Self-prescribing doctors

[snopes]

Comment: Are doctors able to write their own prescriptions? I have
researched and can find no documentation on whether or not it is legal.
Many opinions I have found, that state it is unethical, but none
mentioning the legality of the situation.

[mamalocowolf]

i found this if it helps from http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Addict...ges/30593.html
"SA, M.D. - HVMA
10/10/2000
Physicians, pharmacists and other health professionals with access to controlled substances should never treat themselves with these substances and are forbidden from doing so here in the United States. That being said, many addicted health professionals got their start in the workplace, where addiction is very much an occupational hazard.

DrSteve - http://www.HeadDocs.com"

[Astra]

Sounds like someone's been watching House, M.D. again.

[Aud 1]

I'm not sure how we got to this conversation but one time I was talking with a dental hygienist. She said she was surprised to see that in a catalog of dental products and medications they also had listed Viagra. She commented on this to a coworker who said that's so the doctors can perscribe it for themselves.
Yeah, there are a couple of problems with this story but i know a lot of dentistis and I kinda believe it.

I know of one doctor who got in trouble for that sort of thing. You can lose your license for that....but not always...

[landmammal]

I'm a pharmacy tech, and in California at least, they can prescribe anything that's not a control for themselves. It's not too hard to get around, though. They can prescribe for family members, and I've heard of a doctor's wife coming to get her prescriptions and being surprised to find Valium in with them. The doctor would call in drugs in her name and pick them up himself, so she didn't know anything about it until he called in right before she was due for her regular refills.

Doctors will also prescribe them for each other. You notice when Dr. A has a narcotic prescription from Dr. B, but his other six rxs that he gets regularly are from Dr. C. It's hard to prove anything, though, because it's possible Dr. A sees Dr. B for his back pain and Dr. C for everything else (even though Drs. B & C are both general practitioners).

We had one doctor who got a bunch of coupons for 4 free tablets of Viagra. It's not a control- this is just another example of how prescribing privilege can be abused. They were the kind of coupon that is billed online to the drug company, and they only allowed one coupon per customer. He goes to use his second coupon, and when he's told they only allow one per customer, he writes a prescription for his 19 year old son (after lots of yelling at us for not magically making the drug company accept the claim). The next week he writes one for his girlfriend. The next week he writes one for another doctor, etc., until he ran out of coupons.

[mirfield]

Originally Posted by Aud 1

She said she was surprised to see that in a catalog of dental products and medications they also had listed Viagra.

I think the following would explain that;

A man walks into the dentist's office and after the dentist examines him, he says, "That tooth has to come out. I'm going to give you a shot of Novocain and I'll be back in a few minutes."

The man grabs the doc's arm, "No way. I hate needles I'm not having any shot!"

So the dentist says, "Okay, we'll have to go with the gas."

The man replies, "Absolutely not. It makes me very sick for a couple of days. I'm not having gas."

So the dentist steps out and comes back with a glass of water, "here," he says. "Take this pill."

The man asks "What is it?"

The doc replies, "Viagra."

The man looks surprised, "will that kill the pain?" he asks.

"No," replies the dentist, "but it will give you something to hang on to while I pull your tooth."

Sorry.

[Lainie]

Anecdote time: Friends of mine are avid scuba divers. A scuba buddy of theirs is a dentist, and has been known to provide rx antihistamines for his diving buddies to take before a dive.

All you have to do is get one friend of yours who is also a doctor to prescribe it to you and vice versa.

So two doctors who are friends could just prescribe each other medication if they can't do it themselves. If that gets outlawed, they could do it though two and even three links.

[notjustnebodee]

Sadly, Dr's do this all the time. Doctors can't write controls or narcotics for themselves, but often do it in a family members name, or get their collegue to write one for them. I havent seen a real problem with this yet, but Dr's do tend to get very snippy with their own rx's.


Notjustnebodee, CPhT

[Kallah]

Sadly, Dr's do this all the time. Doctors can't write controls or narcotics for themselves, but often do it in a family members name, or get their collegue to write one for them. I havent seen a real problem with this yet, but Dr's do tend to get very snippy with their own rx's.

I’ve always wondered about it in a non-abusive way: if a GP doctor gets, say, an ear infection he should be able to diagnose that in himself, shouldn’t he? Since he knows what it is, he should be able to prescribe himself some basic antibiotics and go on his way, without ever talking to another doctor - is that against the law? Do doctors generally go to other doctors when they’re ill with something common?

[diddy]

I have heard of this as well. My guess is that the medical profession frowns on it because of the high potential for abuse. If I were to hypothesize about the medical rules, they allow a self diagnosis and permit minor scripts, but ask that you ask a colleague to write the script to confirm.

Another way they can "self-medicate" is to use their "free samples" they get from the various drug companies. My BIL had as many different drugs (all the latest ones) as some pharmacies.

[landmammal]

Originally Posted by Kallah

I’ve always wondered about it in a non-abusive way: if a GP doctor gets, say, an ear infection he should be able to diagnose that in himself, shouldn’t he? Since he knows what it is, he should be able to prescribe himself some basic antibiotics and go on his way, without ever talking to another doctor - is that against the law? Do doctors generally go to other doctors when they’re ill with something common?

It's legal to prescribe antibiotics for yourself. Lots of doctors do it. At my pharmacy, the majority of our customers who were doctors wrote their own prescriptions for minor things.

For an ear infection I hope your hypothetical doctor would go to someone else though since you can't use an otoscope on yourself.

[notjustnebodee]

Non controls I dont see a problem with self prescribing. Things that dont have a potentinal for abuse. But controls they arent, and shouldnt be, allowed to prescribe for themselves. A doctor can just say, "Oh, I hurt my back, i'll prescribe myself some vicodin".

Of course, they just go to the collegue they share the office with and have them do it, or prescribe it in a family members name. I should start a thread of funny pharmacy stories.