Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Physician Is Among Those Indicted in Phony Prescription Scheme

A Detroit-area physician is among the clinicians indicted in an alleged scheme to overprescribe numerous commonly abused drugs. Asm Akter Ahmed, MD has already been stripped of his license to practice medicine based on charges that he wrote prescriptions destined for four co-conspiring pharmacists, who then fraudulently billed Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield for the medications—some of which were never even dispensed. The estimated cost of the operation, which ran from 2011 through …

Beware: Opiate Prescriptions Are Under Extra Scrutiny

No-see opiate prescriptions have cost an urgent care physician in Burlington County, NJ his medical license—which he willfully surrendered in order to avoid paying penalties and fees totaling over $127,000. The state had already suspended his license temporarily after accusing him of prescribing narcotic pain medications to patients he didn’t examine over a 5-year period. If he violates the consent order he agreed to, he will have to pay the money immediately and face additional …

Amazon is Licensed as a Wholesale Pharmacy Distributor in a Dozen States

Though they’ll need to acquire additional licensure before they can start shipping prescription drugs to customers, Amazon has been licensed as a wholesale pharmacy distributor in 12 states. Regulators in Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, and Tennessee have all given their blessing. Obviously, this has raised conjecture that the virtual retail giant has big plans to make a name for itself in healthcare delivery. Analysts say …

FDA’s Gottlieb Wants More Rigorous Standards for Prescribing Opiates

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD says his agency needs to do more to help stem the opioid-addiction epidemic in the United Sates. For starters, he wants the FDA to impose stricter guidelines for prescribing immediate-release opioid drugs. The first step will be for the agency to expand training for physicians, nurses, and other providers who administer immediate-release opioids. While there is already training available, the FDA says it will now broaden information …

Be Wary of ‘Prescription Inflation’ When Treating New Patients

Patients who read (or, maybe more likely, see an online or television commercial) about “new” disorders whose descriptions may apply to them could be inclined to run off to the urgent care center for immediate evaluation, even if there’s nothing urgent about their condition. Diagnoses that didn’t even exist or were seldom made a decade ago (eg, adult ADHD, low testosterone) are now being described in breathless detail. Even recognized disease states like diabetes continue …

CDC Offers More Guidance on Antibiotic Use in Outpatient Settings

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been very active in pushing for more responsible antibiotic prescribing lately. Now they’ve issued more formal direction in the form of guidelines for antibiotic prescribing in outpatient settings, offering four stewardship “pillars” for prescribers to follow. CDC’s Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship, published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), recommends that outpatient facilities like urgent care centers demonstrate dedication to and accountability for optimizing …