http://goo.gl/2SGkKz
The research found that 20.8 percent of patients sought prescription pain medications from multiple providers. When compared to patients who continued to receive prescriptions and care from a single provider, the "doctor shoppers":
- Used narcotics four times longer than single provider patients (112 days versus 28 days).
- Obtained a median of seven narcotic prescriptions compared to two prescriptions for single provider patients.
- Had a higher morphine equivalent dose (MED) of narcotics each day (43 milligrams versus 26 milligrams).
- Were 4.5 times more likely to seek out an additional provider if they had a history of preoperative narcotic use.