# Can Doctors prescribe themselves narcotics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 17, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068 "2006-06-17T15:41:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/1 "2006-06-17T15:41:55Z")
I’ve always wondered this. Can they do either ofthe following: 1. Treat themselves as their own patient? 2. Diagnose themselves with say…chronic pain and give themselves Percocet or something similar? ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/2 "2006-06-17T16:12:41Z")
If they do, they run the risk of losing their license to prescribe narcotics. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/3 "2006-06-17T16:18:04Z")
> [@diggleblop](#): > > 1. Treat themselves as their own patient? They not only can but sometimes do so. > [@](#): > > 1. Diagnose themselves with say…chronic pain and give themselves Percocet or something similar? They not only can but sometimes do so. There is a saying that Doctors that treat themselves have a fool for a patient. This is particulary true in case 2. as it all too frequently leads to addiction and harder drugs. Eventually it may result in a ruined career. ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/4 "2006-06-17T16:52:55Z")
ouch, conflicting answers. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/5 "2006-06-17T17:00:24Z")
Doctors also make the _worst_ patients. My mother and stepfather are doctors. They’ve both told me this about their patients, and observing them when ill also confirms it. ---
**Author:** ![gabriela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@gabriela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gabriela)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/6 "2006-06-17T17:51:00Z")
I have diagnosed myself wrongly a couple of times and boy, did I feel stupid. Also sick… ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/7 "2006-06-17T18:35:53Z")
QtM had an extensive reply to this some time ago, and IIRC self prescribing narcotics is a huge, license endangering no-no in almost all areas. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/8 "2006-06-17T20:07:46Z")
**spingears** , it’s illegal for a doctor to prescribe narcotics for himself in the US. Please don’t supply wrong answers to medical questions. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/9 "2006-06-17T20:10:04Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > **spingears** , it’s illegal for a doctor to prescribe narcotics for himself in the US. Please don’t supply wrong answers to medical questions. Can a doctor prescribe itself any drugs at all? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/10 "2006-06-17T20:10:07Z")
As for whether or not a doctor can treat himself, many do so at a low level. Warts, strep throat, and so forth. But if they try to collect from insurers for payment for treating themselves, they will end up running afoul of the law. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/11 "2006-06-17T20:11:16Z")
> [@Speaker for the Dead](#): > > Can a doctor prescribe itself any drugs at all? Yes. See this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=363410](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=363410) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/12 "2006-06-17T20:13:45Z")
> [@Speaker for the Dead](#): > > Can a doctor prescribe itself any drugs at all? Short answer: It’s discouraged by the AMA and other physician societies, but docs can prescribe **non-scheduled** drugs (scheduled: narcotics, anabolic steroids, etc) for themselves. ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/13 "2006-06-17T20:19:42Z")
THanks for the answer Qadgop the Mercotan ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/14 "2006-06-20T11:56:51Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > **spingears** , it’s illegal for a doctor to prescribe narcotics for himself in the US. Please don’t supply wrong answers to medical questions. It has been done in years long past, illegally, but done none the less done and filled by negligent pharmacists. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/15 "2006-06-20T12:07:13Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > It has been done in years long past, illegally, but done none the less done and filled by negligent pharmacists. True. But in cases like this “can” ordinarily does not imply “has the physical capacity to do so” – certainly **QtM** could pick up a pen and a prescription pad and write the particulars for a prescription for a narcotic – nor “has been known to happen, illegally” as your response indicates – but rather “is permitted to do so.” I.e., **QtM** might find himself in a situation where a patient requires the administration of narcotic drugs to be medically appropriate, and he is entitled to so prescribe (given his particular practice, this probably happens fairly rarely, but in the generic idea that he is a physician with patients, it’s a true statement). He is, however, not legally entitled to prescribe narcotics for himself. (I suspect a severely injured physician who is the sole M.D. at a medical establishment at the time might legally call for a single dose of a narcotic drug to be administered to himself, to alleviate pain until another physician can arrive and assume responsibility for treatment, but that’s one of those rare what-if situations.) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/16 "2006-06-20T13:43:02Z")
A follow-up question: Do physicians typically examine and treat their own spouses and children? I mean, obviously treating minor stuff like warts and strep-throat and all that I can imagine would be pretty routine. But do (male) doctors prescribe birth control for their wives and daughters? How about other issues that may require a more intimate exam? Also, can a female doc prescribe herself birth control? ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/17 "2006-06-20T13:59:36Z")
> [@diggleblop](#): > > I’ve always wondered this. Can they do either ofthe following: > > 1. Treat themselves as their own patient? > > 2. Diagnose themselves with say…chronic pain and give themselves Percocet or something similar? 1. Prescribe themselves a three-week cure in a thermal spa? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-prescribe-themselves-narcotics/361068/18 "2006-06-20T15:39:33Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > 1. Prescribe themselves a three-week cure in a thermal spa? 😃 I know that some docs do that favor to their chums ☹ (It’s covered by the insurance)