Spousal Support

I'm trying to think of a safe way to present what happened two nights ago. It involves a husband and wife, and both of them are prescribers of some sort. I don't want to give anyone away, so I won't say if they are doctors, nurse practitioners, dentists or physician assistants either retired or actively practicing. How's that? Because I work in several different towns, I won't disclose the location either.

Anyway, a guy (who is a prescriber of some sort, either retired or in active practice) brought a written prescription for himself. It was for Percocet, and it was written and signed by his wife. Do you think that's legal/ethical? I won't have you ponder that one for too long, and I'll just tell ya...it's not! There are a few instances where it's sort of okay. For example, if there is an emergency, and if it occurs isolatedly (it should be a word) then it's not totally unethical. We paged the fellow back so we could break the news to him about not being able to fill the prescription. While I awaited his return from a far corner of the store, I checked his profile and noticed that his wife had prescribed several other controlled substances for him over the past year or so, so we haven't been paying attention to these shenanigans as well as we should have. All of that made this seem like less of an isolated emergency. Most, if not all, prescribers should know that it's naughty to prescribe such things for a family member, let alone a spouse.

Once the gentleman returned to the pharmacy, I explained to him that I was unable to fill his prescription. He immediately called his wife and shoved the phone in my face, demanding that I speak to her. I don't usually talk on a patient's cell phone, but if this prescriber feels he's above the rules, then maybe I should feel that way too? Okay, so I talked to his wife and explained that maybe, perhaps, it wasn't a good idea to have to her name attached to so many controlled prescriptions for her husband, and I also reminded her that her husband signed a contract with a pain clinic stating he'd only do one-stop shopping with regard to his Percocet, so it's pretty bad to break that contract. She seemed grateful for my intervention in the matter, and I returned the written prescription to her husband at her request. As I was handing it over, he YANKED the paper out of my hands, walked over to the garbage can, ripped up the prescription with dramatic body movements and stomped out. Classy.