Of pills that kill

A California lawmaker intends to introduce a bill that would require state coroners to report all prescription-drug-related deaths.

Currently, prescription-drug-related deaths are reported only to the Medical Board of California if “gross negligence” is suspected of the physician, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In reaction to the Times’ analysis of the 3,733 prescription-drug overdoses in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Ventura counties from 2006 to 2011, Sen. Curren Price (D-Los Angeles) announced Nov. 12 he would pen legislation aimed at increased accountability. In 47 percent of the overdose cases, a drug prescribed by a physician was identified as a contributing cause or the sole cause of death.

The board sent a report to the state Legislature on Nov. 1 that suggested reporting all prescription-drug deaths would allow the board to “determine if the prescribing physician was treating in a correct and appropriate manner.”