A database designed to identify and prevent doctor shopping is not being used by the majority of doctors and pharmacists in the state.
The New York Times reports former WIld hockey player Derek Boogaard got dozens or prescriptions for hundreds of pills from multiple doctors.
Boogaard overdosed on pain pills and alcohol in 2011.
Minnesota’s Prescription Monitoring Program is designed to identify and prevent doctor shopping but did not exist for the majority of Boogaard’s career in Minnesota. Even if it did, the program might noth have helped him.
Iraq War veteran Daniel Hanson appeared at a hearing on war veterans’ mental health care. He said in his testimony that he spent his disability check on “booze and strip clubs,” and that he might have received help earlier for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) if his disability pay had been contingent on his getting treatment for drug and alcohol abuse.
Situations like this are cropping up everywhere. Our service members are returning home after seeing horrific sights, with feelings of guilt and remorse, and not sure where to turn. Watch the C-Span video below for the complete story.
