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Should 'Doctor Shopping' be a crime?

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Should 'Doctor Shopping' be a crime?

from JoeUser Forums

Just when we thought Rush Limbaugh and his addiction to prescription drugs were old news, we're informed that he could be facing criminal charges for 'doctor shopping'.

For those who don't know, 'doctor shopping' is a term used to describe drug seeking activity by patients with either a dependency on or a taste for prescription narcotics.  Patients will go to a variety of different physicans, sometimes with a real ailment that they milk for all it's worth or an exaggerated/false illness, and they'll ask for a prescription for pain medications.  Usually none of the physicans are aware that they're not the only one treating the patient, and if they do know about their shared care they're not usually aware that multiple prescriptions for narcotics are being written.

People who enagage in this activity will fill their prescriptions at different pharmacies, pay cash for their medications rather than file an insurance claim, and sometimes will use an assumed name in an effort to avoid detection.

At the moment, only one state in the nation (Florida) has laws against doctor shopping.

So, should this behaviour and activity be a crime?

Tell me what you think...

 

4,029 views 32 replies
Reply #26 from JoeUser Forums Top
21 USCS Section 843 (1996)
Section 843. Prohibited acts C
(a) Unlawful acts. It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally--
(3) to acquire or obtain possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, or subterfuge;

just cuz it's not often used as the basis for prosecution don't mean it can't be. in this case, i'm sure they'd rather let the state handle it.

and before you tell me he wasn't engaged in acquiring or obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation or deception, think about sending your maid to the doctor to get you some oxycontin.


See your missing something in your premise. He did not use another name. He used HIS name on all perscriptions. So I think legally you'd have a hard time proving fraud. And an even harder time proving intent. As to him actually gettiing convicted of this...well we'll just have to wait and see.
Reply #27 from JoeUser Forums Top

Actually, it's proveable. You don't even have to dig into a person's medical records to do it. Physicians have to keep very accurate records of the narcotics they prescribe and whom they prescribe them to....

That is not exactly what I meant, but I think the example I provided gives the reason that it is unproveable.  In order to prove it, you have to get the medical records.  But you cant get the medical records unless you have proof it was done.  Catch 22.  Like Sodomoy laws.  You cant prove it unless you peek into a bedroom, and you cant do that without a search warrant which requires some evidence.

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Reply #28 from JoeUser Forums Top
But you cant get the medical records unless you have proof it was done. Catch 22. Like Sodomoy laws. You cant prove it unless you peek into a bedroom, and you cant do that without a search warrant which requires some evidence.


But now, according to the Florida State Supreme Court, medical records can now be supeonad as a means of gathering evidence (instead of as a result of evidence). I guess the fishing is pretty good in Florida this time of year.
Reply #29 from JoeUser Forums Top
He did not use another name. He used HIS name on all perscriptions.


deception or subterfuge would cover seeing four different doctors if he didn't inform any of them about the others.

i just found a copy of the application for one search warrant and a list of the dates and types of medications he was prescribed over a several month period. i'm amazed he aint dead.
Reply #30 from JoeUser Forums Top
Short answer to your original question - no. It should be up to the medical community to police it, even if some fall through the cracks, not the local prosecutor. I think Florida's law is wrong and should be rescinded.

If done for profit, yes - if a physician suspects someone of malingering & seeking narcs to sell on the street, a simple "no" takes care of it. If caught selling narcs obtained fraudulently, they should be prosecuted.

Cheers,
Daiwa
Reply #31 from JoeUser Forums Top
deception or subterfuge would cover seeing four different doctors if he didn't inform any of them about the others.


That's what I keepsaying as well, but apparently nobody wants to understand that.
This isn't about Rush Limbaugh either, I just used him as an example to try and explain that doctor shopping is a pretty common practice.
Reply #32 from JoeUser Forums Top
Another important thing I see people missing is the fact that your tolerance for these drugs makes ever-increasing amounts necessary in order to achieve the same amount of pain relief.


Good point.

Why doctors are so obsessed with preventing addiction in a person who has a permanent, lifelong, excruciating condition is beyond me.


Some people who doctor shop don't have an excruciating condition. Some of them have a condition that caused them pain at one time but it not so painful now...but they've got a taste for the meds and use their condition as an excuse to get prescriptions. My friend's late mother in law did just that. She was a very well-to-do, educated woman, but she was a percocet addict who doctor shopped to get her fix.