doctor shopping
Americannoun
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the act or practice of illegally obtaining prescriptions for a controlled substance from more than one healthcare practitioner at a time, concealing from each the fact that one is doing so.
Doctor shopping and prescription forgery are common methods of prescription drug abuse.
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the process of visiting one physician after another in search of a satisfactory one or a particular outcome.
I did some doctor shopping before deciding on the plastic surgeon recommended by a friend.
She had to do a lot of doctor shopping, as it was very hard to get a diagnosis for her rare symptoms.
Etymology
Origin of doctor shopping
First recorded in 1930–35
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They may require help getting out of bed, taking a shower or going to the bathroom; getting to the doctor; shopping for groceries or making meals.
From New York Times ● Dec. 2, 2023
Cui Yang, a 31-year-old doctor shopping for a Tesla in Beijing after the recent price cut, said he was won over by "the minimalist interior style and tech feeling".
From Reuters ● Feb. 13, 2023
His staff collected online posts in which parents skeptical of vaccines discussed doctor shopping for medical exemptions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2019
We’ve linked our medical providers into our pharmacy system to slow doctor shopping and for the first time we’re registering pharmacy technicians.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 4, 2017
The woman was later found to be "doctor shopping."
From US News ● Sep. 27, 2016
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
