Ethical dilemma

[silly26]

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Hi, just wanted to get some thoughts on what other pharmacists would do in my situation right now:

I have a regular patient who comes in every month with new rx's for fake patients for Boniva and Lipitor with coupons for a free one month trial. Probably her insurance doesn't pay for them or else it's $$ and she doesn't want other generics like alendronate or simvastatin. So she has her doctor, who by the way is an OBGYN (probably a personal friend of her's too), write her rx's for a fake name. To my knowledge, she's gotten at least 6-8 months worth of free meds all under different names.

This makes me so mad that she's getting all these meds for free when I have other patients who are less well-off (this patient lives in a rich area and dresses very nicely) who have to pay for their meds when they can barely afford it. What I want is for this doctor to stop writing her these rx's but I don't know how to go about it.

I can refuse to fill her rx's but she's the type that will cause a scene, yell at me and probably complain to my supervisor. And THEN get it filled elsewhere.

I can contact the doctor but I don't want to cause any hassle for myself if they get mad that i'm 'accusing' them of writing fake rx's.

I can contact the Lipitor/Boniva drug companies and tell them this doctor is writing fake rx's but it might make this doctor lose their license since fraud can be pretty serious stuff. I don't want to cause a doctor to lose their license over this type of issue.

In any other situation I can let my supervisor know and let him deal with this but he is the type of person that basically wouldn't even see the ethical dilemma and would just tell me to fill it. Plus I don't want him to get annoyed at me and get on his bad side.

I don't really know what I can do. I thought about sending some kind of anonymous fax or something to the doctor to let him know we can't fill any of these rx's but this patient might be the only one he does it for and I'm pretty sure she only comes to us with her rx's so the md will now it's a pharmacist at my store...

I just don't wanna jeopardize my job for this but it's making me so mad and I wish there was some good way of doing something about this.

Any suggestions? What would you do in this situation?

 

[Praziquantel86]

Hi, just wanted to get some thoughts on what other pharmacists would do in my situation right now:

I have a regular patient who comes in every month with new rx's for fake patients for Boniva and Lipitor with coupons for a free one month trial. Probably her insurance doesn't pay for them or else it's $$ and she doesn't want other generics like alendronate or simvastatin. So she has her doctor, who by the way is an OBGYN (probably a personal friend of her's too), write her rx's for a fake name. To my knowledge, she's gotten at least 6-8 months worth of free meds all under different names.

This makes me so mad that she's getting all these meds for free when I have other patients who are less well-off (this patient lives in a rich area and dresses very nicely) who have to pay for their meds when they can barely afford it. What I want is for this doctor to stop writing her these rx's but I don't know how to go about it.

I can refuse to fill her rx's but she's the type that will cause a scene, yell at me and probably complain to my supervisor. And THEN get it filled elsewhere.

I can contact the doctor but I don't want to cause any hassle for myself if they get mad that i'm 'accusing' them of writing fake rx's.

I can contact the Lipitor/Boniva drug companies and tell them this doctor is writing fake rx's but it might make this doctor lose their license since fraud can be pretty serious stuff. I don't want to cause a doctor to lose their license over this type of issue.

In any other situation I can let my supervisor know and let him deal with this but he is the type of person that basically wouldn't even see the ethical dilemma and would just tell me to fill it. Plus I don't want him to get annoyed at me and get on his bad side.

I don't really know what I can do. I thought about sending some kind of anonymous fax or something to the doctor to let him know we can't fill any of these rx's but this patient might be the only one he does it for and I'm pretty sure she only comes to us with her rx's so the md will now it's a pharmacist at my store...

I just don't wanna jeopardize my job for this but it's making me so mad and I wish there was some good way of doing something about this.

Any suggestions? What would you do in this situation?

If you can prove the connection, report the patient to the police department and the physician to the Board of Medicine. Run it by your supervisors beforehand, and make sure you have your bases covered with the company. The right thing to do isn't always the easy thing to do.

 

[litetigre]

i would suggest u email to your supervisor about your intention of not filling a fraud prescription and document the time. Don't talk, get everything in writing. Mention that you will not fill the scripts. If he specially ask you to do so, tell him to write it down in the email. When the pt comes in and drops off, ask for id, tell her to come back in an hour. In the meantime, fax md to validate the script, mention your doubt about the script and show proof, if the doctor insists you fill the script, document in writing. Fill the script, then make a report to board of pharmacy and board of medicine. You should not report the patient to the police though because they will not have the time to look at your case. That's the best you can do. The doctor is the cause in this case.

 

[Quiksilver]

Ask her to verify the pick-up with a state issued ID, even if its not her own. That should do the trick. Tell her you won't dispense drugs to her unless she produces a form of ID since there has been an recent increase in people stealing meds from stolen identities.

 

[type b pharmD]

If I turned them in, I wouldnt feel guilty for whatever sentence they received , since it is solely the Judiciary's responsibility to interpret and apply the law. By notifying someone about some facts that are occurring, you are not going to ruin someone's life, their actions and the decisions of the state about those actions are.

Also it could have been anyone who reported them. The Dr or patient wouldnt necessarily know it was you. It could have been the tech, or possibly the drug companies.

 

[evilolive]

I agree - I would tell them to stop doing what they're doing and that it's obvious. They will be absolutely terrified and likely stop. Why ruin people's lives if you don't have to?

 

[Old Timer]

Are you sure they are "fake" names. They are not for other relatives or friends. You have suspicion, but not proof. Nothing is as it seems in the real world. Explain your concerns to your superiors. They don't want to be caught filling fraudulent prescriptions and submitting fraudulent claims.

Once you have the blessings of your superiors, please speak to the patient directly and ask what's going on..... Then you can act professionally and appropriately.....

 

[npage148]

Confront her and ask her to produce ID's for the patients to be able to pick up. If she doesn't or admit the jig is up, then I'd tell her this is highly unwelcomed and she is on thin ice. Then call the doctor to let them know that if you see it again you are calling the third party involved in the billing and letting them know about your attempt to defraud them and they might want to look at your prescribing habits and coupon use. I'd probably not contact the board of medicine. I actually may even skip the warning to the doctor depending on her attitude when I called. Likewise, if the patient throws a fit or is in anyway unbecoming, I'd let the insurance company know who the patient was.

It's fraud and shouldn't be tolerated