Limbaugh, Doctor Shopping, New Law,? (Miami Herald)

[trumad]

<snip>
Statewide, investigators are trying to determine who's illegally using, distributing and writing prescriptions, which are implicated in the overdose deaths of five Floridians a day. Those investigations might have been easier if not for some of Limbaugh's biggest fans -- conservative lawmakers in the Florida House of Representatives.

The GOP-controlled House has twice killed a proposal to create a statewide database to track prescription abuse. Were it up and running, investigators could type a computer query to find suspicious patterns of doctors writing prescriptions, patients receiving them or pharmacies filling them.

<snip>
According to a Nov. 15 warrant to search the offices of Limbaugh's four doctors, he was prescribed 1,733 hydrocodone pills, 90 OxyContin pills, 50 anti-anxiety Xanax tablets and 40 pills of a time-release morphine called Kadian from March to September.

Those numbers stun McDonough, who says such quantities could have killed the average person.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7628876.htm

[gator_in_Ontario]

1. I don't know

about Palm Beach county, but a couple of counties up the coast where I am from, lots of regular folks and doctors have already been charged regarding mis-use of scrips. Oxycontin is one of the main drugs involved.





From a long proud line of yellow dog Democrats

[lcordero]

2. And I hope that they kill it again if it ever comes up

I do not like any new legislation that requires a database and names for anything.

[Racenut20]

3. They caught Jebbies daughter without it.

I don't think I want to give the current Florida legislature much more than name, rank, and serial number.

These are the same legislatures who named Johnnie Byrd as Speaker of the House. He almost makes AG Ashcroft look like a liberal.

[randr]

4. This is a Red Herring!

The whole shift in focus over this "doctor shopping" issue is dismissing the fact that the man illegally bought drugs in quantities that would normally raise the probability of distribution as well.
When drugs that you can get with a prescription are bought on the street, they are illegal. Every coke head in the country could claim to be using prescription drugs for Christ's sake!

[DrBB]

5. So MDs won't prescribe adequate pain medication

...to those who need it.

There's already a very real chilling effect from this kind of thing. Patients with chronic or acute pain unable to get adequate medication because physicians are afraid of passing some invisible limit and getting hauled up on narcotics charges.

investigators could type a computer query to find suspicious patterns of doctors writing prescriptions, patients receiving them or pharmacies filling them.

So I'm an honest doctor, but I know there's some computer algorithm out there that may decide to spit out my name, and I'll end up having to justify my medical judgment to some zealous DA if I happen to "overprescribe" pain meds based on an honest assessment of a patient's needs?

Oh no, no chilling effect here, don't even think about it! If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear!

Added to the fact that we have this weird cultural attitude that you ought to "grin and bear it" anyway, and if you take pills for chronic pain you're some kind of weakling.

Limpbladder obviously gamed the system and has a real problem. ("Such quantities could have killed the average person"--maybe the Anal Cyst Avenger wasn't taking 'em all, but selling em...?) But I'd hate to see any more weight added to the side of the scale that regards chronic pain moralistically and inhibits doctors from treating it rationally.

[Q]

6. Well stated...and you've pointed out a real problem...

- Doctors have become afraid to prescribe pain medication to chronic pain sufferers for fear of being caught up in a system that can unfairly label them as 'abusing' their medical license.

- On the other hand...it should be 'illegal' to doctor shop and receive more pills than required for treatment. It's a double-edged sword here. Limbaugh doesn't 'appear' to be in the kind of pain that would require these strong dosages of pain killer. He seems to be able to golf and do other activities someone in severe pain could never do.

[gator_in_Ontario]

7. This is happening

in florida where I am from. The cops sent in moles, with "back pain" then busted the doctor for prescribing meds. Co-incidently the same doctor was having some sort of "political" problems with the local hospital....hmmmm