I watched that vid. Here's another that has more of the dea response, saying they don't set limits on a pharmacy's filling prescriptions.
http://www.wptv.com/money/consumer/pill-mill-crackdown-having-unintended-consequences-for-pain-patients-who-cant-get-pain-pills

I don't see this leading to any changes. Hope I'm wrong. It seems more like something to shut people and the media up for a while. The state will blame the feds and the feds will blame the state and the drs and patients are stuck in the middle

I got a msg on my Facebook from my Daughter in law this morning, they had tried to pass a Law there that in order for anyone to get any type of Welfare (food stamps, WIC, medicaid, etc.) you had to pass a Drug Screen. Well that lasted a whole 2 months I think and it was overturned as being Unconstitutional. It struck me when I read this post. Florida is such a hot bed of drug smuggling, and illegal drug use, and drug scams.....it just doesn't seem to stop, no matter what the Authorities try to do to get things under control and legal.

The pharmacies have gotten to where they keep very little amounts of narcotics on site because they get tired of being robbed, so the people who really need the meds suffer. It seems like the Board of Pharmacy needs to get their butts in gear and come up with some type of Ordering System for Chronic Pain patients. It wouldn't be that difficult, all CP patients get their meds on the same date each month. In stead of dispersing all these "high theft value" drugs to pharmacies, it just makes sense to have some type of Dispensary where you could pre-order your meds straight from your Dr.'s office, and perhaps they would even be waiting at your Dr.'s office the day of your appointment to be picked up.

I'm not trying to ramble on....there just has to be a better way for CP'ers in Florida to get the meds they need without having to go through so many hoops.

If there was a nurse in the Dr.'s offices whose job it was to order the patients narcotic scripts each day, they could place the orders "X" days prior to your appointment and then send them home with you on the day of your appointment. No having to find a pharmacy that has the meds, no fighting with Pharmacists whether they think you need them, no confusion...... Or perhaps all CP patients could pick their narcotics up from Hospital Pharmacies...

There has to be a solution to this problem.....

I.don't see drs adding to something that isn't their job, which I can understand.

The drug screens for social programs has been tried in several states without success. Like all drug screens if you has a valid rx for a Med you tested positive for, there was no problem.

I have two dear friends that lost a family member during the robbery of their drug store a number of yrs back. I feel for the pharmacists that fear for their life. But the pharmacists that are control freaks are another matter.

I know its just one of the weird pipe dream type solutions that run around in my brain...I just wish there was a solution that was workable.

The was things are in Florida right now you couldn't pay me to live there, Seth has a Cousin in Miami and it's just insane. Pharmacies get broken into on a regular basis and the police are just like "oh another one, take the notes, wrap it up, lets get on with other things..." it's so pathetic that they are getting desensitized to something that is a serious situation.

It's frustrating...and it' going to take something completely awful like a child getting killed or something for an kind of change to be made, and that's just not okay....

Sorry I got off on this rant, it just its me and there's no solution because the people who should be making the solution won't get off their butts and do something about it. Just major frustrating.

I am in Florida and it is a nightmare. Going from one store to another trying to get a script refilled is more than irritating. For awhile I did get some of the meds from the manufacturer. Those meds where sent to my doctor, where I did pick them up.

Some of the pharmacies will only allow so many pills per store. Other's will only sell to customers that have been with them for a few years. My main pharmacy will not even carry any type of narcotic.

I do hope they come up with something logical, this is unfair to the many CP and other legitimate clients.

RJ,

Is there a hospital close to you, where you might be able to get scripts filled there? I know not everyone lives close to a Hospital.

OCP

Walking up to a hospital pharmacy isn't an option where I live. Many, many yrs ago before stores were open 24/7 you could if you had a rx that you needed to take before the she stores opened. The friends that lost the family member in the pharmacy robbery always told me they would open up to fill a rx in the middle of the night if we needed them to. But, I never had to call them. And with 6 kids, that was a Miracle & a Blessing.

I wonder.The pharmacies near me have thousands of dollars retail merchandise/ cigarettes/ alcohol...maybe they just don't make profit from pain meds?

I hate to be cynical but in the US money is the only thing counts to most businesses nowadays- not customer service or quality of care.

If it were profitable pharmacies would be pushing pain pills, even if they needed a full-time security guard.

And frankly it would be easy to have a pain-pill time once a week during the day to dispense securely.

Just an excuse probably.

Chicken, you hit the nail on the head. When YOY look at the cost of 100 rxs for pain meds, or more, and you add up the salary, for the pharmacists, overhead, benefits, ect that it costs the stores, it isn't profitable. Pharmacists have to deal with Schedule II meds, not techs.

I think it is very sad that CP ers have to deal with this. I personally think that the pharmacies are the ones responsible for this situation. They do restrict the amount of pills they send and if there are too many patients using the same med they will not fill all the prescriptions. The best advice I can give is to get to know your pharmacist. If you befriend them they are more likely to help you. That is only my opinion but it does help.
Hugggss Jasmine

I"m not sure I agree that we can blame the pharmacy's for the fact that Florida pharacy's can't keep their stores safely stocked....

I've went to the same, well it was Eckerds, now it's Rite aid for 17 years now and through, Oxycontin, then Fentanyl and now MSContin plus breakthru oxydocone the whole time I've never had to wait due to them not being stocked or out of pills. Way back when I first started going there I interviewed the pharmacist, I let him know what diseases I had, what meds I took, how many Dr.'s I had and who would be sending hi scripts. He was as nice as could be and I've never had a problem even though I'm on my 6th pharmacist.

Personally I think you should always interview and meet your pharmacist just like you do your Dr.'s. That way if they're an ass you know before hand and you go elsewhere.

Never thought to interview the pharmacist. I have interviewed doctors to find the best one for myself or family.

Old CPrs- Our hospital does not have a pharmacy open to the public. I have been in the hospital and the doctor has handed my husband the prescriptions that I needed and told him to go to our pharmacy. Stated the hospital prices were too high. Of course the IV meds have to be bought from the hospital if you are a patient.

Hoping that they come up with a realistic plan for this situation soon.

If the pharmacies ha a large amount of pain meds, they are a huge target for those that want to rob them. I don't blame stores for not carrying large quanties.

It seems the patients that are on lower quanties of meds have little to no problem getting them filled. We all have to work together for everyone's safety, patients, pharmacists and drs. CP patients aren't the only ones the drug abusers hurt. But we are not hurt as badly as pharmacists and drs. Not being able to do things like we want to and going through withdrawals is a small.price to pat to protect the life if a pharmacist. But yourself in their shoes.

I agree to a degree but when a pharmacist that you have been going to for 3 years all of a sudden tells you that he is no longer going to fill your prescriptions because he doesn't feel that you have done enough to try without meds I take exception to that. I know it is their name being put on the bottle of medicine but when I was willing to show him my medical records and he refused to look at them, I knew that no matter what I did he was not going to order my meds. There is a difference between being cautious and being prejudiced. This pharmacist was def prejudiced.
I am using Walgreens now which I had been using for 20 years when my insurance changed providers and I had to use CVS. We all have our issues with the different pharmacists so if you find a pearl in an oyster shell it's important that you keep it.
Hugggss Jasmine