doctor shopping


Psychiatry The visiting of multiple physicians, each time with a new symptom
Substance abuse The seeking of doctors who will prescribe opioids and opiates

doctor shopping

Psychiatry The visiting of multiple physicians, each time with a new symptom Substance abuse The seeking of doctors who will prescribe opioids and opiates. See Drug-seeking behavior.

doc·tor shop·ping

(dok'tŏr shop'ing) A practice in which patients go from one health care professional to one or more others so as to procure the diagnosis or therapy desired, rather than required, in the opinion of the first physician.

doctor shopping

A colloquial term for the unethical and illegal practice of seeking care from multiple health care providers for an illicit purpose (often, but not solely, to obtain prescriptions for controlled substances).