Posted by pseudoname on March 16, 2006, at 8:38:16
In reply to Re: what's so wrong with doctor shopping? RANT, posted by jerrympls on March 16, 2006, at 2:38:06
Hey, Jerry.
I'm glad you “ranted”. ;-)
Yeah, I think they should not use the term “doctor shopping” to refer to that type of prescription scam/fraud. They should call it “doctor stacking” or “packing” or something else. Because shopping for a good doctor is something *everybody* has to do, or should do, unless they're really, really lucky. And it's not just pdocs folks need to shop for.
Actually, I feel strongly enough about this right now to start writing letters to get the DEA and state agencies to change the name of the prescription abuse problem. Seriously!! (By the way, what do you think of “doctor stacking” as an alternative? Like stacking them up in a pile, or stacking the deck?)
Because nothing should discourage people or especially SCARE them from looking for better doctors to treat really difficult, chronic problems. And if anyone thinks state agencies or the DEA is going to look suspiciously at them because they're shopping for a good doctor, then that's a really bad outcome! Because it's completely untrue.
That is where I disagree with your post. You said
> whether it be to obtain multiple Rx's or to "try-out" or interview doctors until we find one that's human - both acts are going to be seen as suspicious.
Who is going to see the good kind of shopping as “suspicious”? Except for her health insurance company, who is even checking what doctors someone visits?
In my state and as far as I know elsewhere, the computer tracking systems only monitor prescriptions on the controlled substances list. (This is despite the fact that for adults, I think, *antibiotic* overuse is a bigger public health problem than Adderall overuse.) The states don't monitor doctor visits by anyone, which are not illegal or any of the governments' business no matter how many docs anyone sees.
> if I travel within a 100 mile radius to "interview" 4 diffferent pdocs - that's seen as "bad" doctor shopping - even tho it's not to obtain multiple scripts.
I'm not sure I understand. Except for your health insurance provider, who is there who can object to that at all? Who has said that that is “bad”? Who has chastized psych patients for this or treated them as if they were criminals?
I apologize if I misunderstood you. Everything else you said I join 100%. I've had maybe 14 pdocs: 3 were good. I've settled for lousy way too often and I should've shopped more. That's why I don't want people to be discouraged from shopping by misunderstanding what these laws are about.
I also apologize if by bringing up the term I have led anyone to think GOOD doctor-shopping is a problem. That's a very good reason that the script-scamming should get a new name. Thanks for listening. (Seriously: what does anyone think of “doctor stacking” as a replacement?)
poster:pseudoname
thread:616983
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060315/msgs/620887.html