News in brief - Jan. 24, 2005

Conn. lawsuit dismissal upheld - DEA creates hotline to report suspected drug diversion - Medical board names new director

Conn. lawsuit dismissal upheld

The Connecticut Supreme Court in January said the Connecticut State Medical Society could not go forward with lawsuits accusing two insurers of not fully reimbursing physicians and not paying them promptly.

The high court upheld a lower court ruling that the CSMS did not have standing to bring the complaints against Oxford Health Plans and ConnectiCare. CSMS originally filed the lawsuits in 2001 on its own behalf and on behalf of its physician members.

DEA creates hotline to report suspected drug diversion

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has created a toll-free hotline, 1-877-RxAbuse, for people to call in anonymous tips about suspected diversion of prescription drugs by individuals or Internet pharmacies.

A DEA press release stated that prescription drug abuse -- particularly painkillers and performance-enhancing steroids -- has become an "increasingly widespread problem in the United States, leading to dangerous abuse, addiction and sometimes fatalities."

In the release, DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy stated that information from the hotline "will greatly assist us in bringing drug dealers to justice and preventing the tragedies that come from prescription drug abuse."

DEA spokeswoman Rogene Waite said the agency's Prescription Drug Abuse Call Center began operating on Dec. 13, 2004, and that, as of Dec. 31, it had received 82 calls.

Medical board names new director

Timothy C. Miller, a former Arizona assistant attorney general, has started his new job as executive director of the Arizona Medical Board.

Miller is an attorney with extensive experience in health law and agency regulatory law.

As chief of the Bureau for Consumer Rights within the Division of Behavioral Health Services at the Arizona Dept. of Health Services, he oversaw the protection of the legal and treatment rights of consumers with serious mental illnesses in the publicly funded behavioral health system.

"Mr. Miller brings to the [medical board] great experience as a prior regulator and administrator with the Arizona Dept. of Health Services and the Arizona Attorney General's office," Board Chair Edward J. Schwager, MD, said in a statement.