I'm currently watching season 3 of House M.D. and I'm a bit confused. He tries to get Vicodin from his coworkers and even visits an external doc but since he is a doc himself why doesn't he prescribe Vicodin for his own use?
2 Answers
House is not allowed to self-prescribe. It is not clear if this is all doctors or just Cuddy's restriction on House, but this is the case. This can be seen a few seasons later when House has to ask Wilson for a legitimate prescription.
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1This appears to be the case after season 3 (pace Tritter) but it doesn't explain why he's stealing vicodin from his patients as early as season one. There's also the impression given in one of the episodes that his addiction began before his leg injury.user7812– user78122016-01-05 00:09:33 +00:00Commented Jan 5, 2016 at 0:09
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2"it doesn't explain why he's stealing vicodin from his patients as early as season one". Yes it does. House does actually have an addiction, and therefore he sneakily gets a few extra pills (so as to hide it from whoever writes his prescription and therefore hiding the addiction). At this point (S1), House has not yet gotten to a point where the addiction drives him or derails his life; but he is addicted nonetheless.Flater– Flater2017-07-03 09:59:25 +00:00Commented Jul 3, 2017 at 9:59
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2"There's also the impression given in one of the episodes that his addiction began before his leg injury" House never took Vicodin until the leg injury. However, House's personality (tortured genius) is very prone to seeking out extreme things. This manifests as addictions, but not just substance addiction. House's need for puzzles and being clever is as much a psychological addiction as his Vicodin is. It just so happens that the Vicodin also has a physical addiction on top of the psychological one. House has always had an addictive personality, not a Vicodin addiction.Flater– Flater2017-07-03 10:02:06 +00:00Commented Jul 3, 2017 at 10:02
The show is set in New Jersey in the year 2004 onward. NJ laws (mirroring various Federal laws) prohibit doctors from self-prescribing narcotics. Note that Vicodin was considered to be a Schedule III 'controlled substance' at that time.
"Controlled substance" means a drug classified in any of the schedules (I through V) of the Controlled Dangerous Substances Act, N.J.S.A. 24:21-5 to N.J.S.A. 24:21-8.1, recognized to have a potential for abuse or to lead to physical or psychological dependence.
An individual practitioner may administer or dispense directly a controlled substance listed in Schedule III, IV, or V in the course of his or her professional practice.
Since Dr. House isn't his own patient, it follows that prescribing his own medication can't be part of his "professional practice", which is why he needs to steal it from patients (where he's prescribed it to them as part of his professional practice as a doctor) or scam other doctors into prescribing it to him.
unethicalby the American Medical Association (under Opinion 8.19) exceptIn emergency settings or isolated settings where there is no other qualified physician available, but I can't find much information on what this actually means. The AMA FAQ makes it sound like the doctor has to be a member of the AMA (only 30% of US doctors are) and that someone else in the AMA would have to complain about it, and then it could be investigated and their membership could be suspended, but that doesn't seem to mean anything more than being barred from joining a union ...Except in emergencies, it is not appropriate for physicians to write prescriptions for controlled substances for themselves or immediate family members. Both of these suggest to me that it's not illegal (at least at a federal level), but I'll wait and see if anyone else can find out more.