doctor shopping

American  

[dok-ter shop-ing] / ˈdɒk tər ˌʃɒp ɪŋ /

noun

1. 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.

2. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of doctor shopping

First recorded in 1930–35