Does your family Doctor make you take a Drug test?

Robert59 said:
My new doctor wants me to take a drug test twice a year. I been to many past doctors and never had to take a drug test till now. And this doctor wants to do a random pill count twice a year.
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Get rid of him and get a new doctor, life is too short to abide craziness.
 

Kaila said:
I think random pill count, just means that they might check your meds, when you are there in the office, for your appointments.

They want you to bring all your meds with you, and so then, if they want to, they can check them to be certain their patients are taking them as prescribed, and not any other way.

It isn't that unusual or terrible, that they ask you to bring them with you, and that they can check the containers, if they want to.
And they are letting patients know beforehand, that they might do that.

Not that big a deal. Patients sometimes do make mistakes in how they are taking them, or they do develop med problems. This way, the doctors can monitor and keep up with any possible problems, if they happen.
They are dispensing lots of serious meds, and paying attention to the results of their scripts. Not terrible.

And worth it, if this doctor is helpful for his patient's medical conditions, and prescribes what Robert needs.

The drug tests, too, might become less often, later on, if the doctor sees they aren't needed, then. The doc might have multiple reasons for doing these things.

Again, it's more important for Robert to have a doctor, now and ongoing.
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Yes, what Kaila said, plus, certain meds are on the Controlled Substances list. If you're taking any of those, your doctor is obligated to monitor levels of the substance in your blood. It's called a "Med Review" and it's normal practice. Mainly they want to be sure your liver is handling it okay. I only have a med review annually now, but if I complain about over-fatigue or fuzzy-headedness or memory loss, anything like that, a med review is done right away just to make sure I'm not gradually over-dosing.
 

Robert59 said:
I will try this doctor out. The only drug I take sometimes is my Diabetic foot pain medicine which is Gabapentin 100 mgs 3 times a day. My friend that lives with me takes this drug also and she one day took 800 mgs all at once because of her real bad pain in her feet. Found out that some people take up to 2400 mgs a day.
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I tried Gabapentin but it made me sleepy, and I was only prescribed 300mg every 6 hours. My doc reduced it to 100mg three times a day but it still made me sleepy. I guess I'm sensitive to it.
 
I take a mild narcotic and yes I have to give a urine sample once a year plus a blood test. I also have to sign a paper submitting to whatever the hell they want, pill counts, pharmacy checks, the first degree, etc. because they don't want me overdosing on Tylenol #3, or worse, try selling it on the street.
 
Where I live, it is not easy, and sometimes not possible, to just get another doctor.
Even though my area does have plenty of doctors, most do not accept new patients, and when they do, they have all sorts of rules and policies, some much more difficult and unreasonable than this.

Sometimes, we need to have a doctor to renew meds, and to order any needed ongoing tests and meds, and to do the necessary things, for our illnesses, even though we don't agree with, or like, everything about them.
 
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Kaila said:
Where I live, it is not easy, and sometimes not possible, to just get another doctor.
Even though my area does have plenty of doctors, most do not accept new patients, and when they do, they have all sorts of rules and policies, some much more difficult and unreasonable than this.

Sometimes, we need to have a doctor to renew meds, and to order any needed ongoing tests and meds, and to do the necessary things, for our illnesses, even though we don't agree with, or like, everything about them.
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My clinic that I'm leaving did nothing about testing for drugs.
 
Considering the number of drug-addicted doctors, if a doctor asked me to take a drug test, I'd ask him to take one.
 
Robert59 said:
My clinic that I'm leaving did nothing about testing for drugs.
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Yes, But since you cannot go back there, you need to find a new one, that will accept you as a patient, and schedule you soon enough.
And, any new one will have some different routines.

If you can find a different new one, that will give you an appointment soon,
and if you think you'd like that one better, then that's good, you could do that instead.
:)
 
Pain management doctors routinely require urine tests, and most pill count the controlled substances every month. The details vary by state, but it is what it is. Our PCP has us doing blood/urine tests once a quarter, but it is no a drug screen.
 
Aneeda72 said:
Yes it is!! The pain doctors all require this-random pill counts, blood tests etc.
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This might be in the process of becoming an increasingly common routine, and perhaps will be done in more different types of doctors and medical practices, as well.
 
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