Controlled Medication Abuse and Doctor Shopping, How to Stop it from Happening

"Doctor Shopping" is a term given to people who go to various doctors in order to receive numerous prescription drugs, most of the time these medications are narcotics or other controlled medications. Sometimes people end up selling the prescription medications, however for some it is a way of taking narcotics medications or other controlled medications such as barbiturates more than they have been originally prescribed.

I have been in the medical field for many years and have seen this done a number of times by hard core chronic pain patients who are extremely addicted to their medications. What "doctor shopping" then does is make it harder for anyone with a legitimate pain concern to then get doctors to prescribe necessary pain medications.

Doctors and controlled medications are monitored by the DEA, however the controlled prescription drug sales are at an all time high. This makes it difficult for doctors to feel comfortable in giving medications to anyone, especially someone they may suspect of doctor shopping.

I have seen patients over the years abuse medications for various reasons. Most patients will state that they can't get enough medications to control their pain, so they may have to use multiple prescriptions and have to keep track of when they can refill them so they have enough narcotics for their pain. I have seen patients come in with prescriptions from several different doctors with multiple and sometimes toxic combinations. Often a patient may have one physician treating them for a back injury while another physician is treating a totally different condition, which sometimes results in two controlled pain medications being taken at the same time.

There is a system in place that monitors controlled drugs however state by state that system is limited on sales information, as well as some doctor shopping patients may have others get their medications for them.

To put another spin on the doctor shopping abuse issue, several well-known celebrities who have passed away recently have had their prescription medications come under scrutiny by everyone from media to law enforcement.
Many states now including Florida are trying to launch computer database systems to decrease the flow of prescription trafficking and abuse. The database systems will keep track of the number of times prescriptions are filled and more likely cross reference not only the physicians but patients that are receiving them. Prescriptions such as controlled narcotics and anti-depressants will be carefully monitored by the database system.

References for this article include: www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/07/doctor.shopping.haim/index.html
www.camprecovery.com/camp_featured/california-establishes-online-database-to-help-fight-prescription-drug-abuse.php
www.painpolicy.wisc.edu/publicat/92apssc.htm
blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2009/04/bill-aimed-at-florida-pill-mills-going-to-gov.html