"Tougher guidelines" entails all types of regulations, Heuristic, one of which most certainly should be a database that all doctors and pharmacists would have access to that would show a patients prescription history.
I envision a centralized electronic database where every person's prescription history is stored. When a doctor would write a prescription he would have to enter it into the database, and the pharmacist would not be able to fill the prescription unless the doctor does so. The database would include such information as : name, address, phone number, ID number (i.e. SS#), type of medication, dosage, refills, etc.. It would also contain a brief description of what the medication is being prescribed for (not just "as needed for pain").
Also I feel as though there should be some type of system put into place to determine the type of drug and dosage needed. For example, if you visit the emergency room for a fractured foot, as the case of PottedMeat, then you would not get the same medication and dosage as a person who stubbed their toe. Now this system would take a great deal of research and time to institute, but would be well worth it. Doctors should all have to adhere to the same guidelines when prescribing medications. I know that each case is unique, but we have to have some type of basis when prescribing narcotics.
So my basic idea is a combination of a centralized database and a system to guide doctors when prescribing medications. The combination of these two ideas could revolutionized the pharmaceutical community. It would take great effort, time, and cooperation between several government and private agencies. It would cost a great deal of money to implement and to maintain. But there is no price on human lives. Prescription drug abuse is a serious problem in America, and no doubt throughout the world.
Please help keep this thread alive by continuing to post your ideas and/or comments. Thank You.
A doctors discretion is the ultimate regulation. Politicians and legislators have no business regulating how much of medicine x is appropriate for injury y. This is absurd. Such a system would require an innordinate amount of attention per patient that goes beyond reasonable.
I am interested to know what you think of a British System-type prescribing system, where an individual doctor can prescribe any drug for any reason as they see fit. Specifically, do you believe a doctor should be allowed to prescribe a patient who is an addict the drug they are addicted to in the interest of harm reduction, health and societies best interest?
There are thousands of addicts who find Methadone, Buprenorphine, Dihydrocodeine and other currently available maintenance medications inadequate, and have tried and been unsuccessful in abstinence-only treatments which utilize medications like Clonidine, Lofexidine, Naltrexone, etc.
Should these people be allowed to enter Heroin, Morphine, Oxycodone, etc maintenance under the direction and guidance of their doctor?
If not, why not? I have never, ever heard a good reason against this system. There is no rational, valid reason why such care should be against the law (and it currently is against the law in most of the world, and is highly successful in those countries where it is allowed).
Though this is just one example. Under the system you envision, people like this would be red flagged and ostrasized when going in for any type of medical procedure or treatment, as they will be saved in this national database as 'drug seekers', 'addicts', etc where, under the current law, they cannot receive adequate treatment (and in the case of many, many people, they receive inadequate care for unrelated medical procedures and problems due to their status as an addict. I personally have experienced this at the hands of medical proffesionals, as have many other people on this site.).
