West Virginia CSMP Data Request
Submitted | Oct. 3, 2019 |
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Communications
From: HIJ Action Lab
To Whom it May Concern,
We are interested in the state’s prescription monitoring program, the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program. Specifically, our lab, Health in Justice Action Lab at Northeastern University School of Law, wants to learn more about law enforcement access to the database, the use of any algorithms that produce risk assessment scores or other warning flags to analyze its contents, and the data access and retention rules governing the system.In order to permit the public to understand how the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy is using the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program and how it impacts public health and civil liberties in West Virginia, we are making this request under the WV Code §§60A-9-1 to -7; 16-1-4 for the following records:
1. Any and all records including information about the algorithm that determines risk scores in theControlled Substances Monitoring Program, including but not limited to its source code, developer
documentation, and operator manuals;
2. Any and all research, technical reports, or internal audits that evaluate the risk assessment tools’ effectiveness or performance
3. De-identified records of algorithmic outputs (e.g. predictions or “red flags”);
4. Any record showing the number of patients in the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program by quarter and year (2006-present);
5. Any and all internal policy, memoranda, and/or training documentation describing how entities outside of the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy, including law enforcement, may obtain access to information in the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program, including but not limited to the rules, regulations, and procedures for transmitting data to law enforcement and/or referring cases from theControlled Substances Monitoring Program to law enforcement agencies;
6. The procedures and legal authorization for sharing the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program information with the law enforcement entities; and
7. Any and all records showing how often law enforcement entities or individuals have requested information or records from the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program, or made electronic queries of the system, including but not limited to what types of information or records have been requested, which agencies have made the requests, the percent of requests that were accepted versus denied, temporal trends, the form of the request (e.g. subpoena, warrant, etc.), and whether the requests were granted or denied.
Because this request involves a matter of public concern and because it is made on behalf of a nonprofit organization, we ask that you waive any fees. If you decide not to waive fees, we request that you permit us to examine, at our election, the responsive documents before deciding which portions to transmit. We prefer the documents in electronic format.
Should you determine that some portion of the documents request are exempt from disclosure, please release any reasonably segregable portions that are not exempt. In addition, please note the applicable statutory exemption and explain why it applies to the redacted portions.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.
I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 days as requested by the statute.
Sincerely,
Sarah Seymour
From: West Virginia Board Of Pharmacy
Ms. Seymour,
The responses to your request are provided below in green. Let me know if you have questions. -Mike
Michael L. Goff
Executive Director & CSMP Administrator
West Virginia Board of Pharmacy
2310 Kanawha Blvd., East
Charleston, WV 25311
Phone: (304)558-0558
Fax: (304)558-0474
-
~WRD000
From: HIJ Action Lab
Hi Michael,
Thank you for your response! Can you please provide a list of data points that were not included in these set of documents. Let me know.
Best,
Sarah Seymour
HIJ Action Lab
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following West Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 3, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: West Virginia Board Of Pharmacy
I believe these are the data points you reference. -Mike
Michael L. Goff
Executive Director & CSMP Administrator
West Virginia Board of Pharmacy
2310 Kanawha Blvd., East
Charleston, WV 25311
Phone: (304)558-0558
Fax: (304)558-0474
WV CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE DOSES (IN MILLIONS)
YEAR
DRUG PRODUCTS
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Hydrocodone
99.61
94.75
82.78
76.19
63.83
60.15
51.75
37.87
Oxycodone
40.3
43.99
42.79
42.76
40.59
36.18
26.85
24.97
Tramadol
0.95
9.81
10.83
21.08
35.53
35.68
31.86
27.78
Codeine
4.07
3.58
3.11
3.22
4.37
4.56
4.32
4.49
Alprazolam
42.28
40.22
37.78
36.84
35.25
32.14
27.35
23.86
Clonazepam
17.41
17.53
17.36
18.11
18.01
17.39
15.5
14.13
Lorazepam
17.17
16.85
16.46
16.34
15.69
15.83
14.43
13.09
Diazepam
11.36
10.88
10.22
9.97
9.5
8.83
7.14
6.13
Zolpidem
10.73
10.51
9.72
6.98
8.98
8.22
7.59
6.76
Amphetamine
7.86
6.87
6.99
7.27
7.46
7.82
8.01
7.88
Buprenorphine
3.52
4.58
4.72
5.61
6.26
7.12
8.14
8.68
Methylphenidate
2.13
4.13
4.62
4.5
4.46
4.74
4.08
3.68
All Other C II - IV
38.51
28.25
34.06
32.83
29.96
28.54
28.9
25.38
Total
295.9
291.95
281.44
281.7
279.89
267.2
235.92
204.7
From: HIJ Action Lab
Hi Michael,
I am further following up on this request. For some reason, through MuckRock, we are unable see the responses in green. If you still have your department's response to this records request, can you forward it to admin@healthinjustice.org. Thanks!
Best,
Allison McBride
Health in Justice Action Lab
From: West Virginia Board Of Pharmacy
I have copied and pasted the original email responses. -Mike
Michael L. Goff
Executive Director & CSMP Administrator
West Virginia Board of Pharmacy
2310 Kanawha Blvd., East
Charleston, WV 25311
Phone: (304)558-0558
Fax: (304)558-0474
West Virginia Board Of Pharmacy
FOIA Office
2310 Kanawha Blvd E.
Charleston, WV 25311
October 3, 2019
To Whom it May Concern,
We are interested in the state’s prescription monitoring program, the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program. Specifically, our lab, Health in Justice Action Lab at Northeastern University School of Law, wants to learn more about law enforcement access to the database, the use of any algorithms that produce risk assessment scores or other warning flags to analyze its contents, and the data access and retention rules governing the system.In order to permit the public to understand how the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy is using the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program and how it impacts public health and civil liberties in West Virginia, we are making this request under the WV Code §§60A-9-1 to -7; 16-1-4 for the following records:
1. Any and all records including information about the algorithm that determines risk scores in theControlled Substances Monitoring Program, including but not limited to its source code, developer
documentation, and operator manuals; The WV Controlled Substances Monitoring Program (WVCSMP) does not utilize or provide “risk scores”, so there are no records to provide.
2. Any and all research, technical reports, or internal audits that evaluate the risk assessment tools’ effectiveness or performance The WVCSMP does not utilize “risk assessment tools”, so there are no records to provide.
3. De-identified records of algorithmic outputs (e.g. predictions or “red flags”); The WVCSMP does not utilize “red flags”, so there are no algorithms to provide
4. Any record showing the number of patients in the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program by quarter and year (2006-present); The WVCSMP does not produce records that include number of patients, but the provided CSMP annual reports list the number of doses dispensed over a number of years. Annual reports were not available prior to 2013.
5. Any and all internal policy, memoranda, and/or training documentation describing how entities outside of the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy, including law enforcement, may obtain access to information in the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program, including but not limited to the rules, regulations, and procedures for transmitting data to law enforcement and/or referring cases from theControlled Substances Monitoring Program to law enforcement agencies; The attached 2018 Law and Rule Book includes the statutes (§60A-9) and rules (§15-8) regarding the WVCSMP. The attached CSAPP User Guide is provided to all users, including law enforcement.
6. The procedures and legal authorization for sharing the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program information with the law enforcement entities; and Included in 5 above
7. Any and all records showing how often law enforcement entities or individuals have requested information or records from the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program, or made electronic queries of the system, including but not limited to what types of information or records have been requested, which agencies have made the requests, the percent of requests that were accepted versus denied, temporal trends, the form of the request (e.g. subpoena, warrant, etc.), and whether the requests were granted or denied. Authorized law enforcement members have access to patient, prescriber and dispenser data. Each query performed by every user is recorded in the WVCSMP, and is available to the WVCSMP Administrator. Some of this information is provided in the attached annual reports, but more specific information can not be provided pursuant to this request.
From: HIJ Action Lab
Hi Michael,
Thank you for forwarding this. Can you please provide the legal citation supporting the limitation of further information regarding point 6. Thanks again.
Best,
Allison
From: West Virginia Board Of Pharmacy
§60A-9-5. Confidentiality; limited access to records; period of retention; no civil liability for required reporting.
(a)(1) The information required by this article to be kept by the Board of Pharmacy is confidential and not subject to the provisions of §29B-1-1 et seq. of this code or obtainable as discovery in civil matters absent a court order and is open to inspection only by inspectors and agents of the Board of Pharmacy, members of the West Virginia State Police expressly authorized by the Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police to have access to the information, authorized agents of local law-enforcement agencies as members of a federally affiliated drug task force, authorized agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, duly authorized agents of the Bureau for Medical Services, duly authorized agents of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for use in post-mortem examinations, duly authorized agents of the Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification for use in certification, licensure, and regulation of health facilities, duly authorized agents of licensing boards of practitioners in this state and other states authorized to prescribe Schedules II, III, and IV controlled substances, prescribing practitioners and pharmacists, a dean of any medical school or his or her designee located in this state to access prescriber level data to monitor prescribing practices of faculty members, prescribers, and residents enrolled in a degree program at the school where he or she serves as dean, a physician reviewer designated by an employer of medical providers to monitor prescriber level information of prescribing practices of physicians, advance practice registered nurses, or physician assistants in their employ, and a chief medical officer of a hospital or a physician designated by the chief executive officer of a hospital who does not have a chief medical officer, for prescribers who have admitting privileges to the hospital or prescriber level information, and persons with an enforceable court order or regulatory agency administrative subpoena. All law-enforcement personnel who have access to the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program Database shall be granted access in accordance with applicable state laws and the Board of Pharmacy’s rules, shall be certified as a West Virginia law-enforcement officer and shall have successfully completed training approved by the Board of Pharmacy. All information released by the Board of Pharmacy must be related to a specific patient or a specific individual or entity under investigation by any of the above parties except that practitioners who prescribe or dispense controlled substances may request specific data related to their Drug Enforcement Administration controlled substance registration number or for the purpose of providing treatment to a patient: Provided, That the West Virginia Controlled Substances Monitoring Program Database Review Committee established in §30A-9-5(b) of this code is authorized to query the database to comply with §30A-9-5(b) of this code.
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