The abuse of prescription drugs "breaks the hearts of communities."
That's the assessment by Charles Moran, director of media relations for the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED), who commented after arrests Wednesday in Northumberland County involving "doctor shopping." The practice involves patients obtaining controlled substances from multiple doctors without the physicians having knowledge of the other prescriptions.
Pennsylvania is one of the nation's worst states for prescription medication misuse, Moran said.
"(It) upsets all the good doctors working to help their patients," he said.
The problem led PAMED to create an educational campaign called "Pills for ills, not thrills," designed to raise physicians' awareness of pill-seeking doctor shoppers. It includes an educational reference booklet that details red flags.
"No doctor wants to be scammed," said society president C. Richard Schott, "Scammers waste valuable time that could be spent with patients who have truly painful conditions, and furthermore diverts medication away from proper use."
Moran relayed one Pennsylvania doctor's story: she was working at an ER and dealt with a patient, allegedly visiting from Colorado, who came in complaining of pain and received prescription-strength medication.
"The next day, that doctor was working in a different ER, and the same patient came in with the same symptoms," he said.
PAMED recently received a $30,000 grant from the Collaboration for REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) Education to continue its mission involving doctor shopping.
Also, proposed legislation would establish a statewide controlled substance database, something every state bordering Pennsylvania has already established.
"It is out of committee and hopefully, very soon, will be brought before the House for a vote," Moran said.
According to the society, Pennsylvania currently ranks 10th in the nation for overdose deaths.