– Your doctor would have to check your prescription history before prescribing you opioid painkillers, under a bill awaiting a final vote in the Senate. Checking the INSPECT database is voluntary now. State health officials say requiring the check could head off dangerous drug interactions, and help doctors spot patients who are feeding an addiction. Richard Feldman with the Indiana Academy of Family Physicians says he applauds the intent of the bill, but contends it would be a major burden. Even though INSPECT boasts a query can be completed in eight seconds, Feldman says that adds up if you multiply it by 30 or 40 patients a day. The full Senate could vote on the bills next week.
— A bill under consideration by Indiana lawmakers would compensate people like Keith Cooper who spent nearly a decade in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Based on eyewitness accounts, Cooper was convicted of armed robbery. He was sentenced to 40 years behind bars. DNA evidence eventually cleared Cooper and he was released from prison in 2006. Cooper is the first innocent person in Indiana history to be pardoned by a governor. A bill introduced by Brownsburg representative Greg Steuerwald aims to give exonerated prisoners like Cooper $25,000 for each year they wrongfully served. Indiana is one of 18 states without a wrongful conviction compensation law.
