NH again considers Rx drug database

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The New Hampshire Board of Medicine is willing to increase physician licensing fees to help pay for a database that would keep track of commonly abused prescription drugs.

A Senate committee held a hearing Thursday on a bill that would allow doctors to check whether someone seeking a prescription has already hit up other doctors in order to fraudulently obtain painkillers and other controlled drugs. Federal grants would pay for the system initially, and a member of the board of medicine told lawmakers that his group recently voted in favor of increasing the current $300 licensing fee to help pay for the database if that money runs out.

New Hampshire lawmakers have rejected several similar bills over the years, citing privacy concerns.