# Question about 2 stolen meds **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 31, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689 "2016-03-31T03:03:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elgringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@Elgringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elgringo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/1 "2016-03-31T03:03:25Z")
Well my mothers car was broken into an my meds were taken out of it an I still had afew sittin in my room but the bottles were in her car. She’s a flight attendant is back flying so her car isn’t here to examin. Would I be able to get a police report with this to show my doctor and pharmacy? One can be filled in like 10 days an 1 I just filled. Input appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/2 "2016-03-31T04:19:54Z")
what meds were they new account registered just now with only 1 post troll or drug addict leaving out the important details ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/3 "2016-03-31T04:43:15Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > troll or drug addict leaving out the important details **Moderator Warning** Accusations of trolling are not permitted outside the Pit. This is an official warning. Do not do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/4 "2016-03-31T04:44:48Z")
Since this involves legal and medical advice, let’s move it to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/5 "2016-03-31T05:53:25Z")
What’s the difference between having the drugs stolen or having them in you mom’s car which isn’t here to examine? Either way you don’t have your meds. At any rate, I doubt the police will corroborate your story with a report if they can’t examine the car. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/6 "2016-03-31T05:54:56Z")
How do you know your mother’s car was broken into if she’s not here? Did you go check her car to retrieve it? Why did you keep your medicine in her car if you knew you might need it before she got back? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/7 "2016-03-31T10:31:11Z")
I’d call my doctor, explain what had happened, then go to the pharmacy and pick up my medications. Right? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/8 "2016-03-31T10:35:44Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’d call my doctor, explain what had happened, then go to the pharmacy and pick up my medications. > > Right? Only if they have refills and aren’t on a schedule that disallows early refills. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/9 "2016-03-31T10:55:10Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Only if they have refills and aren’t on a schedule that disallows early refills. So if an epileptic has their anticonvulsant stolen they just have to deal with seizures? ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/10 "2016-03-31T12:45:45Z")
I imagine you could get replacements, but you probably need a better story that doesn’t have the dubious elements of: 1. The car isn’t here to look at. 2. Mom also isn’t available to talk to. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/11 "2016-03-31T13:01:33Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > So if an epileptic has their anticonvulsant stolen they just have to deal with seizures? Oddly enough, very few of my patients ever lost their seizure meds (unless they are barbiturates or benzodiazepines) or their antibiotics or their blood pressure or diabetic meds. It’s always their pain meds or sleep meds or some controlled substance or another that got stolen, spilled, eaten by the dog, rained on, accidentally given away, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/12 "2016-03-31T13:12:12Z")
I don’t know why they call them controlled substances. They’re forever getting lost or flushing themselves down the toilet by mistake. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/13 "2016-03-31T13:17:26Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’d call my doctor, explain what had happened, then go to the pharmacy and pick up my medications. > > Right? > [@elfkin477](#): > > Only if they have refills and aren’t on a schedule that disallows early refills. If your doctor believes you, I bet there’s a way to make an exception, especially for something you need to take regularly. > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Oddly enough, very few of my patients ever lost their seizure meds (unless they are barbiturates or benzodiazepines) or their antibiotics or their blood pressure or diabetic meds. > > It’s always their pain meds or sleep meds or some controlled substance or another that got stolen, spilled, eaten by the dog, rained on, accidentally given away, etc. To be fair, I bet pain meds are stolen more often than antibiotics. But yeah, I’m sure they are often “stolen” more often, too. I once lost a prescription of antibiotics. I forget the details, but I was traveling at the time. I called my doctor’s office and explained the problem. They said that my insurance wouldn’t pay for a second prescription, but they could give me one to fill on my dime. So that’s what I did. I needed less than 10 days of some cheap common antibiotic, and it cost me less than $10. Because people don’t tend to make up stories to get extra antibiotics, it was no trouble to convince the nurse practitioner I reached, who had never talked to me before, to give me a new scrip. I’ve also lost/misplaced my omeprazole, which I need to take daily, on more occasions than I can count. But I can buy a week’s worth of that OTC, so I’ve never troubled a doctor about it. It’s cheaper by prescription, but not enough cheaper to deal with the resulting paperwork for a lost scrip. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/14 "2016-03-31T13:24:58Z")
Surely your doctor knows your good character. His personal knowledge of you, your honesty, your integrity, and the fact this has never happened before, will let him, in good conscience have refills arranged directly. Especially since he alone knows how much you need these meds to get through your day. Why can’t your Mom phone the Dr and explain? I hear you can make phone calls from airplanes now! ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/15 "2016-03-31T13:27:10Z")
Is there a pool on when the OP will return. I’ll take never. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/16 "2016-03-31T13:35:50Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Oddly enough, very few of my patients ever lost their seizure meds (unless they are barbiturates or benzodiazepines) or their antibiotics or their blood pressure or diabetic meds. Never had someone forget to re-refrigerate their insulin and need to pick up another bottle? (A friend did this, leaving the bottle out of the cooler in her hot car)? ---
**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:** [March 31, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/17 "2016-03-31T15:34:13Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Never had someone forget to re-refrigerate their insulin and need to pick up another bottle? (A friend did this, leaving the bottle out of the cooler in her hot car)? Prescriptions do get misplaced, spilled, stolen, etc. There are protocols for handling what to do with reports that “my dog ate it”, or “it fell into the sink and broke” or “masked men broke into my house and took it” etc. But it’s the controlled substances that get reported as misplaced, spilled, broken, or ruined in some way, far, far more often than non-controlled ones. Even though the controlled ones are prescribed far less often. They’re also reported stolen more often too, which is less remarkable. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/18 "2016-03-31T15:50:18Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Prescriptions do get misplaced, spilled, stolen, etc. There are protocols for handling what to do with reports that “my dog ate it”, or “it fell into the sink and broke” or “masked men broke into my house and took it” etc. > > But it’s the controlled substances that get reported as misplaced, spilled, broken, or ruined in some way, far, far more often than non-controlled ones. Even though the controlled ones are prescribed far less often. > > They’re also reported stolen more often too, which is less remarkable. Yes, I understand. I just feel bad for the one-in-a-million honest spill. My sister is a nurse. She was asked to sign as a witness for another nurse who dropped a bottle of a narcotic. My sister refused, since she _didn’t really_ witness the accident, along with the fact that the nurse has dropped similar bottles many, many times. ---
**Author:** ![Corporal\_Clegg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Corporal\_Clegg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corporal_Clegg)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/19 "2016-03-31T16:09:20Z")
Doctors have to prescribe. Insurance probably won’t pay unless the dose is different. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689/20 "2016-03-31T18:15:18Z")
We had an employee whose suitcase had been lost on the way home from a business trip. He had (foolishly in my opinion) put his medications in the suitcase, rather than in his carryon. As a result, he suddenly had none of his four daily medications, one of which was a controlled substance. It took some hard negotiating, but we did get our insurer and their regulators to agree to issue him one dose per day of the controlled substance, but he had to make a trip to the ER and have it administered within sight of one of their staff. This continued for four days until his luggage was returned to him. They didn’t charge him full ER charges, but he was charged full rate per pill for the medications. The insurer wouldn’t pay for duplicates. While I definitely understand the potential for misuse and how tempting it may be to ‘oops, lost my opioids’ in hopes of getting an extra prescription, there are legitimate situations that occasionally happen. I don’t believe in punishing the patient with a chronic condition and a lengthy history of treatment with the same drug. It would not have hurt our insurer to allow this man 5 days dosage without putting him through the inconvenience and humiliation of going to the ER to be dosed and witnessed each day. The pendulum needs to swing back a bit in the rational direction. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-2-stolen-meds/750689.md?page=2)