Doctor-shopper’s death sparks renewed warning over pregabalin
Three different GPs had prescribed the drug with repeats to the 37-year-old man, heard the Coroners Court of Victoria
A Victorian coroner has added her voice to warnings about pregabalin misuse, after finding a man in his 30s died from combined drug toxicity after receiving scripts from three different GPs.
The known doctor-shopper was prescribed 560 tablets of 300mg pregabalin by three GPs in less than three months, equivalent to 5.3 tablets per day, according to coroner’s findings published this week.
While none of the GPs had prescribed excessively the case added to concerns about pregabalin misuse, the coroner found.
The 37-year-old patient’s drug abuse problems began after he was prescribed oxycodone for a work-related back injury about 17 years before his death and included obtaining illicit fentanyl.
