Hydromorphone - The Law

The Law

Hydromorphone is a Schedule II controlled substance, overseen by the DEA. It is illegal to possess the drug without a valid prescription from a licensed physician. Doctors face possible legal sanctions if they over-prescribe painkillers to their patients. Although doctors are allowed to assess each individual case, many tend to be very conservative when treating pain. The illegal abuse of hydromorphone has made it more difficult for truly needy patients to obtain it.

Once a patient has received a prescription, it is illegal to alter that prescription—for instance, to change a "30" to a "300" by adding a zero. In 2004, a thirty-seven-year-old woman was caught altering a Dilaudid prescription that she received from a doctor in Tampa, Florida. Her bail was set at $10,000.

"Doctor Shopping" and Pharmaceutical Theft

It is also illegal to "doctor shop." Patients who doctor shop typically move from physician to physician, reporting the same symptoms to each doctor. They receive the same prescriptions from each doctor. Of course, the doctors do not know that the patient has already seen someone else and received a prescription for the same complaint. Doctors, too, have been arrested for running "pill mills." This occurs when doctors prescribe painkillers to patients with vague symptoms, no X rays or other evidence of the reported pain, or feeble reasons for seeking more medicine, such as having lost the first prescription.

The DEA reported in 2004 that robberies of pharmacies, hospitals, and nursing homes were on the rise. In some cases, thieves have posed as safety inspectors or other hospital personnel in attempts to snatch pharmaceuticals. In 2005, strangers entered a hospital under false pretenses and the incident was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a possible terrorist attack. Needless to say, theft of prescription drugs carries very serious penalties, usually including jail time.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

In 2005 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a pilot tracking program for the most addictive prescription painkillers, including Palladone. The new system, called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), places a small tracking tag on each individual bottle of pills. The electronic tag can be scanned as the bottle of medicine moves from the factory where it is made, to the package it is shipped in, to the pharmacy where it will be sold, and ultimately to the legal consumer. Acting FDA commissioner Lester Crawford told the Chain Drug Review: "These actions are designed with one goal in mind: to increase the safety of medications consumers receive by creating the capacity to track a drug from the manufacturer all the way to the pharmacy."

Penalties for illegal use and sale of hydromorphone vary from state to state and become more severe for each repeat offense. The burden of keeping illegal hydromorphone off the black marketThe illegal sale or trade of goods; drug dealers are said to carry out their business on the 'black market.' falls on the federal government, doctors, nurses, hospital staff, and ultimately patients who really need it.