Should doctors self prescribe?
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Should doctors self prescribe?
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BMJ Careers have just published an article about doctors who self prescribe. In the UK it is technically legal but also potentially dangerous and unethical. Is being about to self prescribe a perk of
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Should doctors self prescribe?
posted at 10/1/2012 10:29 AM GMT
on bmj.com
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*Moderator*
Posts: 1492
First: 7/4/2011 Last: 18/6/2013 |
BMJ Careers have just published an article about doctors who self prescribe. In the UK it is technically legal but also potentially dangerous and unethical. Is being about to self prescribe a perk of the job? Is it a convenient way to quickly prescribe for yourself or for family members? Between 2008 and 2011, the Medical Defence Union handled 36 cases where pharmacists and medical colleagues reported GPs who self prescribed, mainly prescribing antibiotics and benzodiazepines. Could self prescribing lead to receiving a lack of objective medical opinion? Can doctors objectively self prescribe? Link to BMJ Careers article: http://bit.ly/yTGVqo |
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Re: Should doctors self prescribe?
posted at 10/1/2012 10:57 AM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1360
First: 25/1/2009 Last: 14/6/2013 |
It all depends on what drugs we are referring to for self prescription....
I'm playing devil's advocate here - evidently within the banner of "self prescribing" there is a range of severity - the trouble is where you draw the line??? |
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Re: Should doctors self prescribe?
posted at 10/1/2012 12:20 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2
First: 10/1/2012 Last: 3/2/2012 |
A doctor should be allowed self prescribe,after all he is responsible for the action whether it is relative or a patient. It is legally allowed in many countris . Is there any research sugessting prohibiting self prescribing is solution to the drug abuse?
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Re: Should doctors self prescribe?
posted at 10/1/2012 4:02 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1302
First: 9/12/2011 Last: 12/6/2013 |
Probably antibiotics for infections would be ok, and something like Voltaren for artritis, or celebrex, but no controlled substances, this is where the water gets muddied. DuaneF |
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Re: Should doctors self prescribe?
posted at 10/1/2012 5:11 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 149
First: 25/5/2011 Last: 14/6/2013 |
In my view it is bad enough that we are obliged to daily fear the spectre of the legal profession placing a cold hand atop the once private bond between a doctor and their patient. To now suggest interference in the relationship between a doctor and their own body or family is a step too far. As a comparison I doubt many would fear for a solicitor selling their own house, since this is what their professional training allows them to do competently. I do not understand why this profession constantly wishes to feel guilty and surrender professional autonomy. We are the people in society licensed to prescribe because we have undergone a professional training and know what we are about. Why on earth would we now wish to deprive ourselves of this right? I would suggest that it is as unprofessional to prescribe excessive benzodiazepines for oneself as for a patient and as illegal to prescribe narcotics without a license for oneself as for a patient, but these exceptions should not be used as the sole argument against the safe majority prescribing. I fail to see the source of outrage that prescribing antibiotics appears to have generated. This should not be seen as a perk, but an absolute right. To use another comparison to help examine the principle: should we now ban a mechanic from working on his, his wife's or his daughter's brakes? I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing that my daughter's brakes had been adjusted by a man who was either forbidden or too scared to work on his own daughter's brakes since it was feared that he might make a terrible error and end up killing her. Our patients might reasonably have similar concerns should we demonstrate so little confidence in our skills. To my mind, knowing that the mechanic insists that he personally adjusts his own daughter's brakes, makes me a whole lot more confident that he'll do a good job with mine. |
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Re: Should doctors self prescribe?
posted at 10/1/2012 5:57 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 10
First: 27/12/2010 Last: 17/5/2013 |
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Re: Should doctors self prescribe?
posted at 10/1/2012 6:00 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1302
First: 9/12/2011 Last: 12/6/2013 |
Response to Adrian Leahy,One could draw a reasonable between a Doctor and A Lawyer, hence writing ones own will would not be filled with disaster, but the simliarites between a Doctor and A Mechanic are absolutely non existant. One could call the relative differences the function of Digital and Analog, IE a mechanic fixing brakes goes by a relatively Digital framework, Remove Caliper, replace Pads, Drain fluid, oil pins, adjust springs, Possibly replace rotors, all very digital in nature. But a Patient, even oneself requires an analog approach, since People are not digitaly based. Medicine is more art than science in my opinion, once you master the basic skills, you rely on not only evidence based criteria, but also a Unique to the individual approach, hence one should not work on oneself, since emotions will play into the diagnosis, and mistakes are made! DuaneF |
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Re: Should doctors self prescribe?
posted at 10/1/2012 6:41 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 347
First: 17/12/2011 Last: 18/6/2013 |
Generally doctors should not prescribe for themselves and any narcotic prescribing for self or family is a definite No. There is a saying that 'the doctor who treats himsel has a fool for a patient'. I think that there should be a codicil that it depends if the Doctor treating himself is a better clinician that the other Doctor that he might see. |
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Re: Should doctors self prescribe?
posted at 10/1/2012 7:31 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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*Moderator*
Posts: 1492
First: 7/4/2011 Last: 18/6/2013 |
I was wondering how does the health service keep tabs on what is being self or family prescribed by doctors? It would be interesting to know... Is prescribing drugs in any way comparable to me for example taking stationery from work, or a mechanic taking some break pads from work? Is it different if the items taken are medication? What if the medication is taxpayer funded? Do staplers and break pads belong in a different realm? Medication may be of essential medical need and might be prescribed anyway but I suppose the problem people have with self prescribing is the danger the system gets abused or a doctor loses objectivity. |
