Government's Empty Decree

A few years back I had the opportunity to meet the chief veterinarian health official in another state. I was immediately impressed and thought it must be a very interesting position to work in. “Frustrating” was his description.

Around that time, a three year old girl had become extremely ill after petting animals at a local farm. Because of this, legislators had immediately called for a law stating that all such places had to provide a place or places where visitors and employees could wash their hands before going to the snack shop to get a bite to eat. Of course, making a rule and then checking up on whether people are following it are two different things. This veterinarian went on to state that the government had made the ruling but had allotted no funds for the hiring of investigators to go around and see whether the farms and zoos were actually complying with the rule. And so, with a staff of less than 12 people, spot checks were made on occasion and that was all. Apparently it is not unusual for legislators to vote in a good measure that has nothing backing it. It looks good on their record, but it accomplishes nothing.

Unfortunately, this is what happened here in Tennessee four years ago when our legislators created a statewide task force to fight against prescription drug abuse and then provided no money at all to hire people to be that force. And so, the state Drug Diversion Task Force relies on volunteers to do what they can.

The coordinator, Elizabeth Sherrod, says, "Everybody thinks we get money. We get nothing. Speakers at our meetings travel at their own expense." She gives of her spare time to promote awareness of the dangers of prescription-drug abuse. There are no federal, state, or private grants to cover expenses, and no full-time staff or budget.
"We think of it more as an alliance," she said. "We bring together law enforcement, health care and other professions. It's just about the passion of everybody in these communities to come together and fix this problem."

While she talks about the fight against forged prescriptions, negligent doctors, insurance fraud, overdose deaths, and pharmacy fraud, she hopes to find some funding.

"Look at the rise in crime," she said. "Look at the rise in insurance costs. Look at the deaths. It's in our communities. It's in our homes. It's in our families, and it's killing our kids. How do you put a price tag on that?"