Can physicians treat themselves?

[Dr Bartlet]

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I'm a regular on SDN, but I took a different name to protect my identity since a lot of people in real life know my SDN ID.

I'm working with a resident who has this serious chronic illness. She's had it since childhood and she confided in me that the only reason she became a doctor is so she can treat herself because her family doesn't have the money to pay for her care and her insurance premiums once she was off her parents plan was astronomical. So now she orders tests for herself, watches her own condition, and then has another resident write her prescriptions though I think she might have written a prescription for herself once. Is this all legal?

 

[Winged Scapula]

Legal, yes. Wise, definitely not.

As the old saying goes, "the physician that treats himself has a fool for a patient."

 

[deleted87716]

As the old saying goes, "the physician that treats himself has a fool for a patient."

And for a doctor. 😉

 

[mindquick]

why is it not wize?

 

[deleted87716]

why is it not wize?

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/8510.html

 

[MadameLULU]

I think the legality of the issue depends on the state. In Texas, a physician must create a medical record for a patient in order to prescribe medications. Most likely your resident's friends isn't charting pertinent physical exams, lab. results, etc and thus could get in trouble for writing prescriptions.

In general, it's not a wise idea. One of my attendings told me a story about how a resident used to write prescriptions for his girlfriend, but when they broke up his girlfriend turned him into the state licensing board for writing prescriptions w/o keeping a medical record. 😱😱

 

[mindquick]

One of my attendings told me a story about how a resident used to write prescriptions for his girlfriend, but when they broke up his girlfriend turned him into the state licensing board for writing prescriptions w/o keeping a medical record. 😱😱

yikes! that's a low blow. so i have a question. are doctors allowed to prescribe controlled substances for themselves?

 

[Depakote]

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/8510.html

Dad, I'm sick... I think I need to stay home from school today.

I'm a doctor. You're not sick.

Due to the nature of our parent-child relationship, I think you need to recuse yourself from this situation from this case for the sake of professionalism.

 

[deleted87716]

are doctors allowed to prescribe controlled substances for themselves?

That would be a "hell no." People lose their jobs and medical licenses for that.

 

[MadameLULU]

yikes! that's a low blow. so i have a question. are doctors allowed to prescribe controlled substances for themselves?

NO. so illegal. most pharmacists wouldn't even fill it.

 

[deleted87716]

Dad, I'm sick... I think I need to stay home from school today.

I'm a doctor. You're not sick.

Due to the nature of our parent-child relationship, I think you need to recuse yourself from this situation from this case for the sake of professionalism.

I think the parental "Because I said so" trumps the medical diagnosis in this case. 😉

 

[Ashers]

Dad, I'm sick... I think I need to stay home from school today.

I'm a doctor. You're not sick.

Due to the nature of our parent-child relationship, I think you need to recuse yourself from this situation from this case for the sake of professionalism.

That's not how it works... Dad MD is out the door before one can complain about being sick and refuses to give a note to get out of PE no matter how much one's pinky finger hurts. Mom RN says the kid's not sick and will definitely be going to school.

Not that I know anything about that...

 

[LJDHC05]

I've got a couple of friends that have physician-parents who essentially have their own little pharmacies set up in their apartments. One in particular has a propensity for self-treating muscle aches with significant doses of muscle relaxants or narcotics depending on how they feel.

Man I wish my parents were docs...

 

[Cirrus83]

yikes! that's a low blow. so i have a question. are doctors allowed to prescribe controlled substances for themselves?

Not unless you want your DEA license suspended, lol. Stick to the non-scheduled stuff unless you want someone to start a felony investigation.

Anyways, I don't think it's a huge deal to self-prescribe some basic stuff. Like, if you're already on a seasonal allergy medication (like zyrtec or something) I don't think it's some huge breach of ethics to write the script yourself for a refill instead of harrassing your PCP. But if you wanna stay on the safe side there's probably a bazillion colleagues who would write you a script for Zyrtec without blinking if you just ask.

Now, if there's some serious condition you should be getting care for you seriously should go see another doctor.

 

[mindquick]

Not unless you want your DEA license suspended, lol. Stick to the non-scheduled stuff unless you want someone to start a felony investigation.

Anyways, I don't think it's a huge deal to self-prescribe some basic stuff. Like, if you're already on a seasonal allergy medication (like zyrtec or something) I don't think it's some huge breach of ethics to write the script yourself for a refill instead of harrassing your PCP. But if you wanna stay on the safe side there's probably a bazillion colleagues who would write you a script for Zyrtec without blinking if you just ask.

Now, if there's some serious condition you should be getting care for you seriously should go see another doctor.

I see. But your colleagues can prescribe anything for you, right?

 

[Cirrus83]

I see. But your colleagues can prescribe anything for you, right?

Well, if there's a legitimate reason for you to be getting a scheduled drug and they have the documentation to back it up then yes. But that'd just make you their patient

For regular meds I think people tend to be pretty lax about it from what I've seen...it's not like they think you're gonna go abuse your zyrtec and albuterol lol.

 

[Depakote]

Well, if there's a legitimate reason for you to be getting a scheduled drug and they have the documentation to back it up then yes. But that'd just make you their patient

For regular meds I think people tend to be pretty lax about it from what I've seen...it's not like they think you're gonna go abuse your zyrtec and albuterol lol.

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, Cirrus.

 

[sprinkibrio]

That's not how it works... Dad MD is out the door before one can complain about being sick and refuses to give a note to get out of PE no matter how much one's pinky finger hurts. Mom RN says the kid's not sick and will definitely be going to school.

Not that I know anything about that...

Hahahaha, sounds familiar to me!

 

[deleted87716]

But your colleagues can prescribe anything for you, right?

If you and your colleague have a legitimate doctor-patient relationship (which includes a chart with appropriate documentation), yes. Otherwise, they're taking the same chance that you would if you prescribed for yourself.

 

[menaniac]

That's not how it works... Dad MD is out the door before one can complain about being sick and refuses to give a note to get out of PE no matter how much one's pinky finger hurts. Mom RN says the kid's not sick and will definitely be going to school.

Not that I know anything about that...

That made me smile. We could be bleeding out our eyes and my mom would still make us go to school! I even went to school for 4 days in high school right before X-mas break with chicken pox so I wouldn't miss any pre-break finals. 😡 Not my chioce, but several of my classmates were pretty upset when they found out (understandibly). Never mess with an RN mom! I'm glad I'm not the only one...

 

[Ashers]

That made me smile. We could be bleeding out our eyes and my mom would still make us go to school! I even went to school for 4 days in high school right before X-mas break with chicken pox so I wouldn't miss any pre-break finals. 😡 Not my chioce, but several of my classmates were pretty upset when they found out (understandibly). Never mess with an RN mom! I'm glad I'm not the only one...

haha! Me too.

My mom (ER nurse) accused me of having medstudentitis last spring when I called about some abdominal pain. Then she felt bad when I ended up having emergency surgery due to a dropping H&H and a hemorrhagic ovarian cyst. Fun times.

My dad (orthopod) wouldn't believe me that I injured anything thing unless it was blatantly obvious. I sprained my ankle once in high school and called him at his office. When he got home he was like, "Ok, let me see your ankle." I showed him, and when he saw that it was swollen to about 3x normal, he was like "Oh, you actually did hurt yourself. Let's go to urgent care."

 

[45408]

haha! Me too.

My mom (ER nurse) accused me of having medstudentitis last spring when I called about some abdominal pain. Then she felt bad when I ended up having emergency surgery due to a dropping H&H and a hemorrhagic ovarian cyst. Fun times.

My dad (orthopod) wouldn't believe me that I injured anything thing unless it was blatantly obvious. I sprained my ankle once in high school and called him at his office. When he got home he was like, "Ok, let me see your ankle." I showed him, and when he saw that it was swollen to about 3x normal, he was like "Oh, you actually did hurt yourself. Let's go to urgent care."

and then there was that incident with your knee too, right? Your H&P must be growing by the minute.

 

[Winged Scapula]

haha! Me too.

My mom (ER nurse) accused me of having medstudentitis last spring when I called about some abdominal pain. Then she felt bad when I ended up having emergency surgery due to a dropping H&H and a hemorrhagic ovarian cyst. Fun times.

Seems to happen a lot. I had the exact same problem during residency which was poo-poo'd by my SO (a surgical resident at the time) and he finally "diagnosed" as right sided diverticulitis. When I started exhibiting signs of peritonitis, we thought I'd better go to the ED. To be fair, I ignored the symptoms for several days myself.

My mother who isn't remotely medical but likes to think she is, despite hating doctors and probably not seeing once since she delivered my brother 30+ years ago, ignored my complaints of a dental cavity when I was in high school. She kept insisting that it was a "baby" tooth (at age 15?) and it didn't matter that it had a cavity because it would fall out. Ended up with a root canal. Twice. She ignored me the SECOND time it happened as well!😱

Its probably the reason I tend to think people who take sick days off from residency are whiners!

 

[Ashers]

and then there was that incident with your knee too, right? Your H&P must be growing by the minute.

My knee wasn't such a big deal -- just massive swelling -- pre-patellar bursitis. My dad got me in to see one of his friends from residency who happens to practice around here. My gamekeeper's thumb from volleyball was a bigger deal, but my summer research preceptor and an M4 friend on an ortho sub-I took care of that.

I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get injured this year to make myself known to someone else over in the ortho dept here.

Seems to happen a lot. I had the exact same problem during residency which was poo-poo'd by the SO (a surgical resident at the time) and finally "diagnosed" as right sided diverticulitis. When I started exhibiting signs of peritonitus, we thought I'd better go to the ED. To be fair, I ignored the symptoms for several days myself.

...

Its probably the reason I tend to think people who take sick days off from residency are whiners!

I ignored the pain for a while too. I think I called my parents after it didn't go away for about a week.

My family doesn't really believe in sick days or going to the ER unless you're bleeding profusely and require stitches.