Question

Ethical Decisions

You take a call from a friend of your physician who is asking for a prescription of opioids. Your physician has given a prescription in the past even though the friend is not a patient in the practice. You give the message to your doctor and he proceeds to order the prescription. Ethically, what would you do in this situation? Would you not mention this to anyone or would you report the physician to your manager? Are there specific laws in this state that monitor opioid prescriptions?  

200 words please

Answer 1

This is a state where the conflicts can arise between a healthcare professionals very easily. Any drugs prescribed for an individual should be done after making a visit to their provider .The provider has the responsibility to assess the patient and then prescribe a medication especially if it is a pain killer like opioids. Similarly the patient cannot follow the same medication for a longer period of time . This can make them addicted towards the drugs especially if it is a opioid drug. All orders from a physician has to be followed until it is not HIPAA violated.In this case it is an act of HIPAA violation so being in that palce it is a must to report to a higher official or the manager in regards to the prescription.

There are specific laws in the state to monitor opioid prescriptions under State prescription drug and Opioid abuse policy law monitors this in accordance to the state and federal government as per the CDC guidelines. According to them an opioid can be prescribed only for seven days and not more than that to prevent abuse and record each prescription.