The state's dangerous prescription drug database has a blind spot: Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics.

Until Jan. 16, VA hospitals and clinics were not participating in the use of the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System, which securely tracks a patient's controlled drug prescription history. Now, VA medical staff can check OARRS if they suspect a patient of doctor-shopping, but they cannot input any prescriptions that they write or fill, according to the database's administrator, Danna Droz.

In other words, VA doctors and pharmacists in Ohio have a complete picture of a patient's controlled-drug prescription history at their fingertips. But for the vast majority of doctors in the private system, one source - what, if anything, was done at the VA - will be blacked out.