Patients who take opioids or other controlled substances are under greater scrutiny as Wisconsin doctors have begun to check a database of drugs previously given to patients before they write certain prescriptions.
The mandatory use of the state's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program is meant to prevent patients from seeking narcotics and ensure they are using potentially dangerous drugs appropriately.
The program comes after the state Medical Examining Board issued opioid prescribing guidelines last year.
The guidelines have led doctors to prescribe the overdose-reversing drug, naloxone, to patients on high doses of opioids in case problems arise at home.
They've also required more patients to undergo urine tests to get some medications.Wisconsin had more than 870 drug overdose deaths in 2015