The Abuse of Prescription Drugs

In the United States, there has been recent media speculation focused on the use and abuse of prescription drugs. For many American consumers, prescription drugs provide the difference between functioning somewhat normally through life versus atypical functioning and, in some cases, death. From prescription drugs which control hormone regulation to those which involve the curing of disease, we, as American consumers, trust our physician to understand and prescribe the best prescription drug choice for our particular health situation.

Unfortunately, for some American patients, the prescribing physician may, inadvertently, prescribe a drug which is not appropriate and, even worse, cause an adverse reaction to the patient. To grasp the full understanding of prescription drug abuse and misuse in the United States, then, we must first analyze why physicians may be involved in a situation in which prescription drugs are not dosed, utilized or prescribed appropriately.

In most cases of prescription drug abuse, the physician has simply been deceived by the patient. With medical history and medical records becoming increasingly protected in the United States under HIPAA laws, physicians are commonly at odds as to how best to prescribe a medication to a patient without verifying the patient's health history or drug use with another physician. All too often, patients fail to report to a physician the variety of medications currently prescribed through other physicians, leading the current physician to potentially prescribe a drug which may contribute to adverse reactions, such as addictive abuse of the prescription drugs.

Another common method by which drug misuse occurs involves the use, by the physician, of information which is not useful or outdated. Typically, physicians should remain current on the latest in medical technology and advances, using PDR, The Physician's Desk Reference, as a tool to guide them in diagnosing and prescribing medications. Unfortunately, with busy lifestyles themselves, many physicians fail to remain current in medical research and, as a result, what we see most commonly is the misuse and abuse of medications which are classified as controlled substances. With many patients involved in doctor shopping, coupled with physicians who are not up to date with their medical practice, controlled substances can be a leading factor in prescription drug use and abuse programs.

And yet, there are some physicians who are simply dishonest. While this is considered rare in the United States, the unethical conduct of physicians can be found if we examine the medical community closely. For a large fee at the office visit, upwards of $200.00, patients can come in with virtually any complaint and walk out, quite easily, with a Class II or Class III controlled prescription drug substance. Without verification of name or identity in many cases, these same patients may obtain prescriptions for controlled substances from a variety of unethical physicians, fill those medications through local pharmacies under varying names, and sell these same prescription drugs on the street at varying street values, often significantly greater than that of recreational drugs such as marijuana.

As with any controlled or regulated program, the failure of that program, in most cases, lies with the lack of control and communication among the players. In the world of prescription drug abuse and misuse, the most common failure lies upon the patient who, in most cases, is deceiving the prescribing physician. To ensure regulation credibility and safety, physicians should be provided with some method for verifying prescription drug dispensing however, at this time, no such technology or law has passed which will mandate the release of such information under HIPAA laws.