1)Can all doctors write prescriptons (ie a medical examiner woudn’t really have any reason to, but can they)?
2)Are all doctors given a DEA number? I assume so, since off the top of my head I can’t think of any doctors (that see living patients) that wouldn’t have a reason to write scripts for controlled substances (benzos, amphetamines or pain killers)?
3)Can all doctors (that have DEA numbers) write presciptions for all controlled substances? (Say, can a psychiatirst write a script for Vicodin?)
4)When a doctor sees a patients for an abuse problem, do they write a scipt for the substance the person has a problem with? Let’s say a psychiatrist is seeing a patient that’s addicted to Vicodin. He’s currently taking 16 7.5/500 Vicodins per day (this would be the max amount of APAP he should be taking in a day with out the APAP causing liver problems) and he’s honestly is trying to get off them. Let’s say that he sees his doctor one day and says that he’s only got about 4 days of pills left and his only source just dried up. Can they legally/ethically write a scipt for them? At 120mg of hydrocodone per day, I would assume the patient would go into withdrawl. So can the doctor write the script to keep them from getting sick? (Again, assume the person is actually trying to quit is working with the doctor to get off them).
My addictionologist (psychiatrist) wrote me a prescription for oxycodone which was one of my drugs of choice on the day before I was to start detox.
He wrote me the script so that I wouldn’t go into heavy withdrawal symptoms. He did not write me for the amount of pills that I was used to taking, just enough to take the edge off and so that I wouldn’t get violently ill.
So yes, if you’re MD is working with you to actually get you off the meds and there is a good reason to write you the script for a limited time only, the they can certainly do so.
Good luck as you journey into recovery. Life is much better on this side.
Prescription drugs fall into various categories according to things such as their potential for abuse and whether or not they are experimental. In general physicians who keep up their active licenses will keep up their DEA numbers as well, even if it is just for the convenience of prescribing the occasional ordinary medicine to casual acquaintances.
Federal DEAs are separately applied for (from State licensures) and there are a range of categories for which a physician can apply. Not all physicians want or care about a license to supply the most controlled substances. A physician might have a DEA number that does not permit prescribing very controlled narcotics, for instance.
It would not be unusual for a treating physician to write a prescription for a habituating substance even if the patient is trying to ultimately get off that medicine. This might be for a “tide-you-over” situation or it might be in the context of a full pain-management contract where a patient is seeing a specialist who wants to help them minimize their use of the habituating substance.
In general the law does not practice medicine 
so it doesn’t really govern what or how much we can prescribe. There are standards of care of course, so if a physician is caught practicing outside the standard of care, what is usually in danger is her license to practice medicine and not formal legal consequences. Licensure disciplinary actions are undertaken within a formal process that has governance by medically-trained folks and not prosecutors. It is possible of course to practice so far outside what you are qualified to do that you overstep legal boundaries as well…not usually the case with just prescribing stuff to addicts unless your whole practice is a total sham.
As an aside, there are forms of hyrocodone and oxycodone that do not include so much acetaminophen, so the amount of acetaminophen does not become a limiting factor.
I had a feeling that was going to happen. I should clarify that I asked these questions out of curiosity (ignorance). I’m not addicted to pain killers.
That was one thing I was curious about. I assume what that means is that each DEA# is allowed to write certain scripts. So a doctor with a DEA# may be able to write a script for Tussinex (I’m going to guess that’s a CIII or CIV but not Adderall (CII?). That would make sense.
As for the Vicodin, I just used that example because, it was the first one that came to mind.
Sure. Even though a physician may not see patients directly, they still have to go through the usual training, which is four years of college, medical school, internship and residency. They also have to be licensed, which includes the authority to write prescriptions. They may never need to in the course of their practice, but they still can.
Robin
My bad… Very detailed questions for someone who’s just curious but whatever sparks your interest.
I know, I’ve been told about 150 times that I should be a pharmacist.
The first step is admitting you have a problem…
Chief Pedant. If you never hear it from anyone else, I appreciate your contributions to the board. Very sensible, very detailed, very professional.
Phew, I saw that the most recent post was from you and I got worried I (or someone else since I last checked) crossed a line.
I agree with you, it answered all my questions.