Physician and pharmacy groups in South Dakota are promoting a plan to establish a new electronic records system which will help prevent doctor shopping. Doctor shopping is when an individual who is addicted to a prescription drug sees doctor after to doctor to continually obtain new prescriptions. Doctor shopping is already illegal in South Dakota. The new law would authorize a central bank of records to enable doctors and pharmacists to know when a new patient may be shopping for prescriptions.
Barb Smith, chief executive officer of the South Dakota Medical Association, commented on the problem: "The problem right now is physicians don't have access to a patient's prescription history. ... The physician knows what he or she is prescribing but doesn't know if I'm seeing another physician." (Source: www.argusleader.com)
Labels: prescription-drug-abuse, prevention, doctor-shopping
Posted By: Aspen Education Group
