Doctor shopping is the practice of visiting multiple

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

s to obtain multiple prescriptions. It is a common practice of people with substance use disorders, suppliers of addictive substances,

hypochondriacs Hypochondriasis or hypochondria is a condition in which a person is excessively and unduly worried about having a serious illness. An old concept, the meaning of hypochondria has repeatedly changed. It has been claimed that this debilitating cond ...

or patients of

factitious disorder A factitious disorder is a condition in which a person, ''without'' a malingering motive, acts as if they have an illness by deliberately producing, feigning, or exaggerating symptoms, purely to attain (for themselves or for another) a patient' ...

and

factitious disorder imposed on another Factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA), also known as fabricated or induced illness by carers (FII), and first named as Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSbP), is a condition in which a caregiver creates the appearance of health problems in a ...

. A doctor who, for a price, will write prescriptions without the formality of a medical exam or diagnosis is known as a "writer" or "writing doctor".

Description

A doctor shopper will visit multiple health care providers as a "new patient" or "visiting from out of town," and will exaggerate or feign medical problems to obtain prescription medications or a wanted medical opinion, diagnosis or treatment with no specific material gain.

For prescription drugs

Frequently involved in prescription fraud are narcotics, stimulants, barbiturates, benzodiazepines,

tranquilizer A tranquilizer is a drug that is designed for the treatment of anxiety, fear, tension, agitation, and disturbances of the mind, specifically to reduce states of anxiety and tension. Etymology Tranquilizer, as a term, was first used by F.F. Yonk ...

s and other psychoactive substances manufactured for use in legitimate medical treatment. Law enforcement officers spend a significant amount of time investigating cases involving prescription fraud, many of which also involve

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

, Medicare, or

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...

fraud. Prescription drug diversion occurs by faking, forging, or altering a prescription; obtaining bogus prescriptions from criminal medical practitioners; or buying drugs diverted from health care facilities by personnel. Pharmacy thefts are increasing throughout the United States to feed the growing demand for prescription drugs. The rising cost of prescription drugs has also enticed senior citizens to join in the diversion and to sell their prescriptions. Doctor shopping is a kind of

malingering Malingering is the fabrication, feigning, or exaggeration of physical or psychological symptoms designed to achieve a desired outcome, such as relief from duty or work. Malingering is not a medical diagnosis, but may be recorded as a "focus of c ...

with the specific goal of procuring prescription drugs. Malingering is underdiagnosed, often because of the physician's fear of making false accusations. Covert surveillance has indicated that as many as 20% of pain clinic patients misrepresent the extent of their disability. The judgment of the morality of malingering is largely a matter of the observer and circumstances. Most people would regard defrauding an insurance company, by reporting a false injury, as an antisocial act. In contrast, the malingering of a prisoner-of-war, who is attempting to manipulate his or her captors, would be seen by most compatriots as a skillful coping mechanism.

In hypochondriasis and factitious disorders

Some patients of hypochondria,

and

will visit multiple health care providers to find a medical opinion, diagnosis or treatment that they feel the need to get, not specifically in search of prescription drugs, for no material benefit and even incurring in significant costs, debts or losses. This kind of doctor shopping lacks intention to commit malingering for material gain and is the result of such mental conditions.

References

{{reflist Drug culture Substance dependence Healthcare in the United States Insurance fraud

Description

For prescription drugs

In hypochondriasis and factitious disorders

See also

References