Unfortunately we carry a second responsibility to help the DEA control drugs, and the scope of our liability is ill-defined. We need to make medically justifiable choices at each point to retain the privilege of legally prescribing or dispensing controlled substances. I will err on the side of not dispensing opioids to someone I don’t know or a case I’m not familiar with.
Glad to hear from an actual doctor. Is it common practice to get previous medical history and notes if you are seeing someone for the first time who has been under someone else's care? Or are there strange laws preventing you from getting the continuity information from the other doc?
In Australia once we give consent, the other clinic/hospital would release notes electronically. Sometimes it's also a quick check with state PBS registration to get confirmation on dosage already being prescribed.
PS: based on my personal experience in Australia, not for opioids but for other controlled substances like amphetamines or ritalin.
Yes, you can get medical records. They're not as easy to get in an emergency situation, which is how drug-seeking (and I assume pseudoaddiction) presents itself. Sometimes the bizarre extremeness of the situation makes you skeptical enough. For example, "The dog needs the meds for a trip tomorrow from Georgia to a remote part of the Pacific Northwest and it will be in excruciating pain and anxiety if you don't prescribe three months worth right now," and it's 6pm on a Friday evening.
Gotcha, that’s super shady. My friend who used to be pharmacist said, he can guess fraudulent prescriptions, because they were always the one just before the pharmacy was about to shut doors and has a prescription that will lead him to empty the full pill box behind the counter.
