Feb. 4--OxyContin addiction came and went from the headlines in the decade past, but prescription drug abuse continues to be an increasing cause of injury and death in Virginia, particularly in the mostly rural west.

A reminder of this quiet, deadly epidemic comes in the form of House Bill 1166, filed in the General Assembly this session by Del. Bud Phillips, a Democrat from Castlewood, in Russell County, amid the coalfields of far Southwest.

Thus far, the bill is advancing in the House -- good news for the region because the measure could help get a handle on the illegal diversion of the prescription drugs that figure so large in its continuing substance abuse problems.

The bill would require doctors, pharmacists and other health professionals to report to police within three days anyone they suspect of having tried to obtain controlled drugs under false pretenses.

So-called doctor shopping is a prime method for supplying a black market in highly addictive prescription drugs. Abusers go from doctor to doctor, feigning ailments or gaining multiple prescriptions for real ones, to get pills they can sell on the street.

Phillips' bill is aimed at doctors and other health care workers who have reason to suspect a scam, but are reluctant to pass along information to police for fear of violating patient privacy laws.

The measure requires physicians and others to report their suspicions, though it carries no penalty for health care professionals who don't comply. A provision giving those who do comply immunity from civil suits should make that more attractive.

Phillips told a local newspaper he decided to file the bill after hearing anecdotal evidence from doctors, nurses, pharmacists and dentists that drug diversion is a big factor in prescription drug abuse.

The damage the abuse does is well-documented.

According to the 2008 annual report of the office of Virginia's chief medical examiner, issued in November, prescription drugs accounted for 61.2 percent of all drug/poison deaths in the commonwealth that year. A third of them occurred in the Western District.

HB 1166 would be another drug prevention tool to use in trying to turn around self-destructive behavior that costs lives and sends communities into decline. Lawmakers should make it available.

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