Worries about an erosion of privacy rights erode support of the Drug Monitoring Act and nearly kill the bill in the House.
Supporters hang on to enough votes to barely pass the bill and send it to the Senate. Critics claim supporters cannot assure Missourians that the drug data base the bill establishes will be kept confidential.
The preliminary vote on the bill gave it 107 votes. Several representatives switched on final approval and support eroded to 84 votes, two more than the minimum necessary to pass the House. The bill now moves to the Senate.
