gov. Brian Calley.

Calley enacted the bills Wednesday while Gov. Rick Snyder is out of state.

The laws limit the amount of opioids that can be prescribed, require a "bona fide" physician-patient relationship to dispense drugs and require those being treated for an overdose to receive information on substance abuse services.

The requirement for health providers to use the recently upgraded Michigan Automated Prescription System takes effect in June. State officials say improvements to the system have put Michigan at the forefront of prescription drug monitoring technology.

Calley says the opioid epidemic has become a "national emergency," and the state is "taking an all-hands-on-deck approach."

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