# Can I get in trouble writing prescriptions for myself? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 19, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-get-in-trouble-writing-prescriptions-for-myself/240827 "2004-04-19T14:21:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-get-in-trouble-writing-prescriptions-for-myself/240827/41 "2004-04-21T14:35:37Z")
Sorry for the gratuitous bump. I don’t have anything relavent to the OP to add. I have come to defer to certain posters on certain matters. Medical issues I defer to QTM, Legal issues I defer to Bricker. But it kills me to think that \*\*Choosybeggar \*\* may have missed my apology for accidentally misspelling his name. I really don’t want people to think I have reverted to my previous rude and snotty style. So I reiterate, one more time, when I addressed \*\*Choosybeggar \*\* a couple of posts back as **Cheesybeggar** , it was just a stupid typo. Again, I apologize. I will not waste any more of your time be repeating this mea culpa, I just hope the right people see it. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-get-in-trouble-writing-prescriptions-for-myself/240827/42 "2004-04-21T17:12:19Z")
I wouldn’t worry about the apology, **askeptic**. People tend to check back in on their own threads, no matter how buried they’ve gotten. If the OP’s a resident, he’s most likely just busy and hasn’t had a chance to pop in yet. As for self-prescribing, it would seem quite foolish in most cases, regardless of the legalities. If you’re writing refills on maintainance meds, it would make as much or more sense to call your doctor and ask them spot you some refills till you can make it in. Doctors are willing to do that with most patients and meds, and they’d certainly be willing to cut you some slack due to the scheduling horror that is residency. Birth control pills should be scripted out by whoever’s doing your Pap and pelvic, and if you’re scripting for your own, that tells me you’re not getting your annual exams done. Bad medicine, right there. Even worse medicine is trying to self-treat stuff that’s outside the realm of your expertise. You’re a dermatologist. Let’s face it, you basically know dick about the subtleties of internal medicine or gynecology. I wouldn’t let you renew my meds (even temporarily) any more than I would let **Dr.J** evaluate a suspicious mole. He’s an internist, and he’ll flat-out tell you he knows dick about dermatology. I wouldn’t have trusted either of your opinions on the possibly septic joint I had last fall. It would have been bad medicine for either of you to even attempt to treat it, and it would have the height of foolishness for me to allow either you to make such an attempt. In other words, even if you’re not going to be arrested, or lose your license or priveleges, there’s just no benefit, so why even bother? ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-get-in-trouble-writing-prescriptions-for-myself/240827/43 "2004-04-21T17:20:27Z")
Of course, if it’s stuff you think you’d be comfortable scripting for yourself, how come you’re not just raiding the sample cabinet? It’s the same thing, except you’re eliminating the hassle and cost of going to the pharmacy. ---
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-get-in-trouble-writing-prescriptions-for-myself/240827/44 "2004-04-22T00:34:24Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Sorry for the gratuitous bump. I don’t have anything relavent to the OP to add. I have come to defer to certain posters on certain matters. Medical issues I defer to QTM, Legal issues I defer to Bricker. > > But it kills me to think that \*\*Choosybeggar \*\* may have missed my apology for accidentally misspelling his name. I really don’t want people to think I have reverted to my previous rude and snotty style. So I reiterate, one more time, when I addressed \*\*Choosybeggar \*\* a couple of posts back as **Cheesybeggar** , it was just a stupid typo. Again, I apologize. > > I will not waste any more of your time be repeating this mea culpa, I just hope the right people see it. Not to worry. I figured it was a typo. I enjoyed it, actually. It reminded me of a favorite old [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=76466) ---
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-get-in-trouble-writing-prescriptions-for-myself/240827/45 "2004-06-27T12:37:42Z")
A couple of months later and I’ve adopted two principles. 1. Let a colleague write prescription for you, if necessary. 2. Document any prescrition written as a result of a non-professional (out of office) consultation. Hopefully these are reasonable pricinples under which to practice. ---
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-get-in-trouble-writing-prescriptions-for-myself/240827/46 "2004-06-27T12:56:55Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > I wouldn’t worry about the apology, **askeptic**. People tend to check back in on their own threads, no matter how buried they’ve gotten. If the OP’s a resident, he’s most likely just busy and hasn’t had a chance to pop in yet. > > As for self-prescribing, it would seem quite foolish in most cases, regardless of the legalities. If you’re writing refills on maintainance meds, it would make as much or more sense to call your doctor and ask them spot you some refills till you can make it in. Doctors are willing to do that with most patients and meds, and they’d certainly be willing to cut you some slack due to the scheduling horror that is residency. Birth control pills should be scripted out by whoever’s doing your Pap and pelvic, and if you’re scripting for your own, that tells me you’re not getting your annual exams done. Bad medicine, right there. > > Even worse medicine is trying to self-treat stuff that’s outside the realm of your expertise. You’re a dermatologist. Let’s face it, you basically know dick about the subtleties of internal medicine or gynecology. I wouldn’t let you renew my meds (even temporarily) any more than I would let **Dr.J** evaluate a suspicious mole. He’s an internist, and he’ll flat-out tell you he knows dick about dermatology. I wouldn’t have trusted either of your opinions on the possibly septic joint I had last fall. It would have been bad medicine for either of you to even attempt to treat it, and it would have the height of foolishness for me to allow either you to make such an attempt. > > In other words, even if you’re not going to be arrested, or lose your license or priveleges, there’s just no benefit, so why even bother? I disagree with you. Most of the self-prescribing I’d do is for 1. renewal of medications prescribed by another practitioner for me or 2. medications within my sphere of practice (which you may find surprisingly broad). You mention point #1. But there’s a clear benefit to this; convenience. What if it’s Saturday, you’re pet allergic and have ED, and your S.O. (a furry) comes over for some fun. How would you ever get the [zyrtec](http://www.zyrtec.com/) and the [cialis](http://www.cialis.com/anon/index.jsp)? Equating my prescribing (theoretically) cholesterol-lowering medications to making treatment recommendations for a septic joint is silly. ---
**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 27, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-get-in-trouble-writing-prescriptions-for-myself/240827/47 "2004-06-27T14:23:25Z")
> [@choosybeggar](#): > > I disagree with you. Most of the self-prescribing I’d do is for > > 1. renewal of medications prescribed by another practitioner for me or > > 2. medications within my sphere of practice (which you may find surprisingly broad). I agree with point number 1, as long as circumstances haven’t changed since the original prescription, and that one continues with routine follow-up with their physician. Point number 2 can get a bit tricky, even if things are withone one’s sphere of practice. I’d go ahead and get myself some halogenated steroids for a nasty dermatitis, but I would _not_ start giving myself methotrexate or cyclosporine for a troublesome psoriasis, even tho I have done that for patients. For me, I must remember that I cannot be as objective with myself as with my patients. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-get-in-trouble-writing-prescriptions-for-myself/240827/48 "2004-06-27T17:16:17Z")
Can anyone cite even one criminal prosecution in the US involving a doctor self-prescribing drugs that were not controlled substances? The OP wrote before “I’m thinking legal, not ethical.” I would be surprised if a prosecutor would even consider bothering with a case of self-prescription unless it was for controlled substances. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-get-in-trouble-writing-prescriptions-for-myself/240827.md?page=2)