Communication between state and federal agencies and among different agencies within the same state is a chronic problem.
                In February, 2011, the Drug Enforcement Administration released the names of 32 Florida physicians whose DEA licenses to prescribe narcotics had been revoked.  However, by May, 2011, the Florida Department of Health showed that 24 of those 32 physicians had clear licenses to practice Medicine in Florida.
                In September, 2011, Florida Surgeon General Frank Farmer spoke of his dismay that it takes an average of 134 days to suspend a doctor's license even if law enforcement had found probable cause that the doctor had been indiscriminately writing prescriptions to cash in on the illegal painkiller trade.    
                It should be clear from the section on State Laws that communication between states would be problematic.  This is indeed the case.  The Prescription Monitoring Information Exchange (PMIX), which should facilitate communication among states, is in its infancy. Coordination involves unification of software systems from the different agencies in charge of the Prescription Monitoring Programs for the different states.