Doctor shopping question.

[nobby02]

The only Doctor I go to is my FP but will be having some surgeries this year. Will I get in trouble with getting my usual med and then getting med from the surgery, I have to assume I will get some pain relief drugs from the surgery.

[Robert_325]

The only Doctor I go to is my FP but will be having some surgeries this year. Will I get in trouble with getting my usual med and then getting med from the surgery, I have to assume I will get some pain relief drugs from the surgery.

NO. Your regular dr should know that you're having surgery and the surgeon will naturally be handling your pain control following surgery. That is totally normal and the way it should be. This is not dr shopping, it's just having surgery by a different dr. Relax. God bless.

[disabledleo]

Make sure to let the surgeon know EXACTLY what you have been on & by what doctor because there could be a cross reaction from the way you are treated. Just be up front & honest with your doctors & pharmacy.
Robert is "RIGHT" on again.....
Good luck with what work you will be having done & hope all goes well for you

[nobby02]

Thanks, with all this mess going around with Dr. shopping and databases I am worried and wanted to know what the criteria is. My FP knows everything but that doesn't mean some one over zealous could be trouble.

[MilliF]

You don’t need to take any pain killer to get rid from pain of any surgery. If you are obese and want to undergo gastric band surgery in Edmonton then opt for laparoscopy which doesn’t requires more cuttings and stitching. It is jus an instance, go for laparoscopic surgery to prevent extra pain and stitches. Intake of painkillers is not good for your health.

[PeterRabbit2]

Thanks, with all this mess going around with Dr. shopping and databases I am worried and wanted to know what the criteria is. My FP knows everything but that doesn't mean some one over zealous could be trouble.

I'll use myself as an example.

(Keep in mind I'm an addict, so please, let's hope that does not happen to you.)

EVEN THOUGH I'm a painkiller addict, the thought of Dr shopping freaks me out, too (I would NEVER!)
I let my FP know when I was going off to see a pain management Dr. and he would no longer be needed for any analgesics. He entered it into my chart and moved on.

You could do something similar, simply let your primary Dr. know "what time it is", when and for how long you will be under another doctor's care for pain. Once you are released from the surgeon's care, your FP can take over that role again.

Just be sure there is a meeting of the 4 minds, here:

1) You
2) Your FP
3) Your surgeon...and
4) Your pharmacist (although over-informing the latter may be overkill)

Incidentally, I work in a pharmacy and yes we do have a system to automatically red flag Dr. Shopping, but it has to be EGREGIOUS before we call the DEA! The first person we'd call would be you, to let you know of the danger of taking too much Tylenol, blah..blah...blah. The next people we'd call would be your doctors.

Every patient has a protected health record (PHI, under the "HIPPA" act) One of the limited ways we can legally break that almost sacred privacy rule is when a patient's life may be in danger. If "we" (by we, I mean all pharmacies in the US. We're very close to a national network. Not quite there yet, but we're definitely moving rapidly toward that goal.) If "we" see you with 4 Rx's for Oxycodone, almost FOR SURE that will raise the alarm "tout de suite" and we can call all your Dr's without your permission. If we see a patient with just 2 Rx's for the same controlled substance, we simply raise the issue to the patient in a non-confrontational way and wait for a reasonable explanation. We (only the pharmacist actually, I'm just a tech) would then call the 2 prescribers and let them know (esp. if it's a C2 drug) what we have. If THEY can provide a valid reason, we go ahead and fill it. HOWEVER, if one of the Dr's does NOT know of the second Rx, we CANNOT (by law) fill the Rx.

You must communicate this issue with your two Dr.'s!

Good luck with your surgeries, I hope you feel better.