FRANKFORT — A controversial law to crack down on “pill mills” and the overprescribing of pain medications went into effect Friday, but some in the medical community feared the administration wrote regulations for the bill in excess of what lawmakers intended.

Key features of the bill include tracking prescriptions of powerful painkiller drugs to flag those who might be overprescribing them and stricter licensure of pain clinics. It was a response to the growing epidemic of painkiller addiction in Kentucky and the rise of “pill mills,” especially in eastern Kentucky where some clinics have been raided and shut down.

The bill calls for using the Kentucky All-Substance Prescription Electronic Reporting system, or KASPER, to track Schedule II and III drugs like hydrocodone and other painkillers. But the regulations written by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services appears to expand the types of drugs to be tracked.

One of the regulations posted on the legislature’s website Friday afternoon indicates the law “directs the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to establish an electronic system for monitoring Schedule II, III, IV, and V controlled substances that are dispensed in the Commonwealth by a practitioner or pharmacist or dispensed to an address within the Commonwealth by a pharmacy that has obtained authorization to operate from the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy.”

Schedule II includes stimulants like Ritalin, commonly prescribed for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. Schedule IV includes drugs like Xanax and Valium while Schedule V includes some codeine based cough suppressants.

But Rep. John Tilley, D-Hopkinsville, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, says the regulation simply sets up the tracking system but isn’t as expansive as it sounds.

“I don’t think that requires KASPER tracking on all drugs in Schedules II through V,” Tilley said. He said his understanding is the provision applies to “II, III, some selected drugs in IV and no Schedule V drugs.”

Negotiations between the administration and representatives of the medical community apparently took up most of the past week. Van Ingram, director of the Office of Drug Control Policy, said the regulations had been “a moving target” during those discussions.

“We had a number of meetings this week with folks from the medical community to try to look at any unintended consequences of the regs,” Ingram said. But he thinks those meetings alleviated most concerns of the medical community.

Friday morning, House Majority Leader Rep. Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, said he understood those discussions had largely resolved concerns of the medical community and some lawmakers.

The coverage of a more expansive list of drugs actually would reflect initial drafts of the bill during the 2012 regular session of the General Assembly. But as time went on, the medical community raised more questions and concerns about the bill, fearing the extra time and paperwork required of physicians and expressing concerns about patient privacy. Ultimately, the bill failed to pass during the regular session and a more modest version passed in the June special session.

Friday was the scheduled date for the law to go into effect and regulations to be filed. Adkins said he thought the regulations would reflect the discussions between the administration, lawmakers and medical community.

“I think they were getting to the point where there is agreement on the legislative intent and the needs of the regulated community,” Adkins said.

Cory Meadows, director of advocacy and legal affairs for the Kentucky Medical Association, said his association was reviewing the new regulations late Friday afternoon and couldn’t comment on which drugs might be covered.

“We received the emergency regulations late this afternoon and KMA and its leadership is in the process of reviewing them,” Meadows said. “Once we’ve had the opportunity to review them, we’ll have further comment.”

HB 1 established an implementation and oversight committee to monitor the operation of KASPER under the new law. That committee, co-chaired by Tilley and Senate Majority Leader Sen. Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, is scheduled to meet Monday at 1 p.m.

The meeting agenda calls for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, in which the KASPER system is housed, and representatives of the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure to appear before the committee to discuss KASPER and regulations. Tilley said Friday he thinks that meeting will clear up any confusion about which drugs might be tracked under the new law.

Beshear’s office is planning a press conference on the new law for Tuesday as well.