Doctor shopping is the process of getting medication from multiple doctors in order to get more than is legally allowed. If a person can get the same prescription from three different doctors, he or she can triple the dosage, even though all of the doctors are prescribing the proper amount.
So, how common is this practice? Even though it’s illegal, it is fairly common. After having surgery to fix a broken bone, one study found that one out of every five people will utilize this practice.
The study also examined those who did it for common traits. They found that people who had used the medications in the past — for a different injury, for example — were more likely to shop around. This could be because they knew how much of an impact one dose would have and they wanted more. The study also found that those who had less education were more likely to go doctor shopping.
In many cases, researchers said that addiction was to blame. Patients who were addicted needed higher dosages or wanted the supply to last longer. They also said that some of the people who went doctor shopping were just selling off the drugs. They wanted to get as much as possible to increase their own sales.
As you can imagine, if you didn’t know that going to multiple doctors was illegal, it would be easy to accidentally break this law without knowing you were doing anything wrong. If you’ve been accused of doctor shopping or other violations with prescription medications in Florida, you need to know your legal rights.
Source: WebMD, “Doctor-Shopping for Painkillers Common After This,” Randy Dotinga, accessed May 20, 2016