When working as a pharmacist, you may meet patients who doctor shop and seek medication they either do not need or amounts of medication they do not need. As a pharmacist, you must protect your patients and avoid a prescription fraud charge. Understanding the common prescriptions found in prescription fraud may help.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, patients may attempt to abuse stimulants, opioids and CNS depressants most often.
Stimulant use
Patients who want a competitive edge against others may use stimulants to enhance their bodies and minds. The patients abusing stimulants include older adults and high school and college students. Older adults use stimulants to try to offset any cognitive decline that they may be experiencing. Younger people use stimulants to aid cognition and improve academic performance.
Opioid use
Often, the people who start to abuse opioids are those who experience chronic pain. Many doctors prescribe opioids to people with chronic pain, but patients may work up a tolerance over time. As the patient works up a tolerance, the medication works less effectively and the patient may seek out more opioids. To do this, he or she may attempt to receive more than the recommended dose of pain medication by using multiple doctors.
CNS depressant use
Like other drugs, patients can build up a tolerance for CNS depressants. As they build up a tolerance, they may seek higher doses or more than one prescription. Identifying drug-seeking behavior or noticing a patient returning too often can help prevent prescription fraud.
As a pharmacist, you have a responsibility to your patient. You should ensure that patients do not receive too much medication.
