Getting Prescriptions From 2 Different Doctors For Pain Meds But There Are Conditions (Page 13)

Well I just really need to know if what I am doing is considered doctor shopping. I fell at at department store and injured my knee. Now I have to go to the doctor the lawyer sent me to. He prescribes pain meds for me but the only thing he can treat is my knee. I started having back problems. My primary care doctor sent me to a different doctor and he also gives me meds. But the pharmacy said they would call the doctors and tell on me. So I went and ahead and told the doctors myself so that it would not look as bad. What do you think will happen to me? The pharmacy refused to give me back my prescription. Can they do that?

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Just a quick comment re: the VERY riveting conversation between DrJ & P450. DrJ, you should consider writing a book. A memoir perhaps? What am I thinking? Your book should be a "Tell-all"! If I may & this is just a suggestion of course but I'm convinced you'd need a coauthor to sort all your experiences out and into some sort of language a civilian (non psychiatrist with VERY rich history of experience. Or really great imagination?!) could comprehend.

P450, you're already an esteemed scholar with published, mental health/medical literature so impressive they're used in court proceedings!
The two of you need your own thread. A possible title could be "MD'S, RN'S, PA'S & MEDICAL PROS IN GENERAL NEED GOOD PAIN MANAGEMENT TOO!".

DrJoey, your comments are interesting and intriguing. The few sentences I can relate to. Then there's the 80% that comes across as some sort of private language, riddled with words laid together in seeming sentences. Sentences that P450 understands. Y'all know each other and have had contact outside this thread, no? P, please don't hurt yourself. If you & Joe are as familiar as comes across. Sometimes. DJoe should find you a doctor! With all his connections he should be able to find out who will write the meds you need in your area. That's pretty much it I guess.

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I truly think some of us get punished for not knowing. I had back surgery in March and my Perocet wasn't working due to the fact I take dialysis every day. My back doctor decided to send me to pain management who started out with injections and eventually putting me on Fentantyl patch 25, the first time I went into there office I was in so much pain I was crying uncontrollable, and yes I signed some papers, but at that point I would have signed anything. I got a prescription of hydrocodone from my PCP that I didn't know I was suppose to have just one prescription and pain management released me, I'm having a hard time finding another doctor. I honestly didn't know I was wasn't suppose to have that script. I think this should be posted all over the doctors office or told to the patient verbally because if your in severe pain like I was your sure as hell are not reading the fine print

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Poster,

Yes you broke the rules and unfortunately with the new FDA 120 mg. Morphine equivalent you will likely be red flagged at the very least in your own state. I believe all of us and I can literally die from intractable pain have an obligation to read what we sign, and discuss any questions or concerns we have with our PM specialist.

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Poster, have you tried explaining that to your pain management people? Doesn't hurt to try although I'll admit most of them are pretty much ice cold when it comes to the double script thing. The last pain clinic I was a patient of had a narcotic agreement which gave you 3 strikes. A strike could be a missed appointment or an "accidental" accepting of a narcotic from another physician. For example, I'd had a root canal. Even though I wrote on my intake record I took Avinza I was given a script for Vicoden#10 as well as an antibiotic. My husband drove me home and went to get the scripts filled. This was years ago before it was common knowledge there exists a pharmacy board with a record of all the controlled substances filled along with the date, patients name etc. As soon as I sat down in the exam room for my pain clinic appt I was shown the "strike", asked to sign it and was handed a catch container for a u/a. No Hydrocodone showed up in my u/a because the pills were still in the place we kept the scripts at home. I told those guys the scenario but I'm sure they thought "yeah right". When my drug panel showed nothing but the morphine (avinza) they told me if I could produce the intact bottle of pills next appt the strike would be "forgiven". I drove back over the next day with the pills. The nurse documented everything and the two of us went to a restroom where I dumped the 10 Vicoden in the toilet. Strike forgiven. I'm sure you've learned this now but I'll say anyway, ask for copies of anything you sign no matter where. I'm sorry this happened to you, that sucks. If they won't forgive your one indiscretion, go back and ask your PCP to refer you some place else. You'll have to be very assertive and prepared to spend the time it'll take to get in with another dr. Good luck!

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Belle43 , you signed a Pain Contract when you filled out your new patient paper work. The problem is that unfortunately, patients don't take the time to read things before they sign them. You were not only informed but you agreed to these rules. A dr isn't required to verbally inform you. If patients don't read something they sign what makes you think they would read a sign. When you sign the forms, the dr has proof that you have been informed and agree to it. It will be very difficult and you may not be able to find a dr to manage your pain because drs don't want patients that aren't going to go by the riules and do the things they agreed to do and/or not do. Even if you found a dr willing to see you, they want a copy of your medical records from your previous dr and this info is in there, along with your signed pain contract.

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Yes they have the rite to do so. All Pharmacies are linked together in one system so that things like this do not have it when getting your prescription filled it goes into a log in the prescription world anywhere you go it will show up when and where you picked up last prescription when signing a contract for pain management you are signing that the only medication to this illness of pain is retreated at that pain management clinic

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P450 I would love to see were you read or heard about the patient who is serving 20 years in jail because she was getting her medication at a pill mill. Something is greatly missing in the story. Not even the 2 people in FL who were running the largest pill in the country were sentence for 20 years and the doctors who worked there mostly got less then 10 years each. I am not saying this person is a addict but they do not put people in jail for 20 years for abusing drugs unless the person committed another crime with it - armed robbery or selling large amount of drugs or has been in jail a couple time before drug abuse type crimes.

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dr rose, there isn't a federal PMP. But there are 25 states that participate in the NABP PMP InterConnect.

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And I'd like to know that complete legal citations fro these cases? My sister is an attorney admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States. As a physician who does a lot of research, I agree with her; the principle is the same., that you can talk and writer until you woman at the mouth, but "it don't mean thing, if you ain't got that Cite" (which includes preceding cases and case law.) This is legal research, identical to medical research. Same rules prevail. In there words, shut your mouth unless you have the citations to verify the facts in your "cited" cases".

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Primarily this is because of medical jargon and abbreviations that laypersons don't always understand. I'ver used them for so long, they've become a habit and they do save time. And while you're busy snooping, give me an example, not a paraphrase, but a real, life example.

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DRJoey Who are you talking to and what about?. If It was me about the 2 men who ran the largest pill mill in FL and the amount of time served I read the information in the Palm Beach Post.

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Oh, THOSE are sources that will withstand editorial review. I was a newspaper reporter and the daily was a lot bigger than the PB. Police Blotter reports re especially error-ridden, usually deliberately on the part of the cops. You could have pulled up a link to at least legitimize your story.

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if I needed Psych Meds,I would know whom (or more than one whom) to consult. et' see — I've never need possible psych illness as a excuse for illiteracy. Charts of medical abbreviations are all over the place. TID = three times daily; q12h = every 12 hours; BID = twice daily. I knew these before I was finished with undergrad, They aren't difficult. There's no caveat that anyone must write to the comprehension level of the lowest common denominator. The ability to change Levels of Discourse is important in the practice of medicine — and I aced all my grad (PhD level)Linguistics courses.

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Yes they will find out. The pharmacies are all linked into one system. So if you try to fill a narcotic medication more than once a month, it will show and you will not be able to fill it. You can only receive a fill on a script for ONE fixed narcotic ONLY. Or they'll deny you the fill.

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That's not true. My sister is one of my patients. I don't do pschdynamic psychotherapy with her; she has a good shrink, one of my former Residents, but she does get severe migraine-type headaches. Last month, I wrote for Vicodin 10/600. One wasn't enough and two made her sick. (That happens). I switched up to Dilaudid 2mg (1 to 2 q4h pro) and Thorazine for nausea (it works far better than Compazine) and absolutely nothing happened. I e-prescribed those scripts for her local pharmacy. I guess your theory about prescribing if multiple C-II opiates/opoids is dead wrong. Btw, this happens a lot with "variable pain disorders". How would you explain cancer patients on Fentanyl to have Actiq (sp?) on hand for breakthrough pain. Odds are the prescriber is the same for both.

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Ladybug, it depends on how the prescription is written. It is possible to get several narcotic prescriptions filled every month at the same drug store. But, if you get a prescription filled for a narcotic that is suppose to last you 30 days and you try and get another prescription filled for the same med, same dosage in 2 or 3 weeks, then the pharmacy more than likely will not fill it. Some states have laws regarding how soon the same prescriptions can be filled again. And insurance companies also have their rules. Cancer patients and those that are terminally ill are exempt from the laws that apply to other chronic pain patients.

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My doctor just called in 10 subutex tablets for me at a pharmacy in bossier la. The problem is I got my last prescription on the 9th of October and won't be able to get more till around 6th or 7th of November. My question is since I've never used this pharmacy will they know once they type my name in where and when I picked up my last script and know it's to early for a pick up even though my doctor called it in. Same doctor

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They will know but if the doctor is ok with filling the prescription early then have the pharmacy call the doctor to verify it. Doctors can give people prescription for verious reason. However if you have insurance they may not pay for it. (Some do pay for someone going on vacation but they usually limit the amount to once or twice a year.

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Hi Ally,
Please let us know how things work out for you. I saw your post late last night & went directly to the Louisiana Pharmacy Board's website to see if they have
A. A state wide "log" of all the controlled substance prescriptions filled at what Pharmacy by which patient, including the prescribing Physician's name and the date it filled.
B. Whether there's any backlog or have been any glitches in their system causing say, a 3 or 4 week backlog thereby the pharmacy wouldn't see when the last 30 day script was filled allowing your script to sail through no problem.
I'm SO sorry I fell asleep with my phone in my hand. From what I can see this morning, I think they do have the statewide controlled substance log going but i couldn't tell the exact status of the reporting.
Do you have insurance? If you have insurance, the insurance will deny the early refill alerting the pharmacist of its status.
If you pay cash and the system is backlogged you'd be fine.
I am curious how you were able to talk the Dr into giving the early refill. I have 24-ish years of pain management craziness under my belt. For future reference, if you do have insurance you could try asking for a vacation override. But if you ask for a vacation override you best be sure to tell the doctor, insurance rep & pharmacist the same exact thing.. If you'd like more info on how to obtain a vacation override let me know. But for now let us know how you are my dear.

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Ally, in Louisiana prescriptions have to be put into the state PMP database no later than the next business day after dispensing. So any pharmacist at any pharmacy in Louisiana will be able to the prescription that you've gotten filled since the Louisiana PMP began. Doctors are also required to check the database before prescribing certain meds.

If the pharmacist doesn't want to fill it, it will be up to him if he wants to call your dr.

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