Something Disturbing

[Rukn]

I work for a retail chain. I recently floated to this store where I noticed something disturbing

Right around the corner is a doctor's office where the "doctor" writes nothing but narcotics and muscle relaxers. These people have been regularly getting these narcotics and I'm almost compelled to fill them (especially if they are on time and they go through insurance). I just spent the past couple of days going back and from the C2 safe trying to deal with the influx of narcotic scripts.

Anyway whatever is going on seems shady to me. The store is in a horrible area and is extremely busy so I expect a lot of narcotic scripts to come in but what I saw was ridiculous. He would even call personally to see if we had a particular narcotic in stock. He isn't a pain management specialist either and is one of those old dudes. A DO not an MD.

I'm not staff at that place so I don't know if I should address this or not ... but it seems like a pill mill operation.

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[zelman]

I work for a retail chain. I recently floated to this store where I noticed something disturbing

Right around the corner is a doctor's office where the "doctor" writes nothing but narcotics and muscle relaxers. These people have been regularly getting these narcotics and I'm almost compelled to fill them (especially if they are on time and they go through insurance). I just spent the past couple of days going back and from the C2 safe trying to deal with the influx of narcotic scripts.

Anyway whatever is going on seems shady to me. The store is in a horrible area and is extremely busy so I expect a lot of narcotic scripts to come in but what I saw was ridiculous. He would even call personally to see if we had a particular narcotic in stock. He isn't a pain management specialist either and is one of those old dudes. A DO not an MD.

I'm not staff at that place so I don't know if I should address this or not ... but it seems like a pill mill operation.

CYA. Email your concerns to your supervisor and loss prevention manager. Express concern that you might need to deal with the DEA at some point if this continues (something they do not want to happen). Let them make the call.

 

[Dred Pirate]

I work for a retail chain. I recently floated to this store where I noticed something disturbing

Right around the corner is a doctor's office where the "doctor" writes nothing but narcotics and muscle relaxers. These people have been regularly getting these narcotics and I'm almost compelled to fill them (especially if they are on time and they go through insurance). I just spent the past couple of days going back and from the C2 safe trying to deal with the influx of narcotic scripts.

Anyway whatever is going on seems shady to me. The store is in a horrible area and is extremely busy so I expect a lot of narcotic scripts to come in but what I saw was ridiculous. He would even call personally to see if we had a particular narcotic in stock. He isn't a pain management specialist either and is one of those old dudes. A DO not an MD.

I'm not staff at that place so I don't know if I should address this or not ... but it seems like a pill mill operation.

ya - run away if at all possible - but a DO vs MD adds nothing to your concern

 

[ldiot]

Yeah I'd stay the hell away from there and report it to the DEA and/or voice your concern with your company.

 

[MrBonita]

Have you addressed your concern to the manager of that store? Maybe the area is servicing an area that has high injury in the area. Pharmacies near the pier tend to have tons of ship yard workers with tons of injuries and will have the kind of drugs you are describing. Is there a manual labor factory in town causing all these injuries. Might be legit if this is the case. I would definitely talk to the manager and maybe there is a good possible reason for everything. If not then report your concern to the medical board of your state and dea.

 

[BidingMyTime]

I'm not staff at that place so I don't know if I should address this or not ... but it seems like a pill mill operation.

Ya think? Unlike MrBonita, I have a hard time believing this is legitimate, when you say it is a regular MD/DO (that really doesn't matter) writing for "nothing" but pain medicines. Internal Medicine/Family Practice/General Practice doctors *might* see a lot of patients in pain depending on the area and write for pain medicines, but they are also going to be writing for other medicines as well, because they are not exclusive pain doctors. A regular type of doctor who is not board certified in pain management writing for nothing but pain medicines is a HUGE red flag.

Still, if you were just floating and won't be going back there, I don't know that there is a lot you can do. If you were working in the store regularly, it would be easier to document the problems and report them.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

A regular type of doctor who is not board certified in pain management writing for nothing but pain medicines is a HUGE red flag.

There's a fricking urgent care that tried to do pain management as part of their regular urgent care business. It actually says right on their script pads "Advanced Urgent Care and Pain Management." Like that's completely normal. Someone called and asked if the prescriber had a formal fellowship in pain management and he got hung up on...lol. I actually got a script once that read "Oxycontin 20mg, 1 tablet q12 for moderate pain." So the patient is like "my pain is a 5 out of 10." The urgent care doc is like "5 out of 10? Oxycontin sounds entirely reasonable!"

And, thus, I don't fill their controls...

 

[Gombrich12]

If you are just filling in for a shift it's really not your problem. Tell them you have responsibility to verify that the prescription was written for legitimate purposes and you won't be filling the prescription. They'll go somewhere else or come back when the normal pharmacist is there.

 

[Rukn]

Ya think? Unlike MrBonita, I have a hard time believing this is legitimate, when you say it is a regular MD/DO (that really doesn't matter) writing for "nothing" but pain medicines. Internal Medicine/Family Practice/General Practice doctors *might* see a lot of patients in pain depending on the area and write for pain medicines, but they are also going to be writing for other medicines as well, because they are not exclusive pain doctors. A regular type of doctor who is not board certified in pain management writing for nothing but pain medicines is a HUGE red flag.

Still, if you were just floating and won't be going back there, I don't know that there is a lot you can do. If you were working in the store regularly, it would be easier to document the problems and report them.

He does write for other stuff too but I would say 85 to 90% of what he writes are C-II narcotics and stuff like methocarbamol. Kind of like those quacks who write Phenergan DM and Z-Paks for everybody.

Issue is that these people have been getting this stuff and the scripts are on time and they are not fake/forged. The regular pharmacists there have been practicing for years, far longer than me (I graduated last year) and they have been filling them.

 

[catalyzt]

I would discretely tell your supervisor about it and tell him/her you're not comfortable with filling so many narcotics at that location. Chances are the sup knows this store and its demographics, etc. so they will be able to pick up on if it's a red flag or not. If not, the sup might question the PIC or staff pharmacist about it and you did your due diligence.

 

[MrBonita]

He does write for other stuff too but I would say 85 to 90% of what he writes are C-II narcotics and stuff like methocarbamol. Kind of like those quacks who write Phenergan DM and Z-Paks for everybody.

Issue is that these people have been getting this stuff and the scripts are on time and they are not fake/forged. The regular pharmacists there have been practicing for years, far longer than me (I graduated last year) and they have been filling them.

aSK

All the new grads I have worked with dispense as fast as possible and I have point out mistakes sometimes. Some of them think I am an ass, some are glad I prevented a mistake. You should always trust your instincts and not be afraid to speak up if you know what is right.

 

[ChalupaBatman86]

Better call Saul

 

[BenJammin]

For all intents and purposes, a DO is the same as an MD.