Facing rising death rate, emergency rooms clamp down on narcotics distribution

Madison-area emergency rooms, facing a rise in prescription drug abuse seen around the country, are refusing to give narcotics to patients who frequently go to ERs for painkillers. In a related effort to stop "doctor shopping" by drug abusers, Wisconsin is poised to join the vast majority of states with prescription drug monitoring programs, databases that track the dispensing of drugs most likely to be abused. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 9/19)