Rules complicate drug prescription
Dear Dr. Roach: I recently read your comments to the patient who had taken tramadol for many years safely, but had a new physician unwilling to prescribe it. Many states have implemented new rules and guidelines regarding the prescribing of any controlled substance to help with the opiate overdose epidemic.
These rules greatly reduce the number of days and number of prescriptions that can be written. Physicians are required to check databases before prescribing. There are specific rules regarding patient follow-ups. I suspect that a chronic cough is not an allowed condition to warrant long-term opiate use. A number of physicians are now afraid of board actions and losing their license if they do not comply.
P.K.
Answer: I have empathy for physicians who are genuinely worried about losing their licenses. I also understand that there have been many instances in which medical providers have been complicit in overprescribing opiates, and that has a large factor in the current epidemic of prescription drug abuse.
The rules on prescribing opiates have been put in place to reduce unnecessary overprescribing. On the other hand, I am extremely unwilling to fail to give a patient in pain appropriate treatment for their pain.
I have to follow those rules myself and look up EVERY controlled prescription in the database, but we physicians still have latitude on what we prescribe. Failing to do what we think is right due to fear about implications is a terrible situation. If we don’t fight inappropriate restrictions on our professional judgment, we as a profession are in big trouble.
In the case of tramadol for chronic cough, there are several published case reports providing an evidence base for this treatment. Before prescribing an opiate for any reason, a prescriber must identify people who may be at risk of substance misuse or abuse, and consider the benefits and risks of long-term opiate treatment. If their judgement is that risk of harm is low, treatment is appropriate — but so is ongoing re-evaluation.