OT prescription law??

Will somebody with a cool head please try to explain pharmacy law to me? Last week I noticed that my blood pressure medication would run out on Christmas Day. I thought they would not like to make an emergency trip to the store so I called in the refill number. Well. I tried. The robot that answers their phone said it was to early to refill. Now. I really like that robot. He asks simple questions, I punch in the prescription number, the # sign when he gets it right and then I punch in what day and hour I am likely to appear to hand over my $s and get my pills. No problem. Works for me. Today I tried again. Gave up with reasoning with the robot and had to speak with a real pharmacist. I like them too. They know lots. Quite often, they know a heap more than our fine cardiologists do. The question is: What is it with filling a prescription too soon? Is the drug company or the insurance company going to declare bankruptcy if I mess up their regular schedule? Do they think I'm going to sit outside the Old Folks Home and peddle my pills to innocent old coots? What? This baffles me. It's not like I was taking really good stuff. It is only such a low dose that they don't make one and the smallest has to be chopped in half. Anyone understand this? Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther
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Because of having to refill my sons's ADHD meds, I have a bit of experience with this. If you get a 30 day supply of meds, insurance will not pay for a refill until there are only 4 or 5 days left. Don't ask me why, that's just the way it is. You might be able to speak face-to-face with a pharmacist and explain what the situation is and see if they can push it through..i've had to do that in the past and, while they don't like it, they can AND will do it (especially if it is a medicine that is a "required" med or maintenance med as opposed to a temporary med).

Hope that helps a little bit

Reply to
larisavann

Well, no. It doesn't have to do with insurance. I cancelled my prescription insurance more than a year ago after discovering that they did not cover my prescription. Not only that but the insurance company had the unmitigated gall to phone my doctor and attempt to persuade her that I would probably be okay with another medication. Grrrrrr. (But that's another issue entirely). I simply can not understand the pill counting vigilantes. I do wish they would worry about something truly important. Polly

"off kilter snipped-for-privacy@somwherequiet.net" wrote >> Will somebody with a cool head please try to explain pharmacy law to me?

Reply to
Polly Esther

Often times the pharmacist will "loan" you three days of medication to tide you over until the prescription refill will be covered by your insurance company. They are supposed to take the three day supplement from the refilled prescription when the refill is authorized but they sometimes forget and fill the full amount. I would definitely speak with face to face with the pharmacist.

Reply to
elspeth

I told my insurance company's mail order pharmacy to stick it and I pay for my own. The difference is a whole 12 dollars between the co-pay and what the prescription actually costs me for a 90 day supply. My local pharmacy more than makes up for the 12 bucks in service and convenience.

Reply to
Ms P

Polly, try calling your doctor. Maybe he/she will call in a separate, one-time-only prescription for you if you explain the problem.

Reply to
Sandy

Well then, it's probably just the computer robot thing. I would go in person and I'll bet they fill it.

Reply to
Ms P

LOL, Ms P. You're a woman after my own heart. Nobody with any sense at all would mess with a Queen of Scissors, especially when she said to 'stick it'. But, but . . . you see. Insurance is not involved. Since we know. You know. I know. Probably everybody with a internet connection knows - we can easily buy drugs from another country for a lower price, why in the @#$! is the FDA, EPO or somebody concerned if I refill a prescription 2 days early? Still baffled but loving the picture of your insurance company sticking it, Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

Well Polly, you lost me on the 'somebody with a cool head'. That usually isn't me. Did you ask the pharmacist for a clear explanation? Would it help if you had a 90 day batch instead of

30? Sorry I can't help except to feel your pain. Taria

Polly Esther wrote:

Reply to
Taria

Noooo, dear Taria. Don't feel any pain. The situation was easily resolved. It seems the pharmacy assistant was accustomed to counting 30 pills instead of 45 which would equal 90 days chopping the pills in half. The mistake was easily explained. I didn't even have to haul out the 'cold gray glare' or even lower my voice to a scary tone. I just remain puzzled as to why "It's the Law!" about when and how many pills can be dispensed if they are certainly not a Controlled Substance, popular on the party scene or even particularly interesting. Since our precious rctq group has incredible knowledge of all things, I was just wondering if anyone could explain this to me. I am capable of going to the local (well, . . . not very local) law library and researching it myself. Just was thinking someone knew the whys and therefores of this one. It could be so much worse. I could have an encumbrance lasting more than 36 hours and an overwhelming urge to gamble. Well. . . that's what the drug companies warn about on tv. Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

Since it's not an insurance issue, I have no idea what kind of regulation could be blocking your refill.

It's not like you are trying to refill something that would be worth money on the street.

The only thing I can think of is that maybe it has something to do with taking the prescription correctly and they don't want you to take too much.

But that doesn't make any sense either, because if you ran out too quickly because you're taking it wrong, the damage is already done.

Nope, don't have a clue. Sorry.

Wait - maybe the pharmacy thinks you file your own insurance claims. We do. But that should be the insurance company that balks directly about paying you back. Back a hundred years ago, I thought I'd be smart and get my whole years worth of birth control pills before the first of the year because my deductible was paid and I would get 80% back on my prescriptions. Whelp, the insurance company "caught on" and denied my claim. Gee, I bet nobody had ever tried that before me.

Cindy

Reply to
teleflora

There might be some old coots forgetful enough to think they hadn't taken enough of their pills, if they had too many at the wrong time of the month, who would OD and clutter up the emergency room. One rule fits all, and they probably aren't inclined to stretch it just because you are a rational person trying to make life smoother for everybody. Roberta in D

"Polly Esther" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com...

Reply to
Roberta Zollner

AFAIK, it's for "safety reasons" - and, I'm sure, liability reasons as well. One reason is that you need to be under a doctor's care ACTIVELY. If you have a condition that needs to be monitored regularly, and they give you a

90 day supply, who's to say that you'll drag your poor keister into Doc's office as often as you should? Who's to say that you won't go a little crazy and decide that you know better than the Doc and might give yourself a little bit more?

It's AFAIK, a law meant to prevent us silly sick people from "medicating" or dosing ourselves (since medicine here IS so cheap). If they only give you what you need to take, somehow you're not tempted to take a little more than you should.

I do know that not all meds will get bumped if you try to get the refill early ... heart meds, oh, yes indeedy, they get bumped and how! So does Warfarin (which I'm on) ... heart meds and anticoagulants *are* dangerous, even at low doses.

FTR, antibiotics, insulins, IV solutions, electrolytes except potassium, blood components and factors, and diagnostic drugs are eligible for early refill in most states.

BTDT ...

Hugs!! Connie :)

researching

Reply to
SewVeryCreative

Oh and forgot to mention ... most states allow the pharmacist to deny you certain meds if he thinks you're preggers.

Hugs!! Connie :)

Reply to
SewVeryCreative

I can understand if you had just picked up a 90 day supply the week before and you are back for another 90 day supply. But you're coming in a week before you run out. That does not seem unreasonable to me. I have no idea why they would not refill the prescription for you. My insurance forces me to do mail-order on meds that I take regularly; I have no problem ordering refills several weeks in advance. I have never had any trouble refilling at a local pharmacy a week or two before running out. So I don't think it's got anything to do with a federal regulation. It just does not seem reasonable to require you to wait until the last day to refill. What if it was not possible for you to get to the pharmacy on those days when they would permit a refill?

Julia in MN

Reply to
Julia in MN

So Polly m'dear, just why might that pharmacy robot have reason to think you might be preggers?

*extreme eyebrow waggle*

NightMist

Reply to
NightMist

I've run into a similar thing. According to the local pharmacy state law says they have to have a new prescription every three to six months, to show that you are under continuing care. So even though my doctor wrote out a year long prescription they couldn't fill it for me and I had to go get a new one.

Since the scripts were just for low dose asprin, and folic acid, the paharmacist grabbed a calculator and went over to the shelf with me to do the math to figure out how to get correct doasage on the folic acid at the best price, and I just got them out of pocket OTC. Folic acid takes math because it is usually sold OTC in micrograms, and I am supposed to take a milligram a day. I ended up with a decent multivitamin and a supplement, because of course they can't just sell the stuff in amounts that add up right for me.

NightMist had long since sworn off the statin the doc had prescribed, so was OK to take the multivitamin.

Reply to
NightMist

I wish I lived near you. Does your daughter realize how much fun you are? I hope so.

hahaha.....an encumbrance lasting more than 36 hours.... hahaha! Debra in VA See my quilts at

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Reply to
Debra

Many insurance companies now run closer. DH's company won't pay for a refill until he is completely out of a medicine. We have paid for a whole refill to get what he needed, but most pharmacists will work with you, especially when it is something like blood pressure, blood thinners, insulin, or other meds that would cause a risk to life if someone didn't have them over a holiday.

Polly, ask if you "can purchase a small amount to bridge the gap over the holiday." Debra in VA See my quilts at

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Reply to
Debra

Call your doctor and request the office call the pharmacy to expedite your refill. This situation makes no sense since not having the drug puts your life at risk. BP meds are not a drug that would need to be regulated because of getting hooked on it like many pain and mood elevating drugs. Debra in VA See my quilts at

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Reply to
Debra

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