Doctor shopping is the practice of visiting multiple physicians to obtain multiple prescriptions for otherwise illegal drugs, or the medical opinion that one wants to hear. It is a common practice of drug addicts, suppliers of drug addicts, hypochondriacs or patients of factitious disorder and factitious disorder imposed on another. 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".
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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 prescriptive 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, tranquilizers 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, Medicare or Medicaid 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 sell their prescriptions.
Doctor shopping is a kind of malingering 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 the defraudment of an insurance company, through 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.
Doctor shopping is associated with the ubiquitous medicalization of drug use as an alternative to criminalization and legalization.
In hypochondriasis and factitious disorders
Some patients of hypochondria, factitious disorder and factitious disorder imposed on another 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.