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HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESCRIPTION MONITORING BILL SIGNED INTO LAW
June 18, 2009
Hillsborough County Commissioner and Pharmacist Rose Ferlita shared good news with her colleagues today at the end of the County's Budget Workshop -- the Governor has signed Senate Bill 462. Effective July 1, 2009, doctors, pharmacists, health care entities, and law enforcement will be able to monitor prescription drug transactions through a comprehensive database system to deter the practices of doctor shopping, pharmacy shopping and other inappropriate practices.
Commissioner Ferlita and members of the statewide prescription drug task force have worked closely with their legislative delegations for six years to seek this important public safety law. Thirty-eight states already have drug monitoring programs in place.
"As a pharmacist, I have witnessed both the traumatic effects of drug overdose deaths on families and the desperate behavior of drug-addicted youths. We must help our community by ending illegal use of legal drugs," Commissioner Ferlita stated.
A 2008 study jointly conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Medical Examiners Commission analyzed 168,900 deaths statewide and found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was 3 times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined.
"It was long overdue that this bill be approved as a health, safety and welfare issue for our fine State. My thanks to the legislators, who sponsored the bill, and to the legislators who supported it, and to our Governor, Charlie Crist, for signing the bill. Florida has won a big battle today," Ferlita said.
Video of Press Conference (opens in a new window)
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE USE
May 14, 2009
Hillsborough County Doubles Pet-Friendly Shelters
Hillsborough County Animal Services announced today the locations of two additional public pet-friendly evacuation shelters, bringing the total number to four in Hillsborough County:
Burnett Middle School, 1010 N. Kingsway Road in Seffner
Sickles High, 7950 Gunn Hwy. in Tampa
NEW * Bartels Middle School, 9020 Imperial Oak Blvd. in Tampa
NEW * Shields Middle School, 15732 Beth Shields Way in Ruskin
These public pet friendly are located adjacent to existing Red Cross shelters. Pet owners must:
- Take shelter on location (no drop-offs), but in separate quarters
- Keep their pets' rabies vaccination current
- Bring supplies and carriers whenever possible
- Help care for pets during their stay
Public pet-friendly shelters will accept dogs, cats, and other "household pets" (no reptiles, insects or exotics). They are first-come, first-served and reservations are not accepted in advance. Residents are encouraged to make plans elsewhere and think of ALL public shelters as a last resort - whether they be for people or pets!
Accompanied by Animal Services Director Bill Armstrong, Commissioner Rose Ferlita spoke during today's announcement about the importance of emergency preparedness and the cooperation of community members to comply with the federal Pets Act. After Hurricane Katrina, legislation was passed requiring communities to make provisions for pets during disasters so residents do not risk personal safety in order to remain with their companion animals.
As hurricane season approaches, supplies and volunteers are needed now to prepare pet-friendly evacuation shelters in Hillsborough County. Tax-deductible donations may be made to the County's local disaster response organization, the non-profit Community of Hillsborough Animal & Agricultural Response Team (CHAART).
Animal lovers who enjoy serving the community are also urged to volunteer for potential pet-shelter duty, and basic training will be provided. To learn more, log onto www.chaart.org or call Hillsborough County Animal Services.
For more information on storm preparedness or the County's pet-friendly shelters, residents should call 813-744-5660 or log onto www.hillsboroughcounty.org .
Video of Press Conference (opens in a new window)
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY NEWS CONFERENCE
April 30, 2009
PRESCRIPTION DRUG MONITORING PROGRAM TO BECOME LAW
Hillsborough County Commissioner and Pharmacist Rose Ferlita will speak Friday, May 1 at 10 a.m. to the Florida Legislature's crucial vote to have tighter controls and a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. Senate Bill 462 was unanimously passed by the Florida Senate today, April 30. It had already won overwhelming support in the House.
The bill is now on its way to the Governor's Desk for signature.
Commissioner Ferlita has worked closely with the legislative delegation for this bill's passage.
What: News Conference with Commissioner Ferlita
When: May 1, 10 a.m.
Where: 2nd Floor Foyer, County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Fact sheet and copies of the legislation will be available at the news conference.
Lori Hudson
Communications Director
Hillsborough County
601 E. Kennedy Blvd., 16th Floor
Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 272 5314
hudsonle@hillsboroughcounty.org
Prescription Drug Bill Fact Sheet
What: Establishment of a comprehensive database system to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of certain controlled substances.
When: Law will go into effect July 1, 2009
- Ends Doctor Shopping for illegal use of legally prescribed substances
- Ends Florida.s career as an easy donor state where medications are acquired and then sold in states with more controls in place
- Tracks all recipients of controlled substances as a tool to detect abusers
- Prohibits physicians from practicing in a pain management clinic not registered with the Department of Health
- Places Florida in the vast majority of states who have tighter controls and a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program in place
Why: More deaths have occurred from misuse of legal prescription drugs than from use of illicit drugs. A 2008 study jointly conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Medical Examiners Commission analyzed 168,900 deaths statewide and found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was 3 times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined:
989 deaths due to cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines
COMPARED TO:
2,328 deaths from legal opioids like Vicodin and OxyContin
743 deaths due to benzodiazepines like Xanax, Valium
Special thanks to the Hillsborough County Legislative Delegation, the Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force, Edith Stewart and Brandon Wagner for the consistent support of this important piece of legislation.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY NEWS
April 23, 2009
County's Sustainability Practices Are Topic Of Regional Presentation
What:
Presentation on Hillsborough County.s Sustainability Program and Tour of Downtown Energy Plant to United States Green Building Council Florida Gulf Coast Chapter
Who:
Comm. Rose Ferlita, County Administrator Pat Bean, and Randy Klindworth, County.s Energy Conservation Manager
When:
Wednesday, April 29, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Where:
Edgecomb Courthouse Jury Room, 800 E. Twiggs St., downtown Tampa
Hillsborough County Commissioner Rose Ferlita, County Administrator Pat Bean and County Energy Conservation Manager Randy Klindworth will present an overview of the County.s green initiatives to a gathering of the regional chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. The County was asked to provide the presentation after the chapter heard about the County's successes in implementing energy conservation measures.
One of the highlights of the meeting will be a tour of the County.s downtown energy plant that provides chilled water for five County buildings downtown. The plant contains a thermal energy storage system that makes ice at night when utility rates are lower and it is more efficient to operate. The plant also collects condensate water from all five County buildings, saving more than three million gallons of water annually. This plant is one of the reasons that the County has received three Energy Stars for buildings downtown.
Though this meeting is mainly for members of the Green Building Council, non-members can attend for an additional fee. For more information on the meeting, go to: www.fgcc.roundtablelive.org.
To see a complete list of the County.s sustainability initiatives, go to: www.hillsboroughcounty.org and click on the .Green Hillsborough. link.
For more information, contact:
Randy Klindworth, Energy Conservation Mgr.
Real Estate Department
Phone: 276-8789
klindworthr@hillsboroughcounty.org
GOING GREEN... TO SAVE SOME GREEN ON HILLSBOROUGH TELEVISION
Thursday, April 23, 5:30 p.m.
HTV - Hillsborough Television
Brighthouse Channel 622, Verizon and Comcast Channel 22
Green is getting more and more popular; Yet Hillsborough County has been working for decades on ways to save energy and money. County efforts may actually be rewarded financially. The next episode of Hillsborough Television's County Connection program looks at the past, present and future of conserving energy in Hillsborough County.
Rose Ferlita, District 1 County Commissioner talks about the Carbon Credit and Alternative Fuel initiatives she brought forward to the County and what it means in the future for taxpayers and the environment.
Jerry Campbell, Director of Air Management for the Environmental Protection Commission breaks through the energy terminology and discusses events the EPC have planned during Clean Air Month in May.
Randy Klindworth, Energy Manager for Hillsborough County talks about the award-winning energy programs that saved taxpayers just over $2.2 million last year and ways that Hillsborough County is laying the groundwork for future energy and money savings.
Byron Burrows, Manager of Air Programs for Tampa Electric reveals their experience with international energy saving initiatives and talks about ways residents can save money and energy on their own.
County Connection is a bi-weekly program hosted by Jerome Ritchey that connects residents to their County on important community issues. County Connection airs new episodes on Hillsborough Television every other Thursday at 5:30 p.m. with encore airings of the show for two weeks.
For complete schedule information, go to www.htv22.org.
For more information contact Tammy Peralta, HTV Station Manager at (813) 276-2675.
Press Releases for Jan-March 2009
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