pill mill
3
8.9
- noun
- /pɪl mɪl/
- NSFW
:
clínica de pastillas
- Authorities are cracking down on pill mills that prescribe opioid medications without legitimate medical justification.
- shut down several pill mills
- clinics where doctors prescribe
- call them pill mills
We there were pill mills all over my Congressional District.
- We there were pill mills all over my Congressional District.
- And I saw pill mills develop in that area that were exploiting people, condemning them to death.
Examples
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So please, tell me how this clinic is a pill mill?
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I'm just wondering if the pharmacists' concern about pill mills isn't profit motivated as well.
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You know how many "pill mills" they shut down?
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We there were pill mills all over my Congressional District.
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And tell me, pharmacist, what do you have against a pill mill?
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If it smells and looks like a pill mill, then it must be a pill mill.
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Your concern about seeing pill mills shut down is touching, but misplaced.
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If the prescriptions were written without a legitimate medical purpose, that makes your operation a pill mill.
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The reason is that the cash-only, no insurance pill mill business model that you operated will not function in those environments.
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You say "any place" that prescribes Oxycodone is a pill mill?
Blog text (4)
How Illegal
- NSFW
36
4.6
- Literature
263
7.2
- NSFW
3
8.9
91
6.5
964
2.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'pill mill' is partially transparent: a learner who knows 'pill' and 'mill' can infer a place associated with pills (a facility that produces or dispenses them), so the basic locative/commercial sense is accessible. However, the specialized sense—an illicit or profit-driven clinic that irresponsibly prescribes controlled substances—is a metaphorical/pejorative extension of 'mill' (like 'diploma mill') and is not fully predictable without prior exposure, making it only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The phrase pill mill compares a clinic to a 'mill' that turns out lots of pills like a factory. So it means a place that gives many prescriptions, often 'to make money' or 'without real need'.