The DEA is coming after your drugs.

[Pharmacist.steve]

Here is a post on another blog that explains a lot
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the DEA has apparently started to establish a arbitrary limit on the number of doses of control drugs that a pharmacy can order... Is the particular post above.. this is a independent pharmacist that was dedicated to serving the chronic pain community... going to great lengths to make sure that only legit patients were provided medication.. The DEA - thru the *********r that serves this pharmacy .. has been cut off all deliveries of control meds...

It appears that the DEA is targeting only community pharmacies... those in hospitals or that serves nursing homes... are exempt - at least for now - of any DEA interference ...

There is nothing to believe that the DEA will not continue to lower these arbitrary limits per pharmacy... over time.. if this has not impacted you yet.. there is a good chance that it will affect you in the near future..

The chronic pain community needs to stand up.. I know.. your pain is zapping your mental and physical abilities... but you - or your family/friends... needs to stand up and speak up.. if you are being directly affected.. contact the local media... tell your story... how the DEA is basically - indirectly - practicing medicine - in reverse - denying care...

[alex44]

Pharmacist Steve - This scares me to death. I HOPE that since my pharmacy is associated with the Doc. I See that it will not happen. It is a Medicaid pharmacy so who knows and a Medicaid Dr. - Both in one Bldg/Clinic - then again we could be sitting ducks. I hope that I am old enough to see this thru. The people I feel the worst for are our VETS. (Yes, I served and get better care from Medicaid) our kids have been to h... and back and the VA well, I won't go there - the crap they want to put you thru....
Hope this finds everyone as well as they can be.
Blessings to all
Alex44
Skypilot

[Mark N]

Steve, each story it seems as if CP patients needs are not considered when the DEA acts. The mentality is wrong that #1 priority should be to stop prescription pain medication abuse. These medications exist because we live lives that need these medicines to function. Each of us needs to stand up and do what we can to fight against these policies. In my case the best I can do is email my Senators and Representative but if enough people do they will listen.

[tortoisegirl]

Things are starting to get crazy again here. My pharmacy had a new rule start last week where they verify each Schedule II pain med prescription with the doctor, as well as require diagnosis codes. I went to fill a rx today. My doctor is closed on Fridays and Mondays, so I might have to wait until Tuesday!

The head pharmacist was out today but they said they would call me tomorrow. They are a great pharmacy and the tech seemed embarrassed to have to be following the rule and turn me away. I'm in there at least once a week and I've never had issues, unlike every other pharmacy. They also basically said they are getting investigated for filling the amount of scripts like this they do.

Its ridiculous that now the DEA has figured out they can't go after all the doctors, they will go after the pharmacies, either frustrating the doctors out of prescribing, or frustrating the patients out of filling the script.

I had diagnosis codes on a past prescription, but the doctor didn't do it for this one. I have enough meds until Tuesday, but I'm afraid if my doctor found out I could go that late in filling my script, he would ask questions. I figure going to another pharmacy wouldn't be of much help as they are likely to have the same rule, plus then I'd have to tell my doctor I used another pharmacy (and get my script back, which can actually be tough from my prior experience).

I'm annoyed, but it could be worse (I could not get any pain meds, or I could go into withdrawal due to the delay). Best wishes.

[tortoisegirl]

Update: I got really lucky. The pharmacist in charge made an exception as my doctor was closed. She said she would just call when they opened up again, and filled the prescription. Also, she clarified that if the diagnosis codes were on the prescription they wouldn't need to call. It probably helped that I have been going there for years and am always nice to them.

I'm annoyed my doctor wrote them on my prescriptions last month but not this month. Close call! I hope I won't run into issues with these new limits / investigations on pharmacy pain med filling quantities.

It still wasn't a pleasant pharmacy trip as the one med my insurance doesn't cover (Ritalin) almost doubled in cost since they had to order a different generic brand. Since the manager had left for the day, they couldn't price match (since its Schedule II). I wasn't about to make 3 trips in 3 days now that this pharmacy is out of the way for me, so I paid for it and plan to look into the cost at other pharmacies. Crazy how much med prices vary. Best wishes.

[Eva 14]

Kate, glad things worked out for you. Steve, thanks for posting this info. I've been hearing about these "limits" since late last year.

My local chain pharmacy is no longer able to order injectable pain meds NOR are they able to get the full quantity on my dilaudid suppositories. I've been going there for years and used to be able to get ALL my meds there every month. I still fill my Exalgo and other non-C-II meds there, but suddenly they need to verify with my doctor AND make a photocopy of my driver's license EVERY single time I fill my Exalgo script! Crazy. (I think they only needed to call my doctor the first time, but they do need to make a photocopy of my driver's license EVERY single time).

Since my local pharmacy can no longer order my dilaudid injectable or my dilaudid suppositories, I'm forced to go to the ONLY indy pharmacy that is near me. Unfortunately, this indy pharmacy is chaotic and they keep getting things mixed up.

The owner pharmacist is nice, but one of the other pharmacists who works there is very rude. She questions my dose, insists on calling my doctor, glares at me like I'm a drug addict, refused to order one of my meds and didn't inform me, etc. She seems to be looking for reasons NOT to fill my script. I've never been treated this badly by a pharmacist before. The pharmacists at my chain store are wonderful compared to her!

There's a great indy pharmacy 30 miles away near my doctor's office, but I can't drive 60 miles round-trip every 28 days. They are organized, professional, and treat me very well. (Patient Internet reviews are 5 stars). Unfortuantely, I'm stuck with only ONE local indy pharmacy, which is very disorganized. I dread having to deal with the rude pharmacist. (Patient Internet reviews for my local indy are one or two stars, so I'm not the only person having problems).

The DEA is making my life hell. I'm now forced to drive out of my way to an indy pharmacy that I do not like, just to get two of my meds.

My sympathies to anyone else who is experiencing these problems. I think a lot of CPer's are being adversly affected by these insane new DEA policies.

Eva