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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 239264" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Pain patches just may not work for her. If she's an addict, or if her pain is severe, or if she'salready habituated to a high dose, then patches are laughable.</p><p></p><p>Did oyu ever see the British TV series "Absolutely Fabulous"? Joanna Lumley's character of Patsy is a chain-smoking former model who turns up one day absolutely covered in nicotine patches. As Patsy lights up yet another cigarette she asks Edina (close friend) to help her take off the patches so she can find room to put more on. Edina says, "I don't know, darling, there seems to be some stuff coming out of your skin, onto the patches..."</p><p>Saffy, Edina's conservative daughter, leans across and says, "OMG, she's RECHARGING them!"</p><p></p><p>I do agree, with your cousin the doctors certainly do have to watch their rear ends. A doctor should not write prescriptions for osmeone they know to be an addict.</p><p></p><p>I once had a GP (standing in for my GP) accuse me of being an addict, despite my being under the ongoing supervision of a pain clinic. All I was asking for, was my regular monthly prescriptions according to what was already on my file as authorised. I'd heard bad things about this particular GP; a neighbour who was on long-term Valium had stormed out of the surgery, loudly proclaiming that he had called her an addict because she asked for a valium prescription, her first Valium script for 6 months.</p><p>Then it was my turn - I had authorisation to ask for 180 of my regular pain medications. It required special authorisation because the usual prescription was for 20 (which would hve lasted me 3 days).</p><p>The doctor first told me I was an addict, then offered to write me a prescription for 20!</p><p>In other words, "I won't write you up for what has alreayd been authorised by the pain clinic, but despite declaring you to be an addict, I will still feed your habit."</p><p></p><p>I am on long-term very strong pain medications. I know what will happen if I abuse this. Competent and responsible doctors would stop my supply, if I abused the trust placed in me by giving me the amount I need.</p><p></p><p>It is really easy for a doctor to work out that his patient is an addict, especially to strong medications that require a mountain of paperwork. However, I do know that this gets abused, that somedoctors simply don't care and will continue to be irresponsible. Also, the pharmacist who is dispensing the medications has a responsibilty to report possible abuse of the medication.</p><p></p><p>I was waiting for difficult child 3 after his drama class; difficult child 3 had gone to the shop to buy a burger. While I waited I noticed a couple of pill packets on the ground under a rubbish bin next to me. I picked them up and saw, from the pharmacy label, that they were for very strong opiate medications which had been dispensed that day. It was a form of morphine that I had once been on, so I recognised the packet. The dose was about double what I'd been on (which I remember at the time, was supposed to be a fairly high dose). One packet was these opiates, the other packet was a different form of long-acting morphine. Again, a very high dose. They had been dispensed that day, and the same doctor had prescribed these, for the same patient. </p><p>The packets were empty. Each foil had been emptied. I looked at the pharmacy name - the bin was right by the back door. So I gathered up the packets and marched in to the pharmacy and reported it. OK, there was achance that the pharmacist was in on whatever scam was going on, but what had happened was clear - the prescription shouldn't have been written at that high a dose without authorising paperwork from the pain clinic (which I know wouldn't condone this). The pharmacist could dispense it without knowing, but once alerted, ahd to call it in as possibly fradulent.</p><p>But at some point, a person had walked out of the pharmacy clutching a huge amount of prescribed pain medications, and then immediately removed the pills which could only have been to hand over (sell?) to someone else.</p><p></p><p>Nobody in genuine pain would do this - that was supposed to be a month's (large) supply. If you are the patient, you keep your medications in the packet with the prescription label which verifies you have a right to them. As soon as you remove the pills from the packet, your ownership of them becomes suspect. For all the pills to be removed, clearly within hours (or less) of dispensing, was a huge warning light to the pharmacist.</p><p></p><p>I don't know how it payed out, but what SHOULD have happened, is that patient's name whould have been flagged not only in the pharmacist's computer, but also eventually in the national data base, which should put the word out to hospitals, doctors and pain clinics, that this patient is able to give away such vital medication, and therefore doesn't have a right to it.</p><p>If, on the other hand, the patient was bullied out of her pain medications, someone genuinely in need should have gone to the police. Frankly, if it were me and they were my medications taken from me, I would have ended up in hospital. There is no way a genuinely needy patient could have stayed silent.</p><p></p><p>So although the system is set up to prevent this sort of abuse and reckless misuse of pain medications, there are unfortunately enough corrupt people out there who will abuse it and try to manipulate the system, to get their own way. And practitioners who enable this, despite knowing how very wrong it is.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 239264, member: 1991"] Pain patches just may not work for her. If she's an addict, or if her pain is severe, or if she'salready habituated to a high dose, then patches are laughable. Did oyu ever see the British TV series "Absolutely Fabulous"? Joanna Lumley's character of Patsy is a chain-smoking former model who turns up one day absolutely covered in nicotine patches. As Patsy lights up yet another cigarette she asks Edina (close friend) to help her take off the patches so she can find room to put more on. Edina says, "I don't know, darling, there seems to be some stuff coming out of your skin, onto the patches..." Saffy, Edina's conservative daughter, leans across and says, "OMG, she's RECHARGING them!" I do agree, with your cousin the doctors certainly do have to watch their rear ends. A doctor should not write prescriptions for osmeone they know to be an addict. I once had a GP (standing in for my GP) accuse me of being an addict, despite my being under the ongoing supervision of a pain clinic. All I was asking for, was my regular monthly prescriptions according to what was already on my file as authorised. I'd heard bad things about this particular GP; a neighbour who was on long-term Valium had stormed out of the surgery, loudly proclaiming that he had called her an addict because she asked for a valium prescription, her first Valium script for 6 months. Then it was my turn - I had authorisation to ask for 180 of my regular pain medications. It required special authorisation because the usual prescription was for 20 (which would hve lasted me 3 days). The doctor first told me I was an addict, then offered to write me a prescription for 20! In other words, "I won't write you up for what has alreayd been authorised by the pain clinic, but despite declaring you to be an addict, I will still feed your habit." I am on long-term very strong pain medications. I know what will happen if I abuse this. Competent and responsible doctors would stop my supply, if I abused the trust placed in me by giving me the amount I need. It is really easy for a doctor to work out that his patient is an addict, especially to strong medications that require a mountain of paperwork. However, I do know that this gets abused, that somedoctors simply don't care and will continue to be irresponsible. Also, the pharmacist who is dispensing the medications has a responsibilty to report possible abuse of the medication. I was waiting for difficult child 3 after his drama class; difficult child 3 had gone to the shop to buy a burger. While I waited I noticed a couple of pill packets on the ground under a rubbish bin next to me. I picked them up and saw, from the pharmacy label, that they were for very strong opiate medications which had been dispensed that day. It was a form of morphine that I had once been on, so I recognised the packet. The dose was about double what I'd been on (which I remember at the time, was supposed to be a fairly high dose). One packet was these opiates, the other packet was a different form of long-acting morphine. Again, a very high dose. They had been dispensed that day, and the same doctor had prescribed these, for the same patient. The packets were empty. Each foil had been emptied. I looked at the pharmacy name - the bin was right by the back door. So I gathered up the packets and marched in to the pharmacy and reported it. OK, there was achance that the pharmacist was in on whatever scam was going on, but what had happened was clear - the prescription shouldn't have been written at that high a dose without authorising paperwork from the pain clinic (which I know wouldn't condone this). The pharmacist could dispense it without knowing, but once alerted, ahd to call it in as possibly fradulent. But at some point, a person had walked out of the pharmacy clutching a huge amount of prescribed pain medications, and then immediately removed the pills which could only have been to hand over (sell?) to someone else. Nobody in genuine pain would do this - that was supposed to be a month's (large) supply. If you are the patient, you keep your medications in the packet with the prescription label which verifies you have a right to them. As soon as you remove the pills from the packet, your ownership of them becomes suspect. For all the pills to be removed, clearly within hours (or less) of dispensing, was a huge warning light to the pharmacist. I don't know how it payed out, but what SHOULD have happened, is that patient's name whould have been flagged not only in the pharmacist's computer, but also eventually in the national data base, which should put the word out to hospitals, doctors and pain clinics, that this patient is able to give away such vital medication, and therefore doesn't have a right to it. If, on the other hand, the patient was bullied out of her pain medications, someone genuinely in need should have gone to the police. Frankly, if it were me and they were my medications taken from me, I would have ended up in hospital. There is no way a genuinely needy patient could have stayed silent. So although the system is set up to prevent this sort of abuse and reckless misuse of pain medications, there are unfortunately enough corrupt people out there who will abuse it and try to manipulate the system, to get their own way. And practitioners who enable this, despite knowing how very wrong it is. Marg [/QUOTE]
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