just had a pharmacy 'decline' to fill my prescription

i cant believe it. i have never had this happen before.
a little background.
i have crps. i take roxicodone 30 miligrams for it.
now i have been getting the same prescription from the same doctor for almost 3 years. i get it filled at the same place and i dont have any issues with getting it filled there but i am getting tired of their service and decided i want to change pharmacies. the pharmacist that has been there for almost this entire 3 years left for some reason or another and the service has gone way down. my wait time used to be like 15 minutes. now i will wait an hour or more every time. there are always new faces there so they dont know me and are not familiar with my meds so it just takes longer. the last time i was there i got upset at the wait cause there was only 2 people working so i asked the guy what the deal was and he said they just hired a couple people but their background check had not come back as of yet so they can not handle the medicine at all. i didnt like the sound of that so that was like final straw for me. time to move on.
i know people at the pharmacies automatically freak when they see a prescription like that. i know better than to call and try to get info over the phone.
first thing i did was call my doc and tell them i was going to switch. no problem.
i took y actual prescription to the new pharmacy and told them i wanted to switch to them and would it be a problem. the said no worries. i was one day early so i dropped it off and she said it will be ready next day.
im at work the next day and i get a call from them. they want to know why i take the roxicodone. they want to know what my diagnosis is. i think it is strange but i tell them.
after i tell them they say they have to call the doctor and get the diagnosis codes. i hung up and called the doc and told them to expect a call. she said she already talked to them like an hour before and gave them the codes but had no problem talking to them again.
about a half hour went by and the pharmacist called me back and said she did not feel comfortable filling that prescription because she did not know that much about my condition. she said if the other place has no problem filling it then to keep taking it to them.

i couldnt believe it. i called my wife and had her go get my prescription from them and take it back to the old place.

i dont get it though.
how is is possible they can do this? it is basically overriding the doctor imo.
i dont get how they can refuse to fill it especially since they called the doc and got my diagnosis and the codes.

anyone have any experience with this?

It sounds like that doctor has been black listed from that pharmacy. It probably has nothing to do with you. It happens all the time in ky. Was the older pharmacy that you used to go to a 'mom and pop' pharm? And is this new pharmacy a big chain i.e. Walgreens, cvs, or etc?

Big pharmacies will black list pain management docs, and will refuse to fill any prescriptions from them.

The only other thing I can think of is that the new pharm doesn't stock generics. Because all roxi's are technically generic. But, that shouldn't be the case.

Either way, stick with the old pharmacy. Relationships are important and so are familiar faces. And it sounds like the new pharmacy has stereotyped either you or your doc.

I've never had this happen to me, but I do know pharmacists can be weird or judgmental. I read a yelp review about someone who went to by some cold or allergy medicine that was locked in a case. The reviewer said the pharmacist wouldn't sell them the medicine and accused the reviewer of wanting the medicine to make meth.
I also read a review where someone was shorted the amount of their meds.
Hope you find a good pharmacy!

originally posted by: SheepDipped
It sounds like that doctor has been black listed from that pharmacy. It probably has nothing to do with you. It happens all the time in ky. Was the older pharmacy that you used to go to a 'mom and pop' pharm? And is this new pharmacy a big chain i.e. Walgreens, cvs, or etc?

Big pharmacies will black list pain management docs, and will refuse to fill any prescriptions from them.

The only other thing I can think of is that the new pharm doesn't stock generics. Because all roxi's are technically generic. But, that shouldn't be the case.

Either way, stick with the old pharmacy. Relationships are important and so are familiar faces. And it sounds like the new pharmacy has stereotyped either you or your doc.

neither was a mom and pop.
i suppose my doc being 'black listed' is a possibility but i dont see how.
she is a respected doc with a private practice in a respected hospital. i can not imagine how that is even a possibility.
old and new place was a chain store.
no reason i come up with in my head makes sense to me.

one of the main reasons why i stayed where i am for so long is the relationships i had their. i knew the pharmacy and the tech that used to help me by face and name. they knew me the same way. first name basis. friendly all the time.
a couple months ago the tech left and then the pharmacist left as well and the service has gone down and none of the people there know me now.

i suppose i could buy the stereotype thing but why didnt they just tell me the first day when i brought it in the script that they couldnt fill it?
she said it would not be a problem but all of a sudden the next day it was an issue.

either way i went back to the old place and got it filled and will continue to do so but im a bit bothered by this.
i dont like the fact that a pharmacy can just decide for whatever reasons not to fill a persons medication.
not cool

a reply to: peppycat

my pharmacy was great up till a couple months ago.
pharmacists name was josephine and she was awesome. i miss her
im just going to stay with them since ive been going there so long.
was just more curious really to see if anyone has had this happen to them.

bunch of # really that they can do that to a person but oh well.

a reply to: TinySickTears

I have had pharmacists come up with excuses not to fill certain prescriptions, especially opioids. There are some that are quite judgmental, or in their eyes you don't appear to require x dosage of x medicine, so they won't fill it.

I have had this happen to me before, and it resulted in the pharmacist in question being reprimanded by the state for noncompliance. We all deal with enough crap in our lives that to have to put up with this kind of bullspit. If he doesn't want to do the job he was hired to do, he should find another line of work.

First of all, any time a Pharmacist asks why I need my pain meds, I stare them in the eye and say "Because my Doctor and I agree I need them" and that's all I tell them. It's none of their damn business and I refuse to justify my need for them to anyone.
Using a lack of knowledge is a BS excuse for not filling your prescription. If it was a med for treating the condition it's one thing, but to say that and it's only meds to help with the pain from the condition is another.

I know just how you feel. I'm in Florida and go to the best and most well respected PM doctor in the treasure coast The National Pain Institute Doctor Afong, they dont just give out meds, they do physical therapy, injections, water therapy, ect. After 7 years of going to the same pharmacy right across the street they told me this would be the last time they would fill. The medication was opana 40mg 2x and xanax 1mg 3x daily. The reason they could not fill it anymore is there new policy is they cannot fill only controlled substances, if I had another script of ibuprofen to go with it the could fill it, makes no sense. 7 years, I know every single person in that place on an almost personal level. Fortunately my doc added another med to resolve the problem.

Another issue down here in Florida is medications like your roxicodone or anything "short acting" will only be filled for 3 months by big chain stores. After 3 months they require you to switch to a "long acting" med such as oxycottin, opana, ect. That is bs its the doctors and your decision on what controls your pain the best.

My friends sister is a pharmacist at cvs and she has told me they can decline anybody they want for any reason they want. If they think you dont look like you need pain meds they will not fill. Over the past 2 years its gotten out of hand and its complete bs. Alot of addict's have made it extremely difficult for people with serious and real problems to fill.

I have multiple sclerosis, fractured right hip in past never healed right, 2 bulging disks in the l spine, just recently in July survived an explosion and being air lifted to Miami and going into cardiac arrest in flight scarred lungs and gallbladder has to be removed not to mention my anxiety disorder. And yet somebody can look at me in my eyes and just by that determine my pain level and whether they will fill my meds or not.

Sorry for what your going through my pharmacy went from 15 minutes to 2 hours over the years. Sorry for the rant but I've had that built up inside for some time. Thank you for this thread and letting me get that out. S+F

a reply to: Boscowashisnamo

Amen, sick of these wannabe gatekeepers.


Wanna F with people for taking merch? Go be a security guard, damn pill jockey.

a reply to: TinySickTears

This is the result of an idiot pharmacist that has a control freak issue. You are not required to tell them anything at all about your condition or what the diagnosis is. Don't tell them anything. The prescription is the only document or information that they are legally obligated to honor.

This is also the result in part to the DEA fear that all drug suppliers have been exposed to, so in the end you get these retards who think they have the power and authority to play FDA, Doctor, and DEA agent all at the same time.

I would say that you could file a complaint, but in the end, the pharmacy will just say they used discretion. They can do that. They blacklist pain management doctors like somebody else mentioned. Though it seems weird, actually having a continued Rx with the same doctor at the same strength is a "red flag" for chains like CVS or Walgreen. Another flag is changing pharmacies. I don't think it is right because it was a valid, verified Rx...but they can refuse within reason.

There ARE other rules if you have certified disabilities and they denied to fill though. In that case, report them and they can get fined.

On the one hand, you have stories like this, and on the other we have a prescription drug problem that leads to a heroine epidemic and pharmacists are all too aware of it.

I can see where it's hard to walk that fine line.

Sounds like discrimination and a possible violation of the ADA to me.

This might help.

How to file complaints if patient is being denied having a valid/on time control substance prescriptions.

If patient is disabled - as determined by SS/Medicare or private insurance disability insurance the patient is covered under ADA (American Disabilities Act). Having Chronic pain itself, may qualify a person as covered by ADA The ADA parallels the Civil Rights Act of 1964. People who are disabled cannot be discriminated against because of their disabilities.

If a Pharmacist refuses to fill a valid/on time control substance prescription for reasons other than doing so would harm the patient.. because the patient is allergic to the medication, medication would adversely interact with other medications the patient is taking, or the prescribed dose is above recommended dosing. Although some specialists can and do prescribed above normal doses for a patient and it is perfectly legal.

www.pharmaciststeve.com...

a reply to: TinySickTears

That specific medication and strength has to be logged in a national database each time its filled. That makes a lot of pharmacists nervous with new patients (due to all the sketchy pain clinics). Therefore it is always up to the Pharmacist on duty as to whether or not to fill the Rx. Its their license on the line.

You can thank the Federal Government and DEA for that. Sorry you have to deal with that, but it all stems from the War on Drugs.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

Here's the dilemma - At some point, people seem to have lost the fortitude to not get hooked on their painkillers. I can't think we haven't been taking painkillers or that opiodes have changed all that much, so I think culturally, we have lost our ability to endure pain to some degree or have gained a belief that we should experience no pain at all and this has led us to get hooked on our medications in larger degrees than in times past.

And when we get hooked on our medications, we start eroding our ability to take care of ourselves, and with a nanny state that subsidizes so much of your life now ... well, the government starts to intrude and try to make all facets of your life its business.

a reply to: ketsuko

I agree with you to an extent.

There was a time long ago in the US, when morphine was sold OTC. Some people ODed, some people became functioning addicts, and some were wise enough to avoid drugs or use them as a last resort. That is how things should have stayed. Freedom has a way of sorting people out: freedom to live or die, succeed or fail.

With a regulated controlled substance system, we become slaves to the government.

I would think severe CRPS justifies moderate treatment with C-II drugs, but I also understand that the Pharmacists can very quickly and easily face felony charges and license revokation for filling a seemingly legitimately written Rx.

Its not the Patient's fault, the Pharmacist's fault, or the Prescriber. The only one at fault here is the federal government that is standing in the way of persuit of happiness and quality of life.

originally posted by: NoCorruptionAllowed
a reply to: TinySickTears

This is the result of an idiot pharmacist that has a control freak issue. You are not required to tell them anything at all about your condition or what the diagnosis is. Don't tell them anything. The prescription is the only document or information that they are legally obligated to honor.

This is also the result in part to the DEA fear that all drug suppliers have been exposed to, so in the end you get these retards who think they have the power and authority to play FDA, Doctor, and DEA agent all at the same time.

A pharmacists isn't legally obligated to fill any Rx. They are however legally obligated to abide by state/federal laws, DEA/FDA/EPA regulations, Third Party Audits and Board of Pharmacy regulations. So take that into consideration before you pass judgement.

I'm disabled from a car accident in 1983, and suffer horrible chronic pain. I, too, am under the care of a respected Pain Management doctor. Every year I have to sign a contract stating that, among other things like monthly drug tests, I'll use one pharmacy to fill my pain meds. I absolutely hate it when they change pharmacists! It's always difficult for me to "train" the new personnel (haha!). On one hand, I get why there are so many hoops to jump through due to Rx abuse, but I wish there was better training in order to help the people who really need the meds. I'm on two different Class 2 opioids that I have to take just to be able to walk, or even stand up. I can only fill them every 30 days, and only with a paper script. If the pharmacy screws up and doesn't order them, or fills someone else's Rx, I have no cushion to fall back on. It can be a nightmare. My husband has had to go up the management chain of CVS just to get a new pharmacist to fill them.

Once, a trainee asked me that very question - "why did I need them" while I was at the counter with other customers around me. He was jacked up so fast by the managing pharmacist that he didn't know what hit him. My guess (after all this TMI) is that you got a brand new pharmacist. They have been so indoctrinated in school to watch out for abusers that they fail to see when a legitimate script comes in. And, you DO NOT have to tell them a reason why you take the meds.

Good luck, and hope it gets easier for you!

Make an appointment w your DR, talk to him.