In case opiophobic Pharmacists need another reason

[Pharmacist.steve]

DEA Policy Hurting Pain Patients, Pharmacies
NCPA has asked the Drug Enforcement Administration to clarify a new policy that has resulted in some independent pharmacies having their supplies of controlled substances being limited or cut off by *********rs.
NCPA said “perhaps the key factor in *********rs acting over-broadly” is a Dec. 27 letter DEA sent to *********rs and the manufacturers of controlled substances.

“In the letter, the DEA states that the registrant is to inform the local DEA division office of suspicious orders ‘when discovered’ by the registrant. The registrant is also told not to rely on ‘rigid formulas’ to determine whether an order is suspicious. Finally, the DEA disavows any past communication it has made that implicitly or explicitly ‘could be construed as approval of a particular system for reporting suspicious orders.’”

In a March 7 letter to Joseph T. Rannazzisi, deputy assistant administrator of DEA, NCPA Executive Vice President & CEO Bruce T. Roberts, RPh, said: “In the face of such sweeping, non-specific, directives, and also recent DEA closures of *********r distribution centers in Florida and Washington, it is no surprise that our members report overly-broad, uneven and punitive actions by various *********rs. These actions have included limiting orders, enlisting a quota system based on the quantity of certain C-II and C-III medications ordered, and even closing the pharmacy’s account.”

This has resulted in some patients with valid prescriptions for pain relief being unable to fill them.

As of March 17, no reply had been received

[Peter B]

I wish I could say that this surprises me. The DEA is right on par with the IRS as far as usurping the constitution. These agencies feel no compunction to adhere to rights of people, or in this case, corporations.

Steve, what does NCPA stand for?

Pete

[Pharmacist.steve]

NCPA = National Community Pharmacist Assoc - whose members are predominately independent community pharmacists - owners & employees

Then there is NACDS = National Assoc of Chain Drug Stores .. whose members are mostly the chains themselves - not their Pharmacist employees

Then there is APHA = American Pharmacists Assoc .. which is the oldest national Pharmacy assoc and has members across all practice settings.

These are the three national MAJORS ... there are bunches of national assoc that represents specialities within pharmacy

[Nana4&cntn]

The whole system has screwed up patient contracts as we are to use one pharmacy, but that pharmacy is out or refuses to fill the script. So we go to another pharmacy. I do not have a contract with my Doc, but I do ask the pharmacist to give me a written reason for not filling a C11. I never want my physician to question my reasons for going to another pharmacy. I wish the DEA and all GOV agencies to get their acts together.

just my 2 cents
Kathy

[Pharmacist.steve]

The whole system has screwed up patient contracts as we are to use one pharmacy, but that pharmacy is out or refuses to fill the script. So we go to another pharmacy. I do not have a contract with my Doc, but I do ask the pharmacist to give me a written reason for not filling a C11. I never want my physician to question my reasons for going to another pharmacy. I wish the DEA and all GOV agencies to get their acts together.

just my 2 cents
Kathy

I don't know how the big chains work .. but .. Monday - Thursday, I can get C-II's the next day... and most independent community pharmacies should be able to do the same.

Here is what I would do - under your circumstances - talk to the PIC (Pharmacist in Charge) and ask how many days it takes for them to order/get in C-II's...

Ask if you give them that many days notice that you will be bringing in a Rx for a particular C-II's that you will have his/her assurance that it will be on hand... and you can get your Rx filled...

If the answer to either is vague or "I don't know" or "I can't"... then I would let your doc know what is going on... maybe this particular pharmacy deserves to fill - none of this doc's Rxs.. I have known docs to taking a disliking to a particular pharmacy and will discourage their patients from going there...

If it a chain .. you can always call corporate and put pressure on the pharmacy from above. If corporate seems un-concerned.. you could write a few letters to the editors and/or local news media..

Your constitutional rights (freedom of speech ) allows you to tell YOUR SIDE OF THE STORY...

Corporate pharmacy doesn't like this type of publicity .. particularly since you can be categorized as disabled.. the media loves to point out how corporate America "beats up on " the old and disabled..

Torture is a real "hot topic" right now .. is unjustifiably refusing to fill a valid Rx for a C-II pain med ... a form of TORTURE??? Might be a interesting to get a news reporter to latch on to this question!

You can file a complaint with the Pharmacy board... the boards are starting to take very seriously Pharmacists refusing to fill valid Rxs because of their own personal beliefs or phobias. I can assure you that if the Pharmacy Board makes the Pharmacist appear before the board.. it will get their attention. AND it will most likely get the attention of a LOT OF PHARMACISTS in the state.

http://www.nabp.net/ here is the link to the National Assoc Boards of Pharmacies - they have links to the various state boards and most state boards have complaint forms on their websites

There are a few too many Pharmacists that IMO oversteps their authority and lets their personal beliefs or phobias get in the way of doing their job - as provided and/or limited BY LAW... and like most BULLIES .. they pick on the people who are mentally/physically challenged.

If I can be of help to SMACK them around a little... be more than happy to...

[Mark N]

Steve, thanks for keeping me up to date with this. Not much I can do about it but it is nice to know what is going on.

[Nana4&cntn]

Thank you so much Steve, I have been dealing with this problem with a large chain store. Now I have the info to give em hell. There is really just one Pharmacist who will refuse to take the script. Now he will get his day to explain himself.

Thanks again Steve,;)
Kathy

[Pike]

Thanks for the heads up.

On very rare occasions I may be shorted a few MSContins but the pharmacy gets them quickly, they have perhaps 6 pharmacies around the state so I assume they get it from another store.

I was also thinking about the pharmacies that provide medicine for nursing homes could possibly be better at keeping an ample and wide range of meds over pharmacies that only do retail but I have nothing more than intuition to lead to this assumption.

Again, thanks for the good information you provide.

Pike