My wife is being falsely accused of falsifying a prescription. She is absolutely innocent, but the situation is complicated and her doctor's office manager is blatantly trying to get her into trouble.
My wife has a condition that requires the use of pain medication. Her doctor is an octogenarian who is quite forgetful (we've had to go back to his office for him to correct mistakes or blank spaces on her script in the past). He usually writes her a script containing three medications, one of which is Norco: a pain medication containing hydrocodone. He always circles 5 refills for the Norco.
Last month, while writing her script, he forgot to add one of the three medications, however, he did write down the Norco with 5 refills. When my wife discovered that he'd forgotten one of the meds, she went back to his office. He asked for the script back, and wrote a new one containing the three meds, however, this time he forgot to circle the 5 refills. When my wife was about to hand in the script at the pharmacy, she noticed his blunder, and stupidly circled the "5" refills herself. The pharmacy faxed a copy of the script back to the Dr.'s office for confirmation, and the office manager (let's call her "Sue), who had a run in with my wife a few months ago, noticed the discrepancy and notified the Dr. who mailed my wife a letter informing her of what she'd done, and giving her until the 15th of December to find another physician. We went to the Dr.'s office to rectify the situation, but Sue would not let us see him, and admitted in front of me that the Dr. had indeed forgotten to circle the 5, but that he was sensitive to this sort of thing, and would terminate her regardless. She said this sort of thing happens all the time with patients, and they terminate them without pursuing any legal action. We accepted this, and left the office.
Cut to Thursday, when I went to pick up the last refill on a previous script that the Dr. had written. When I approached the pharmacist's window and asked to pick up the meds, I was approached by two police officers who said the pharmacy had contacted the Dr.'s office, and had been informed that there were no refills on that script and that it had been falsified! The cops questioned me for an hour, going as far as frisking me and searching my car, and saying they'd investigate this.
Upon returning home my wife called the Dr.'s office to resolve the matter, as this script was completely kosher and had been issued a couple months before, and we'd picked up the previous refills with no problem. To our shock, Sue claimed she had the copy in front of her, and it showed no refills! She went on to call my wife a fraud and gloatingly tell her that she was in for a world of trouble. I ABSOLUTELY believe my wife when she says she did not alter the script, and the only way this Sue (who I'm beginning to suspect of being a psychopath) can prove her point is by altering or destroying their copy. Since my wife is not allowed to see this Dr. anymore, I've scheduled an appointment with him for Tuesday, during which I want to explain the situation to him, and ask him to review the records himself as his office manager is suspect. I'm hoping he gives me a chance and doesn't refuse to discuss it or kick me out. In any case, I'm absolutely positive their copy of the script will show the 5 refills (unless it's been altered, which should be detectable anyway). This Sue just finally found an innocent yet dumb act on the part of my wife, and is now trying to extend it to the other script and make her life hell around Christmas. Everything I've written is the absolute truth, and I just want to know what recourse we have. Thank you very much for any suggestions or hints, and I'm sorry for being so longwinded.
(Incidentally, almost every script the Dr. has written her in the past has the same three meds, with 5 refills for the Norco)
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Second, don't communicate with the doctor or his office manager verbally, but by letter - preferably certified - and keep a copy. Or, better, have the lawyer do it. Describe everything that happened, including the prior ugliness between your wife and his office manager; be completely honest and admit that your wife just assumed that since "No refills" wasn't circled, that he'd meant to circle "5" as usual.
You could tell him you've sent a copy to whatever office regulates medical professionals where you are, but that might just make it more likely that he'll back up his office manager, so I think you should hold off. But do include copies of all the previous prescriptions - this will show that you're prepared to make your case.
And, find another doctor.
posted by nicwolff at 11:55 PM on December 25, 2005