The Missouri Senate has passed a bill to create a statewide prescription drug tracking program.
Senators voted 20-13 Thursday in favor of creating a database to track when prescriptions for controlled substances are written and filled. The goal is to prevent so-called doctor shopping, when people go to multiple doctors to get prescriptions for opioid drugs and painkillers.
Missouri is the only state without a drug monitoring program.
The bill now moving to the House was proposed by a longtime critic of such programs. Republican Sen. Rob Schaaf says his version has protections to address privacy concerns.
The version passed by the Senate could cost more than $6.5 million in fiscal year 2018. Schaaf says he's working on changes to make it less expensive.