Health ministry of republic of moldova the university of medicine and pharmacy nicolae testemiţanu

The “drug seeker”. 
Some patients are difficult to manage because 
they’ve become dependent on pain medication or another controlled 
substance. Often, these patients have a legitimate medical condition and 
are experiencing discomfort. Unfortunately, they become relentless in 
their pursuit of stronger drugs.
“Some patients will go to great lengths to get them from you and 
others,” says Welters. “I had one patient who went from hospital to hos-
pital saying she wasn’t getting pain medication or anti-anxiety medica-
tion or sleeping pills from her physician. Ultimately, she started forging 
her own prescriptions.”
The angry patient. 
If you’ve been in practice for any amount of 
time, you’ve no doubt experienced the angry patient who walks in with a 
chip on her/his shoulder and untenable expectations on her/his mind. 
She/he finds fault with the medical profession in general and, often, with 

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you, personally. “It’s important to keep your cool under any 
circumstance, but these are the ones who really test that,” says Wolf. 
“They say things like, ‘You’re late. What kind of care is this? I don’t 
know why I’m here; you can’t fix me anyway.’’ 
What works? Let the person vent briefly. Then follow up with a 
comment, such as, “I can see you’re very angry.” This sort of reflective 
response counts with these patients because it legitimizes their feelings. 
Often, adds Wolf, these are patients who feel impotent either in life or in 
the doctor-patient relationship. You can help to re-empower them. “Tell 
them, what you really want to do is work together to address their health 
concern,” says Wolf. “Let them know that they’re the one who 
ultimately makes the call on whether or not they choose to take the 
medication you prescribe. If you allow them to choose it on their own, 
they’ll choose it.”