Opioid Drug Misprescribing By Physicians

[sas5814]

I share this not to make any point about evil-doers among physicians but to illustrate a point that applies particularly here in Texas. These 2 prescribed Vicodin illegally for about 12 years. One wrote his colleague Vicodin for years without documentation. Same-said colleage wrote Vocodin for his wife, 90 every 2 weeks, took the prescription to the pharmacy himself, and paid cash so there was no insurance involved for more than 10 years. After he was arrested he turned himself in to his employer as having an addiction and started a treatment program no doubt at his attorney's insistance.

So my point is, particularly here in Texas, the medical board has fewer requirements and standards for physicians than any non-physician. Why? If they are so special and imbued with such broad power why don't they hold themselves to higher standards than everyone else instead of lower? I couldn't fill a prescription I wrote for my wife for an antibiotic much less Vicodin for years. This is what happens when you hold your particular group above others without having commesurate standards of screening and management.

This on the heels of all Texas PAs having to be re-fingerprinted and have criminal background checks (I have had an unblemished license for 20 years after a background check with my initial application) but the physicians .....not so much.

https://tylerpaper.com/news/local/tyler-area-doctors-accused-of-illegally-diverting-opioid-prescriptions/article_0c820ff2-c5e1-11e9-a354-4ff5db0e6422.html

[GetMeOuttaThisMess]

You know, when I posted the link to the TMB newsletter in the other thread I was thinking that we had to already jump through those hoops when we were first licensed.  That was so long ago (early 90's) that I couldn't remember for certain.

Edited August 25, 2019 by GetMeOuttaThisMess

[ventana]

Florida sold 80% of the world wide oxycodone when the PA and NP did not have the legal right to write Schedule meds - you could make the argument that it was 100% the Florida physician's responsible for the opioid pills in FL and be correct 

[Lightspeed]

15 hours ago, sas5814 said:

I share this not to make any point about evil-doers among physicians but to illustrate a point that applies particularly here in Texas. These 2 prescribed Vicodin illegally for about 12 years. One wrote his colleague Vicodin for years without documentation. Same-said colleage wrote Vocodin for his wife, 90 every 2 weeks, took the prescription to the pharmacy himself, and paid cash so there was no insurance involved for more than 10 years. After he was arrested he turned himself in to his employer as having an addiction and started a treatment program no doubt at his attorney's insistance.

So my point is, particularly here in Texas, the medical board has fewer requirements and standards for physicians than any non-physician. Why? If they are so special and imbued with such broad power why don't they hold themselves to higher standards than everyone else instead of lower? I couldn't fill a prescription I wrote for my wife for an antibiotic much less Vicodin for years. This is what happens when you hold your particular group above others without having commesurate standards of screening and management.

This on the heels of all Texas PAs having to be re-fingerprinted and have criminal background checks (I have had an unblemished license for 20 years after a background check with my initial application) but the physicians .....not so much.

https://tylerpaper.com/news/local/tyler-area-doctors-accused-of-illegally-diverting-opioid-prescriptions/article_0c820ff2-c5e1-11e9-a354-4ff5db0e6422.html

So for all the concern about ill prepared NP colleagues, one thing that is well known to be true amongst my profession is that the board of nursing handles complaints against NP providers with a zeal that rivals the skills of the inquisition. It’s the “eat their young” attitude taken to a different field of play. My guess is that medical boards treat you folks with similar condescension out of a strong sense of duty to protect the public from “those who don’t know what they don’t know”.

There are physicians out there who were caught several times being sexually inappropriate with several patients who are still practicing, albeit many under “supervision”, so it doesn’t surprise me that with drug diversion counseling, that they get away with it. I’ve seen nurses given a light slap for that too, though. Once caught, you race toward therapy to at least keep your license. I imagine the second time it’s not that easy.

[surgblumm]

It seems strange to read these "eye witnes accounts" from people that I know in both Texas and Florida. For some strange reason the PAs in NY have never had to jump through any of these hoops. When I was president of NYSSPA in 1995 I met with the DEA and the State BOM as well as the Medical Society. and encouraged them to extend Schedule lll at that time. With some negotiating it came through almost two years later but without the trimmings that you folks have. The agreement that the Director of the NY DEA had with me was that they will monitor PA prescribing for two years and the PAs of NY were careful with their pads. It is a shame that such a double standard exists between all of our states.