Pain Contracts, Screening, and Prescription Databases

Pain Contracts, Screening, and Prescription Databases Addiction Drug Use Prescription Medications Print Pain Contracts, Screening, and Prescription Drug Databases By Trisha Torrey facebook twitter linkedin Trisha Torrey is a patient empowerment and advocacy consultant. She has written several books about patient advocacy and how to best navigate the healthcare system. Learn about our editorial policy Trisha Torrey Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on January 24, 2020 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on February 06, 2020 Hero Images / Getty Images More in Addiction Drug Use Prescription Medications Cocaine Heroin Marijuana Meth Ecstasy/MDMA Hallucinogens Opioids Alcohol Use Addictive Behaviors Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery If you believe you need pain relief in the form of a prescription pain drug like opioids or narcotics, you should be aware of the steps being taken by doctors, individual states, and provinces to determine which individuals do need pain drugs, how they manage the taking of those drugs, and whether or not theyre developing a substance use problem. Pain Contracts Some doctors now require people who are prescribed pain medications to sign pain contracts. The individual must read and agree to these contracts, or the doctor will not prescribe the pain-relieving drugs that the individual needs. The contract lays out the important points people must agree to, including statements like: I will not attempt to obtain drugs from any other source.I will not sell the drugs you prescribe for me.I will safeguard my prescription so it wont get stolen.I will agree to undergo screening tests to measure whether I am abusing pain drugs during the time I take them.I agree not to try to refill the prescription too early (which can mean that the individual is taking too much of the drug too fast). A final statement says that if they violate any of the points, the doctor will stop prescribing the meds for them, or will dismiss them from their practice. Its one reason people may be blackballed or blacklisted. You can find a sample pain contract  online. The use of these pain contracts is a point of contention among doctors, as they feel that asking people to sign such a contract violates doctor-patient trust. Doctors who use them anyway may appear to feel a bit embarrassed about asking people to sign these agreements, but they do use them because they feel that people need to know the problems that may develop through the use of the drugs,  and protect themselves from legal problems. Some doctors tell people that the government requires these contracts, but to date, no state, provincial or federal government  is requiring pain contracts. Theyre local to a specific doctors office or hospital. Urine Tests One way doctors can tell if people have either taken too much of an opioid drug  or have been compounding the drug with other substancesâ€"including other drugs, marijuana, or alcoholâ€"is to administer a urine test. If the urine test reflects only the drug that has been prescribed by the doctor, in an acceptable amount, then the individual has a better chance of continuing to work with the doctor, to receive the needed medication, to undergo another therapy to slowly stop taking the drug, or to relieve pain in another way. On the other hand, if other substances or too much of the prescribed medication is found in the urine, the doctor may dismiss the individual or simply refuse to write a new pain drug prescription. Not all urine tests are able to determine the exact amounts of opioids in your system. There are stories about people who have gone to the emergency room for problems that may or may not reflect the pain meds they take, who are then prescribed new pain relievers in the ER. They learn later that their regular doctor, who has been helping them with pain over time will, as described above, learn about the additional drugs from a urine test, then refuse to treat them further. Statewide Databases More than three dozen states and seven provinces in Canada have established databases to help track opioid and narcotic drug prescriptions. These databases track when doctors prescribe these drugs, when pharmacies dispense these medications, and when people have their prescriptions filled. When people see their doctor, and the possibility exists for writing them a pain-relieving drug prescription, the doctor will be able to access the database to be sure that people are not attempting to doctor shop in order to amass more prescription drugs than they are legally or medically entitled to or that may pose an overdose risk. Discussions are underway to make sharing this information possible across state lines so people cannot go doctor shopping in other states. While many people are upset that such a database violates their privacy, there are actually important reasons to support the use of this kind of tool. Doctors will be able to more confidently prescribe drugs for those who need them, at appropriate times, with less fear that they can get in legal trouble.When emergency room personnel can access such a database, people who go to the ER will be less likely to be prescribed drugs that can conflict with the pain drugs they already take. Or, those same people will be less likely to be dismissed by their regular doctors if theyve been to the ER for some other reason (see urine testing above).Many people continue to take pain-relieving drugs when they think they are dependent on them, even when they are not. People who are capable of being weaned off these drugs will be compelled to do so, even when they think its impossible. Doctors will have complete information about their patients pain drug history, including prescriptions written by other doctors, prior to their relationship with the individual. The US Dept of Justice/ Drug Enforcement Administration maintains a list of which states are using what kinds of tools to control narcotic and opioid drug abuse. As time goes on, the laws may be tightened even further, and it may become more difficult for people to obtain the drugs they want and need for controlling their pain.