I just talked to Bob Pack, who learned that the Governor has signed into law legislation requiring that doctors check an existing prescription database before prescribing narcotics to patients for the first time.
The new law would have prevented the deaths of his young children, Troy and Alana, who were run over on a roadside twelve years ago by an addict with multiple prescriptions who fell asleep at the wheel.
As you probably know, we have been working with Bob since 2012 on a solution. Bob told me he was relieved the legislation had become law, but there were tears too.
Tonight they are holding a vigil for Troy and Alana on the corner where they were killed.
"It's too late for my family, but it's going to help a lot of others and that's the whole point of this program and me pushing all these years," Bob said to the Associated Press.
Thanks for all your support for Bob and this vital legislation. Bob reminded me that in 2012 the legislature rejected this very bill, and now it’s become law with a nearly unanimous vote of the legislature. He took that to mean anything is possible when lawmakers focus on the facts and truth.
Thank you for helping us work with Bob and other patients -- as well as our allies at Consumer Attorneys of California, the California Narcotics Officers Association and Shatterproof -- to help decision makers focus on what really matters for real people.
