In almost every issue of the Placebo Journal we have a new story in our section entitled "Those Darn Narc Seekers". These are usually tales of attempts by patients to fool us doctors into giving them a prescription for painkillers. Many of these stories are funny, some are disturbing but ALL are informative. Why? Because there is a huge black market for prescription narcotics. Think I am kidding? The USA Today just put out a piece stating that prescription drugs are more accessible than beer. Parents are clueless to all this as their kids go hang out and swallow pills that were never prescribed to them. Their favorites are OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin and Ritalin. The article mentions that the parents' medicine cabinet as well as friends are the source for the drugs, but I beg the differ. The drugs are NOT coming from a mail order company. They are coming from us. We physicians are the source and need to be more diligent in prescribing appropriate amounts only for appropriate injuries. We also need to be skeptical of "Those Darn Narc Seekers" who are trying to fool us so they can make some money on the streets with the bounty they just scored from our offices. As much as we get pressured and criticized for not treating pain appropriately, physicians still need to stand up and make sure we do not become the drug pushers for our teenagers.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Those Darn Teen Narc Seekers
In almost every issue of the Placebo Journal we have a new story in our section entitled "Those Darn Narc Seekers". These are usually tales of attempts by patients to fool us doctors into giving them a prescription for painkillers. Many of these stories are funny, some are disturbing but ALL are informative. Why? Because there is a huge black market for prescription narcotics. Think I am kidding? The USA Today just put out a piece stating that prescription drugs are more accessible than beer. Parents are clueless to all this as their kids go hang out and swallow pills that were never prescribed to them. Their favorites are OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin and Ritalin. The article mentions that the parents' medicine cabinet as well as friends are the source for the drugs, but I beg the differ. The drugs are NOT coming from a mail order company. They are coming from us. We physicians are the source and need to be more diligent in prescribing appropriate amounts only for appropriate injuries. We also need to be skeptical of "Those Darn Narc Seekers" who are trying to fool us so they can make some money on the streets with the bounty they just scored from our offices. As much as we get pressured and criticized for not treating pain appropriately, physicians still need to stand up and make sure we do not become the drug pushers for our teenagers.
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