Can my friend be arrested for this...

[hmmm]

What is the name of your state? Kansas

I have a friend who is a Military Veteran, he has a medical condition that keeps him in pain. He recieves a 30 day supply of controlled substance type pain killers from tthe VA every month which he eats in about 10 days. He then goes to a private doctor and gets more, then to med-assist type places for even more. Hes not selling it, hes taking it. Can he be arrested for this?

 

[Veronica1228]

What is the name of your state? Kansas

I have a friend who is a Military Veteran, he has a medical condition that keeps him in pain. He recieves a 30 day supply of controlled substance type pain killers from tthe VA every month which he eats in about 10 days. He then goes to a private doctor and gets more, then to med-assist type places for even more. Hes not selling it, hes taking it. Can he be arrested for this?

I don't believe so since it sounds like he has valid prescriptions, but as his friend you should be very concerned about his dependency on these pain pills. Someone who is in so much pain that they need 3x the normal amount of pain pills then the average person should be in a nursing facility or something similar.

If you have the ability to do so, let his doctor at the VA know what is going on. You friend needs help. He is an addict.

 

[hmmm]

I know hes an addict, and i cant make him get help, which he needs badly, I read about Rush Libaugh (spelling?) getting arrested for Doctor Shopping, which he is basically doing the same thing, i dont want to find my friend dead on the floor one morning. I thought maybe if it was an arrestable offense i could turn him in then he would have no choice but to get help

 

[CdwJava]

It would be very dependent upon state laws. He might be able to be arrested for this. If he is falsifying information to his doctors and thus fraudulently receiving the medication, there might be an applicable code section he could be charged with. Chances are he wouldn't be, but it IS possible.

Unfortunately, this is common. And with things like claims of "pain", there is no way to verify the veracity of the patient's claims so many doctors will just issue the medication based upon the patient's claim of need. Unfortunately, many of these folks will either die or become seriously messed up as they have to take an ever-increasing supply of the meds to maintain an even keel.

Its deadly and dangerous, and will lead to additional self-destructive behavior if not checked.

I see it every flippin' day.

- Carl