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rex
Enthusiast


Reged: 01/29/03
Posts: 219
Loc: U.S.
Still OK To Order From US "Questionnaire" OPs ?
      #168618 - 06/14/04 08:41 AM

Hi,

In light of recent events, can anyone please provide an opinion on how safe (and legal) they think it is to order from an OP that uses a questionnaire instead of a telephone conversation from a doctor? I am talking about US OPs that use US physicians, US pharmacies, and sell things like Tramadol, Soma, weight loss pills, etc., but don't use a telephone conversation between the doctor and patient to establish the "relationship".

I used to think that these were legal, but now I don't know.

Any opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you want to share some OP links that you think are reputable, that would be great. Thank you.


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PIGINPAIN
Journeyman


Reged: 06/10/04
Posts: 85
Re: Still OK To Order From US "Questionnaire" OPs [Re: rex]
      #168753 - 06/14/04 10:02 PM

THE FOLLOWING IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE AND THE AUTHOR IS NOT AN ATTORNEY. IT REPRESENTS THE OPINIONS OF THE AUTHOR ONLY.

Sorry for the legal jargon rex, but one has to be careful. Your question is really in two parts; is it legal and is it safe.

I beleive that it is clearly safe if the following are true;
1)The doc and pharm are both licensed in the US and the pharm is licensed to sell to your state.
2)You provide accurate, complete, and truthful medical records and emails to the OP service and doc.
3)Your state doesn't have laws that are more restrictive than federal law. i.e. some states prohibit a doctor licensed in another state to prescribe/treat for someone in the patient's home state without an in-state doctor acting as a sponsor.

As for legal??? If the three issues above are satisfied then I say probably. I say this because the Title 21 USC 300-390 et seq (U.S. law) is pretty vague on this issue. It says that there must be a bonafide doctor/patient relationship, but it doesn't really ellaborate because the issue is too complex for law makers to sort out. The attitude has been to wait and see what case law comes out of the subject when doctors are prosecuted.

This area of law enforcement is handled by the DE#,uh you know who. Their branch for this is called the office of diversion. If you search all day and all night on the internet for a month you will probably find a patient who was arrested, but you will find a heck of a lot more docs. If the three rules above are followed, the doc might be in trouble. I am not saying it hasn't happened. I would love to hear from anyone who can provide a link to a case or story where the three rules above were followed and a patient was arrested. I don't believe there is one, although you will always hear of a "friend or an uncle's, brother's, cousin's, best friend who got popped. I believe what I see and sometimes, what I read.

You might look at their website, under operations and programs, then diversion. They clearly say that their mission is pharmacists, employees, and docs. Nowhere I looked did it say legitimate patients, hence my three rule system. There may come a day when they try a "test case" and arrest a legitimate patient, but I would bet my eyes it will be the person who has at least stretched one of the three rules...

Hope this helps and sorry for the long windedness, my father was a lawyer so it is a genetic defect!

Ps. One lost minor addition to the rules. If a doctor knows, or someone tells them, that the patient is or might be physically or mentally addicted to the scheduled drug then all bets are off. It is crime for a doctor to prescribe, and in every state I've heard of, for an addict to receive a drug except through specially licensed docs and programs. even if all three rules apply.


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