Dr shopping??

I originally posted this in the wrong forum.....but here it is...

okay guys...now that I am clean (yay!), I guess its safe to say that I am thinking much more clear now...and I am terrified!  In the past, to feed my addiction, I was going to 2 pain mngmt doctors per month, which is called "dr shoping".  It is illegal...and now I am terrified that the law is gonna come beating down my door!  Does anyone know anything about this, or has had personal experience in the matter?  I appreciate any info anyone can give me.  I live in texas and I have been researching it for a few hours and cant find much about how it works, and how people are flagged and stuff like that.  

Thanks in advance

[sandee1818]

The doctors will have to press charges unless you were caught trying to fill the scripts and was found out that way then the pharmacy will prosecute.
Does the doctors know you were seeing both?      



The laws are different in each state. If both doctors know you were doing this then they may or may not choose to prosecute. It is up to them unless you were caught by insurance agencies or the pharmacy as I said.

[Axl_0113]

No.  I never had any problems filling them.  2 different clinics, 2 different pharmacies.  Never had any warnings from anyone or anything.  And I never used my insurance...paid in cash.

The doctors or pharmicies dont know about it as far as I know...Like I said, I never got a warning or anything from anyone.

Oh...I live in Texas, if that matters.

I dont know why I didn't think about it when I was doing it, but now I'm a little scared this is gonna catch up with me.  I have an awesome little 5 year old that would be totally devistated if his daddy had to go away for a long time...  :(

[Mollyrae]

There must be a eason why you're terrified...Someone had to find out?

I'm at least glad that you realized that what you were doing was wrong. I guess we live and learn.

Chow,
Molly

[Boxerluver]

You should be fine.  By paying cash you avoided the insurance and it is highly unlikely the docs will find out.  The pharmacists could have possibly checked, but since it has been a significant amount of time since you stopped, I'd bet you are OK.  What a good lesson to learn though and besides, many states are putting in new tracking info in the pharmacy computers so once they pull up a name, all the meds they have filled pop right up. If your pharmacist had done thins, you would have either been turned away or arrested on the spot.  I defineately wouldn't try my luck ever again!

[sandee1818]

You are correct she is so lucky that she is not sitting in prison. This is highly illegal and will get you a prison sentence thats pretty substantial.
I am certainly glad your not involved with this any longer.
I am sure you realize the huge chance you took and that you could have lost your freedom for a long time.
Your child certainly does need his/her Mom and I am sure your very grateful that your clean and no longer do this.
Doctor shopping and diversion ad abuse are some of the reasons why patients can't get the help they so desperately need because the doctors are just becoming to afraid to treat pain in fear of being implicated and prosacuted for a patients illegal activity.
Again I am so glad your not doing this any longer:)

[Tuckamore]

Hi Axl,

Welcome to the Pain Mangement Forum. I am glad that you are clean and sober.

I don't know the laws of TX. In my state their is a computer linking system that is available for all pharmacies and physicians. They are able to determine what prescriptions where filled where and which physician prescribed the drug(s). However it usually takes a suspicion to trigger a pharmacist or physician to check into these. Indeed a WI physician was able to check all the RX's my mother had filled in TX when she returned from her seasonal winter retreat a few years ago. He was not looking for narcotics. He was looking to see if she had been taking her medications. It took only one phone call to locate that information. So there must be something that can be checked, but again it normally takes a physician or pharmacist to "look."

I wish you every success in your recovery.

Good Luck to You,
Tuck

[Axl_0113]

Thanks so much for the info.  I have decided to move on....I am clean now, and am only looking forward.  I guess there's not much I can do about it now.  What's done is done, and I pray that it never catches up with me.  I guess that's about all we can do in this crazy life....learn from our mistakes, and move on.   Sobriety (sp?) is an awesome thing, and I plan on enjoying every minute of it!!

Thanks again!  

[nurseaudrea]

There is not a tracking system like that in Texas yet. Doctors usually find out because patients will use their insurance and then get caught or they will go to a different pharmacy but they may be in the same company. You got lucky if you used two different pharm.s that are not linked up to each other and by paying cash. You don't usually stay lucky for long, eventually something is found out so it is good that you straightened your life out now. You are right, your child needs you so just think of that if you ever get the urge again, as I am sure you will, relapses are common. Just make sure you have good after care to help prevent that. You can only be so strong on your own. As Dr. Phil says,"White knuckling through it will only take you so far."

With prayers and not luck in your endeavour.
And warmest regards, Audrea

[Axl_0113]

thanks so much for your reply!!!

Am I correct in thinking that you are a nurse here in TX?  (your name lol)  If so, you really put my mind at ease!!!  

I know lots of people that are shopping like that here in tx.  I mean- they are goin to 10 doctors a month...sometimes more.  It's only a matter of time before they are busted!  I guess now that I am clean and have a new outlook on things, I worry about it.  It's like I have this new-found love for life, and I don't want to do anything to lose that.

Thanks again for your reply and your prayers.  

God bless!

[1nomorepain]

Well to start with I hope that everyone who is doing "Doctor Shopping" gets caught and gets long jail terms as this is why people who need PM have a hard time finding doctors to treat them. With that said.
Some years back I was with an insurance that had a mail order Rx that was based in Texas. They could fill any Rx & send it across state lines except control substances. This is not federal as I have used Rx mail order for my pain meds from other states & no problem. This usually means the state has some kind of monitoring system & don't want people to get around it by having the Rx sent to an out of state address and then sent back to them.
If you don't believe this is a serious crime some years back a very well known radio talk show host got charged with doing this and had a lot of problems and Rush could afford the best legal attorney money can buy.
Odds are unless you get law enforcements attention for some reason you will probably get away with it and there is a limit to the amount of time that you can be charged for a crime that is not a capital crime.(ie: Murder Treason and so on)
I hope the best for you but everyone needs to remember that there are people out there that need PM to have a quality of life that makes them feel like living is worth while. If done properly you get enough relief to allow you to be a productive member of of the human race. It allows them to work and there for gives them back the feeling of self worth they had lost because the pain was so bad that they couldn't work..