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Doctor Shopping Can Enable Addiction
Prescription Addiction Challenges Law Enforcement

POSTED: 3:15 pm CDT May 26, 2004
UPDATED: 3:32 pm CDT May 26, 2004

OMAHA, Neb. -- If you think America's drug problem is all methamphetamine and cocaine, consider this: law enforcement officials say prescription addiction is one of the toughest problems they face.

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Because drugs are legally prescribed, many patients are able to hide their addiction with their doctor's help. Many families don't find out until it's too late.

In Nebraska, a woman named "Marie" had no idea that her 36-year-old daughter was addicted to prescription drugs until after her daughter died of an overdose.

"When I found out, I was just devastated. I thought, 'What else should I have done?'" Marie said.

The autopsy revealed that her daughter died of an overdose of fentanyl, a strong painkiller often prescribed to cancer patients. But Marie's daughter was never diagnosed with any disease. Pharmacy records show lists of other painkillers that were prescribed to her daughter during the years leading up to her death, including hydrocodone, oxycodone and OxyContin.

"I was not aware that she was taking any of these things," Marie said.

Marie remembers that her daughter slept a lot, and sometimes became irritable for no reason. But Marie was shocked to learn of her daughter's criminal record. In 1997 and 2000, she was charged with narcotics violations. In both cases, probation officers ordered drug testing.

The Nebraska State Patrol believes that Marie's daughter got her drugs by "doctor shopping." When addicts can't get a desired prescription from one doctor, they shop around from doctor to doctor until they find one who will give them what they want.

Sgt. Jim Burns, with the State Patrol, said these addicts know how to manipulate the system to get what they want.

"You would see an individual going to 12 different doctors, at nine different clinics, then to 12 pharmacies to get the prescriptions filled. That's an indication of a person who's doctor shopping," Burns said.

One addict, who wanted her identity concealed, told KETV NewsWatch 7's Carol Kloss how it works.

"I searched the doctors out. I would lie to them. I would tell them whatever they wanted to hear, just to get those pills," the woman said.

She said she started on pain pills to treat back pain, but when the treatment turned into an addiction she told doctors what they needed to hear to write the prescription.

"I would convince him of my pain. I have two rods with steel plates in my back and I have scoliosis so it was real easy to get," she said.

In the late 1990s, the Nebraska Legislature made doctor shopping a crime, but it hasn't stopped the problem altogether.

The State Patrol is making strides by networking with pharmacies. It faxes daily alerts of stolen prescription pads, names of patients who may be abusing drugs and the doctors who may be helping their patients get them.

"That's our No. 1 concern, is the health care professionals," Burns said.

Burns said he has no idea how many doctors abuse their power.

Marie said, in her own daughter's case, she blames her child, herself and "I guess I would have to blame the doctors in this case. This seems really outrageous right here."

State records show that one psychiatrist who treated her daughter has since "surrendered his medical license permanently in lieu of discipline."

Marie said another doctor who wrote her daughter 54 prescriptions in a six-month period, mostly for pain medication, is still practicing and hasn't been disciplined.