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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is keeping the state's prescription drug database up and running after state legislators decided against funding it.
The Florida Legislature did not set aside any money for the nearly three year old program during the annual session that ended Friday.
Bondi announced Monday that she would use nearly $2 million from a previous legal settlement with Caremark to operate the database. That should be enough to keep the database operating for four years.
Bondi called the database an important tool in battling prescription drug abuse.
The database is designed to help crack down on "pill mills" that sell painkillers to addicts and drug dealers. It's intended to help weed out bogus patients obtaining excessive amounts of drugs.
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