The city of Springfield, Missouri, is moving closer to starting a local prescription drug monitoring program.
The Springfield News-Leader reports that a City Council committee decided Tuesday to let the full council vote on a bill that would create the program. The ordinance would add the city to a group of more than two dozen jurisdictions in Missouri that have decided to take control without the help of the state.
Missouri is currently the only place in the country without statewide prescription drug tracking.
Clay Goddard is the assistant director of health at the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. Goddard says the program is meant to prevent people intending to abuse prescription medication from "doctor shopping."
He says the ordinance would help "reduce opioid misuse, save lives and reduce crime."
