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ORDINANCE NO. 2011- 004 <br />AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF <br />INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, CREATING CHAPTER 315 OF THE <br />CODE OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY ENTITLED "THE INDIAN RIVER <br />COUNTY PAIN MANAGEMENT CLINIC AND CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES <br />ORDINANCE"; REGULATING AND PROHIBITING CERTAIN ACTIVITIES <br />RELATING TO THE OPERATION OF PAIN MANAGEMENT CLINICS AND <br />PHARMACIES PRESCRIBING AND _ DISPENSING CONTROLLED <br />SUBSTANCES; AND PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILTY, A GENERAL <br />REPEALER AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. <br />WHEREAS, pursuant to article VIII, section 1 of the Florida Constitution and chapter <br />125, Florida Statutes, Indian River County has broad home rule powers to enact ordinances, <br />not inconsistent with general or special law, for the purpose of protecting the public health, <br />safety and welfare of the residents of Indian River County; and <br />WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature, in chapter 2009-198, Laws of Florida, found that <br />controlled substances are too often diverted in Florida, often through fraudulent means such <br />as pain management clinics and pharmacies which prescribe and dispense excessive <br />amounts of controlled substances; that there is a criminal element that facilitates an epidemic <br />of abuse of controlled substances through illegal profits derived from the operation of pain <br />management clinics and pharmacies; that thousands of deaths have occurred in Florida from <br />lethal dosages of controlled substances prescribed by pain management clinics and <br />dispensed by pharmacies; and that such misuse of controlled substances hurts the State of <br />Florida significantly in terms of lost lives, increased crime, human misery from addiction, and <br />escalation of health care costs and Medicare fraud that all Floridians ultimately bear; and <br />WHEREAS, studies in Florida have found that pharmacies whose sales of controlled <br />substances (as a percentage of the pharmacy's total prescription sales) significantly exceed <br />industry standards, are often operated in conjunction with and as accessories to pain <br />management clinics which prescribe excessive amounts of controlled substances; and <br />WHEREAS, the Broward County Grand Jury has investigated and reported on the <br />rapid proliferation of pain management clinics in South Florida; the excessive prescribing and <br />dispensing of controlled substances through such clinics; the increased deaths resulting from <br />lethal dosages of controlled substances; the increased crime, including burglaries and <br />robberies in areas where such clinics operate; the identity theft and organized criminal <br />activities linked to pain management clinics which prescribe excessive amounts of controlled <br />1 <br />