New grant to fight prescription drug abuse through ‘doctor shopping’
(Harrisburg) — New grant money will help fight prescription drug abuse in Pennsylvania by educating doctors and other health care providers.
The Pennsylvania Medical Society‘s 30-thousand dollar grant will fund six webinars for medical professionals.
Patient Advocacy Program Manager Diane Siebert says the sessions will highlight so-called “doctor shopping,” where patients move from provider to provider in search of more medicine.
“This will insure that patients who really do have pain and need these medications can still receive them,” Siebert says.
A recent study estimates more than four million prescriptions for painkillers in the US were diverted to doctor shoppers.
Some are addicted to the drugs themselves, while others sell the highly controlled opioids on the street.
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