Getting Prescriptions From 2 Different Doctors For Pain Meds But There Are Conditions (Page 5)

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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Im very upset as i have been ill for 6 yrs, started out as psoriatric arthritis and then became advanced degenerative arthritis / treated by a rhuematologist- I have lost three major joints in four years, both hips and a knee replaced/by an orthopedic and the other is going. My hands are ii constant pain and my SED rate is always thru the roof...I have tried embrel, simponini and stellara - all nasty cancer causing drugs, i have been on methotrexate on and off for four years as well, currently off, I have been on vicodin for four years, and since november oxy - never take both together, just a continual stream to function basically...after reading all this im scared to death ill be hauled away...im not selling, they can watch all they want... im literally shaking...i had no idea and i know ignorance of law is no defense...it will destroy my family..live in PA

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Mimi, as long as your not seeing more than one dr for the purpose of obtaining pain meds, you're not Doctor Shopping. Also if the drs are aware that you see all of the and the rxs they give you because they communicate, there is nothing to worry about. Not all states have Doctor Shopping Laws.

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That's 100% incorrect, EVERY state has dr.shopping laws. They all have a P.M.P., only some states don't have access to other states data bases. But for the most part they are all linked together. Any time you fill a narcotic that is deemed as having abuse potential, the pharmacies must enter it into the data base with in 7 days? And it's recorded by the DEA. DR shopping is no longer possible and is definitely not with the risk anymore. 25 years is what you can get for dr shopping, because they can also charge you with disturbing in some cases.

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I believe that you must be honest with both drs. and tell them both that you are getting pain meds from two different drs. I believe, at least in my case, the two drs. spoke with each other and decided that my pain management dr. should prescribe for all conditions. This happened to me when I fractured my pelvis and my primary care dr. prescribed pain meds. (I don't remember what) but I told her that (at that time) I was getting hydrocodone from a pain management dr. They chose to speak to each other and decided that my pain management would treat me for my back pain and my new fracture pain. Most especially where controlled narcotic medications are concerned it is very important to be up front and honest at all costs with every doctor about your pain meds. The risk of not doing so can be very harsh and you would be really sorry and upset if you were considered to be dr. shopping. I hope this helps. It sounds like you did tell your dr. which is good. As far as the pharmacy not giving you back your prescription, that one I don't know, though it sounds like obviously they can. It doesn't seem right though, I agree.................

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Not all states have Doctor Shopping Laws. PMP is not the same thing, although there can be evidence there if that is what a patient is doing.

If you've sign a Pain Contract, getting pain meds from any other dr, including ER drs, can result in being dismissed from pain management with no more rxs or referrals. It can also be very difficult to find another dr who will treat you pain.

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I would be very cautious with this idea. Just reading it sounds like you are seeking more drugs, which you are as you admitted that you were addicted to 7 a day and reduced to 3 a day. 1st- that's a drastic reduction and these types of drugs should not be reduced so abruptly. 2nd- anything could happen from seizures to all types of withdrawal symptoms. 3rd- It sounds like the dr. assumed that you were taking them to feel high because otherwise, he/she should know better. If you do get withdrawal symptoms, keep a journal and especially if you have a seizure..............This might possibly allow a legal case on your part against your dr. for reducing your meds too quickly without giving your body enough time to adjust to the dose change. There is something not right with this story and it's either coming from you or it's coming from the doctor. I wish you the best in the final outcome and hope this transition is not too difficult for you..............And again: be cautious. Going to other drs. to attempt to get the desired once gotten effect could put you in jail for a very long time. Let us know how everything works out if you would like. I know that I would be interested. :)

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What if the doctor saw your PMP history, including scripts from other doctors in other states because you have homes in both states, yet the doctor writes a script anyway?

I was today, 3/27/15, dropped by my primary care doctor in FL for "medical non-compliance". When I called the office they said it was because I had received pain meds from my pain doctor in NYC and that because my primary care doctor in FL had also prescribed pain meds, that the state noticed this thru PMP and notified the primary care doctor in FL, my pain doctor in NY, and all of my doctors I have had over the past 10 years in NY, NJ, and FL, including all my surgeons, cardiologist, and former primary care doctors.

Mind you, I had 6 major shoulder surgeries spanning all three states, including three total shoulder replacements because of failures, and I had major back surgery. 2 of my shoulder surgeries were in NY, 2 were in NJ, and 2 were in FL. My back surgery was in NJ. Naturally I went to pharmacies in each state, all were legit, and all doctors and pharmacists had access to PMP/I-STOP.

Most recently, my pain doctor in NYC accessed PMP while I was in her office, and she noted that my primary care doctor had previously filled a pain med. I explained the reason, which she accepted, and she wrote the script, and the NYC pharmacist I go to filled it.

My insurance, CVS Caremark, covered each script over the past 7 years of surgeries

Now I am blocked from getting refills and I have lost my prim care doctor. Since all my doctors in NY, NJ, and FL will be notified by the sate of FL, I am in essence black-balled from medical treatment from anyone.

Can anyone out there help me! I will soon be going into withdrawal because my pain med supply is running low.

Email: {edited for privacy}

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Alessio, the point is that the drs don't want to deal with a patient who gets rxs like that. They can see the dates you got pain rx for as well as the name of the med.strength, number of tablets, directions, drs name,etc. But the things is that you didn't tell each of your drs about the others. Frankly it does look suspicious. If it really matters to you, you can get a copy of your medical records and the pharmacy records and go to the drs and show them that you got the rxs for surgery. Although I doubt that will make any difference to them. For someone in that much pain, you certainly are able to move around a lot.

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BL - What an arrogant know-it-all you are! Sarcastically telling Allessio that, "for someone in that much pain, you certainly are able to move around a lot" is completely uncalled for. First, many people maintain homes in more than one state, living in the northern part of the country, for instance, in the summer and in a southern state like Florida during the winter. Plus, there are also multiple other reasons why someone would move frequently. My husband's career required that we move every few years and the fact that I was in terrible pain from a chronic, incurable pain condition didn't change this. I simply had to gut it out, pack up and move. Because of moving from the West to the East Coast to the Midwest, I have received prescriptions for pain pills from doctors in three different states in the last ten years. When on the East Coast,the doctor who had been writing my prescriptions went back to school so I was transferred to another doctor who then was the one who wrote my prescriptions. This means that in 7 years, I had prescriptions written by four different doctors. Taken at face value, without explanation, I presume someone like you would think I was moving around the country just to get prescriptions for pain medications from a variety of physicians. Also, if one lives in New Jersey, it wouldn't be uncommon for them to see a specialist in New York. My brother lives in New Jersey but, when he developed leukemia with complications, he received treatment first in New Jersey and later in New York. Given the fact that this person had 6 shoulder surgeries, 3 of which failed, then had a back surgery, you have 7 surgeries which were probably performed in the location where Alessio was living at the time. When you're suffering as Alessio was obviously suffering, you aren't always thinking about the fact that doing what the doctor tells you to do (like fill a prescription for pain relief) might cause problems. If you've had lots of surgeries with lots of complications, it makes perfect sense that you've had pain medications prescribed by various doctors. The problem is that these doctors didn't stop to think that there might be a very good reason why this patient had pain med prescriptions written by a number of doctors over 10 years. They simply made assumptions (as you have) and reacted to address their primary concern--covering their own backsides even if their action was unwarranted and caused yet more suffering for the patient. And people like you are one of the reasons so many people suffer unnecessarily, day after day, and live their lives in unremitting pain. Shame on you! I assume you will now offer another self-righteous, self-justifying nasty response. It seems to be your style.

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I did take the second "mistake" prescription into the pharmacy about 28 days later , and it was filled, no questions asked. Thanks

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Your welcome, this BL guy has wrong information, every state has dr shopping laws, you are not allowed to obtain pain meds or any narcotic of the same kind from more than one dr. Doesn't matter if you get oxy in florida and then go to NYC and get the same script, still Dr shopping. If you try to fill a script less than 28 days from the time you filled the Same script, they will call your drs. Red flag you, by law they HAVE to report you to the DEA or the pharmacy will have to pay a huge fine, they will call old drs and anywhere else you have filled narcotics. I have been caught before, but luckily have had a long standing relationship with the pharmacists and they did not report me. My advice is this...DO NOT SEE MULTIPLE DRS WITH OUT YOUR PRIMARY CARE DOCTOR REFERRING YOU THERE.DO NOT FILL ANY NARCOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS OF THE SAME MEDICATION BEFORE 27 /28 DAYS, AND DEFF DO NOT SEE MULTIPLE PAIN MANAGEMENT DOCTORS. EVEN THE DOCTORS CAN SEE YOUR PRESCRIPTION HISTORY NOW AND LOOK IT UP BEFORE THEY EVEN WRITE THE SCRIPTS.

I'm not proud of this but my cat dr shopped for five years, my cat had a bad addiction because a dr started my cat with 300 roxi 30s 120 xanax 120 dilaudid 8s and 240 methadone 10s with no previous prescription or pain management history.my car started seeing 2 drs first and third week and 3drs second and fourth week of the month. Trust me my cat knows almost everything about dr shopping and how these things work. My cat has been off ALL meds for over two years now. So my cat is knowledgeable and not some wack job junkie. Any more questions ..I'll gladly help.

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DrshoppingPro, you need to look up the definition of Doctor Shopping Laws. In states that have these laws it is Not against the law for more than one dr to write a patient rxs for controlled meds. The law is broken when a patient goes to more than one dr for the purpose of obtaining rxs for controlled substances without telling all of their drs about the other ones. There is a difference in obtaining a rx by fraud and doctor shopping. All 50 states have fraud laws regarding rxs. Not every states has Doctor Shopping Laws, see the link below.

cdc.gov/phlp/docs/menu-shoppinglaws.pdf

If you want to know if your state has a Doctor Shopping Law, put your state name doctor shopping laws in your search bar.

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In reply to to ppl that don't need.. I agree.. I've lived in Bed over 9 years only getting out to go to Drs and can't take care of myself. I have a chronic neuro muscle immune disease that's worse than aids, cancer and MS combined that's killing me as I speak and they are shutting Drs down left and right because I live in a state that has a bad name for drug abuse and I'm scared to death that mine will b shut down anytime and have no where to go. I suffer death, and ppl get meds and don't need them and sell them or overdose because they abuse them and are ruining it for ppl that need help. my pain is unbearable 24/7 and my meds I don't get much. It's not fair that just because these abusers, sellers get meds, and we have to pay the price from the Gov now making it almost impossible for help. if a lot of ppl had to suffer like I do and so many millions do or had to watch their child suffer or mother ect - How would u feel if they couldn't get help? This world is bad and the ppl that abuse drugs and sell them should be ashamed of themselves.. Why would anyone want to live on drugs and stay high? That's not a life. I don't understand it. When u can get clean and be happy and not worrying where your next fix is coming from, when others are scared to death wondering what we're going to do because of you..

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BL did you even read what u just posted. It even says in that article all states and DC have dr shopping laws

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"All fifty states and the District of Columbia have a general fraud statute adopting verbatim—or with slight alteration.."

The laws in each state are not the same when it comes to Fraud. That is why a person needs to look up their own State Laws specifically regarding Doctor Shopping.

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Sir..you can not obtain the same narcotic medication from two different drs and fill them both with in 28 days in any state. That was the original post.

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Actually you are incorrect about how pain meds work---whether dental or surgical pain, the meds work on the same pain receptors. And you are also wrong about PA law. Good luck with your future in jail.

PA RN

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Drshoppingpro,
I just think you're freaking brilliant that's all. Everything you wrote is right on and your cat should be commended for staying strong and not going back to the drugs. Bravo.

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For those needing help. Sell your guns and strap yourself in. Pain is so rough on our lives. I have searched and begged for my nocturnal back pain that carries over to the day. Let's face it it's hard to tell who is in in chronic pain unless your doc comes and lives with you. So let's stop bashing these doctors. They don't become doctors because they don't want to help. For those seeking drugs that don't need them. Think how you will feel when you get caught and can't get meds. Yes withdrawals are horrible. Self medication is hard because we all never want to feel the pain creeping back. I have gone 3 months with no sleep yes I thought I was going to lose my mind and die from no sleep. But I fought and never gave up no it was not easy but we all must take responsibility for our pain. It's not the docs fault so let's all pray for the pill sick people and those who ate still searching. See most pm docs don't get enough education. So in ending those of us in chronic pain must fight to be pain free. Join a pm advocate site. I'm numbers we are stronger. Please pray for us all I don't want to do this anymore. Decade of pills and every year I search for better help I end up where I am. I would do anything to be free groom monthly trips for meds and the stress I have. Never give up and those seeking drugs falsely please stop your only hurting yourself. What we will do is pump 200 mg of morphine in ya for a month and then cut it off. Yes I assure you after that you will not play with drugs again. Please let's all be responsible for ourselves. And be grateful we live where there is compassionate understanding docs. Love your doc, if not find another.

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DO not fill that last prescription. With your pain doctor showing you medication history and asking which you want use he was telling you not take the other medication if you want to stay with him. If you get that refill you new doctor most likely will drop you. ( You may also find out that your other doctor will not fill your medications either.

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