Californians Could Vote on Drug Tests for Doctors

Californians may force doctors to undergo drug and alcohol tests, thanks to a new proposed ballot measure.

The so-called "Pee in the Cup'' initiative, if approved, would require doctors to be randomly subjected to drug and alcohol testing, the much the same way bus drivers are now, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The idea is being spearheaded by tech mogul Bob Pack, a former AOL and NetZero executive who's become an anti-drug crusader of sorts since his 10-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter were struck and killed about a decade ago by a driver under the influence of alcohol as well as prescription pills.

After launching an effort to put his children's killer behind bars for second-degree murder, Pack refocused on helping the state track patient prescriptions and spot people who game the health care system to obtain more prescription drugs.

When funding for that cause diminished, Pack attempted and failed to qualify another ballot initiative that would have taxed drug companies to pay for the tracking.

Which brings Pack to his current campaign against doctors who abuse drugs themselves.

He's enlisted the help of consumer advocate Harvey Rosenfield, the force behind the landmark 1988 measure regulating the insurance industry, and former Clinton White House adviser Chris Lehane, who's already helped raise $2 million for the effort.

Pack and his supporters have been spurred on by a new poll showing 85 percent of California voters would favor random testing of physicians and a piece in the prestigious Journal of American Medicine also advocating for confidential, mandatory testing of physicians.

Pack's ballot measure would also: require a majority of the state's Medical Board, which disciplines bad doctors, come from other fields besides the medical profession; ensure funding for a state database to track what drugs doctors are prescribing and a system to monitor the industry for drugs that are being recklessly prescribed; and lift a state cap on damages in medical malpractice cases --- which members of the California Medical Association claim is the real "money grab" behind the "Pee in a Cup" drive.

The California Medical Association "isn't in the business of speculating on every hypothetical, ridiculous ballot measure that is floated,'' spokeswoman Molly Weedn was quoted saying by the Chronicle, but battle being waged by Pack and his backers is "nothing more than an ill-fated publicity stunt.''

The Chronicle reported sources in Sacramento saying a deal to establish funding stream for a prescription drug database and also reorganize the medical panel was in the works.

And if that happens, the drug testing requirement could end up overshadowed by the much hotter debate over lifting the malpractice cap.