Missouri has announced a new prescription drug monitoring program that could be up and operating within a month, The Associated Press reports. The executive order signed by Republican Governor Eric Greitens comes after previous attempts to institute drug monitoring programs had failed, due in part to privacy concerns raised over keeping medical records in a database. The plan has stated it will not use private medical information of patients, but rather it will analyze prescription and dispensing data aimed at discovering doctors guilty of overprescribing opioids. Since Missouri is the last state to announce a prescription drug monitoring program, counties that make up 60 percent of Missouri's population already participate in their own program independent of the state. 
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