CVS Cuts Off Questionable Doctors From Powerful Pain-Killers

[OhioChick]

08/22/2013 11:49 am EDT

Aug 21 (Reuters) - CVS Caremark Corp said on Wednesday that it has taken the unusual step of cutting off access to powerful pain-killers for more than 36 doctors and other healthcare providers found to prescribe the drugs at an alarmingly high rate.

The drugstore chain, which was drawn into a government crackdown on prescription painkiller abuse last year, began revoking the dispensing privileges of certain providers in late 2012, said CVS Chief Medical Officer Troyen Brennan.

"This isn't a definitive solution to the problem," Brennan told Reuters. "We wanted to share what it was that we did and have other people in healthcare, including other pharmacies, look at what we did and discuss what some more comprehensive solutions might be."

CVS disclosed the suspensions in an article published on Wednesday on the website of the New England Journal of Medicine.

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/cvs-doctors-pain-killers_n_3792129.html?ref=topbar

[Pab Sungenis]

1. And CVS lets its customers know it's doing this

by printing an extra 6 inches of receipt with the good news and a phone number for a narcotics helpline.

[Brother Buzz]

4. Only an extra 6 inches?

I purchased a 9v battery and received a 54 inch receipt; good news can get lost in the shuffle.

[hunter]

2. Original reuters link:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/21/us-cvscaremark-painkillers-idUSBRE97K17120130821

(I don't like huffington post.)

The trouble with these sorts of actions is they make honest doctors treat their honest patients as suspects. Then patients who have severe chronic pain issues are unfairly accused of "drug-seeking" behavior, or they are undertreated, or they are prescribed medications like NSAIDS or Acetaminophen that have serious side effects at higher dosages.

I don't know what's wrong with our society that we fear someone will get a little "high" more than we fear liver or kidney damage.

[cali]

3. yes. I've been seeing my doc for 25 years

almost 2 years ago I had a nasty accident that smashed my leg to pieces. I was left with a painful condition called CRPS. Because it didn't heal for so long and required three surgeries and lots of hardware, I saw my ortho guy until May of this year. He was great about prescribing. My regular doc who I've known for 25 years? Not so much. I had to go through this whole thing with her and sign this contract.