How do we get help for someone who is taking 3 narcotics prescribed by different doctors?

[Liberty Belle]

A friend confided in me tonight that her mother is doing this, we suspect the doctors don't know how many drugs she's on.

She's no longer leaving home and is basically bed fast, probably due to being so overmedicated. She had narcotic drugs after neck surgery last year and has apparently gotten more since from other doctors for other conditions such as fibromyalgia. The daughter is pretty sure the doctors don't know she's taking 3 different narcotics from 3 different doctors, filled at different pharmacies. When the daughter voices concerns Mom gets mad, as addicts are apt to do. She was also recently diagnosed with Lyme disease, probably had it a while.

How can she get help for her Mom to get her off the narcotics (or at least cut down the number she is taking for pain) before she overdoses? She's also on a bunch of other medications that could be interacting with each other such as meds for depression, anxiety, and a steroid among other things. She now seems to have some memory issues, mostly forgetting things that were said, which could perhaps be from being so doped up. The Mom is maybe 60 at most.

Her Mom is on MediCare or MediCal due to some other disability, and has a past history of addiction to street drugs when she was much younger.

The daughter is a close family friend who just moved here to California to try and get help for her Mom, but isn't sure who to call or how to get help.

She tried making an appointment to go with her Mom to the doctor and then the Mom cancelled out...our friend tried going on her own but of course the doctor wouldn't talk to her due to medical privacy laws.

What are her options to get her mom the help she obviously needs?


she did have a nurse she knows look at the list of all the meds and she said nobody should be taking so much at one time.

[Lil Missy]

1. That will catch up to her eventually. She has to want the help herself.

[pnwmom]

2. Here's a page with some numbers for Medical recipients. I hope there's somebody

here who could help her. Good luck.

https://community-rehab.com/resources/resources-for-those-with-medi-cal/

[Liberty Belle]

4. Thank you!

Lots of helpful info on that list. I've sent it to my friend.

[elleng]

3. Inform the doctors.

Have their names on prescriptions, daughter should do it. Do it on phone, if docs refuse appointment. Just DO it!

Yes, I'm mad, not at you, but somethings about the 'system' don't work.

[TygrBright]

5. Tell the doctors.

You can't expect them or their staff to discuss it with you-- they're bound by law NOT to. But that doesn't apply to you, giving them information.

We usually recommend you talk to one of the nurses, give the patient's name and DOB, and tell them something along the lines of "I'm calling to give you relevant information about medication you've prescribed for this person (list the prescription(s) THAT office/doc prescribed) because you may not be aware that this patient is also taking (names and dosage of medications) prescribed for them by (names of doctors and office phones.) I understand you can't discuss this patient's treatment with me, but I'm concerned about whether these medications are being coordinated among all the prescribing physicians, so I wanted to be sure you had this information."

And then leave it with them.

Hopefully, the nurses will get in touch with nurses at the other practices, and then flag one or more doctors, and/or contact the patient and/or anyone the patient has signed a release of information to share information with.

Good luck!

helpfully,
Bright