CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — Drug enforcement agents are seeing a rise in doctor shopping, which is when a patient goes to several different doctors in an effort to get prescription drugs, in Charlotte.
Channel 9 learned about two recent cases. In one, Cindy Miramontes saw four doctors this year to get the same or similar prescriptions, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's drug diversion unit. In the other, police said, Amber Rose Kempka saw five doctors. Both face felony charges.
Chronic pain doctor Gerald Aronoff said at least once a week, someone who fits the "doctor shopper" profile comes into his Charlotte office, wanting drugs like hydrocodone and oxycodone.
"I don't want to put the patient at risk or the office at risk by writing drugs that are duplicates or triplicates," Aronoff said. He said signs of doctor shopping are a lack of medical records and a lack of a referral from another doctor. People who are doctor shopping often won't even hand over information about their other doctor, he said.
"So, for instance, if a patient says to me, ‘Dr. Smith is no longer treating me,' and I say, ‘Well, what's Dr. Smith's phone number?' (The patient responds,) ‘Well, his clinic closed,' right away (there is a) high index of suspicion," Aronoff said.
To identify them, Aronoff uses North Carolina's Controlled Substance Reporting System, which is an online database of patients' histories for doctors and pharmacists.
"This allows me to see if they're being written for controlled substances, what they are, how much they're getting," Aronoff said.
He added that while doctor shopping is an issue, the overwhelming majority of his patients are legitimate pain patients.
Nancy Mikhail, a pharmacist at Walker Pharmacy near Cotswold, also said she sees some doctor shopping.
"I'm very familiar with doctor shopping," Mikhail said. "We see it all the time."
She added: "A big red flag for us is if a patient asks for a cash price of the controlled substance, so they want to know how much it's going to be out of pocket for them. That's a big red flag."
Mikhail said that's because there would be no reporting to insurance.
She also uses the online database. In all, 9,400 doctors and pharmacists in North Carolina use the database.
That's only about 24 percent of the state's doctors and 11 percent of pharmacists. Using the database is voluntary. The DEA said the low enrollment is partly due to a lack of awareness and doctors' concerns about their patients' privacy.
Charlotte DEA agent Jeff Ferris said despite increased police efforts, the most effective way to catch doctor shoppers is the database. He said they need more enrollment, because drug users and sellers are dangers to the community.
"These are people that we work with and deal with everyday," Ferris said. "They're driving cars, they are working with us and putting us at risk, as well as themselves."
For more information on the North Carolina Controlled Substances Reporting System, click here.
For more information about the abuse of prescription drugs and other related matters, click here.
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