These questions relate to Safeway:
1). Can a pharmacy refuse to refill a 30 day prescription (60 pills) if the refill date is on day 29?
2). I was told by their Regional Office just now that it will depend on the pharmacist whether future refills are given? They have spoken to my doctor twice… I was told today it is each of their rights to accept or deny my prescription – they do not need a reason. They asked my doctor to change my refill date… he said no. I’m on disability. Thank you-
I get emails like this several times a week from all over the country…
FEMA and the American Red Cross recommend that people maintain a TWO WEEK SUPPLY of FOOD & WATER in the case of an emergency
https://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/f%26web.pdf
“Even though it is unlikely that an emergency would cut off your
food supply for two weeks, consider maintaining a supply that will
last that long.”
I have been told by pts that some Pharmacists refuse to fill/refill controlled medications until after the pt as taken their last dose. I guess that these Pharmacists live in a “perfect world”… Cars always start, pts always feel well enough to make a trip to the pharmacy in a very small (a few hours) window. Pharmacies are NEVER OUT OF STOCK of a particular medication. The area that they live in NEVER EXPERIENCE a tornado, hurricane, ice storms, wild fires, floods or “zombie apocalypse”, and that a opiate dependent pt being thrown into cold turkey withdrawal is just a “minor inconvenience”
I have been told by Pharmacists that work for the large chains that the chains have:
The allotted technician hours for a Rx dept is mostly determined by the number of prescriptions filled, but many of the large chains have removed the number of controlled Rxs filled from this calculation… so the if a Rx dept fills 20% controls… that volume doesn’t provide tech hours for the Rx dept.. So.. if the Rx dept fills ZERO CONTROLS… technically the Rx dept has better tech staffing. Also historically Pharmacists in the chains get annual bonuses that are based on growth of Rx volume… I have been told that the chains have taken the controlled Rxs filled out of the bonus calculation. So, it would appear that both directly and indirectly, some/many of the chains are actually discouraging the filling of controlled Rxs.
The DEA uses a phrase in the Controlled Substance Act 1970 – corresponding responsibility- that the Pharmacist is suppose to basically give a “second opinion” on the prescriber’s diagnosis … without doing a in person physical exam of the pt and not having access to the pt’s medical records. IMO, the pharmacy practice act does not grant Pharmacists the legal right to be involved in giving a “second opinion”.. and I have yet to see/hear about a Board of Pharmacy (BOP) formally objecting to the DEA mandating that Pharmacist do this.
Basically, corresponding responsibility – from the DEA’s perspective – means that a Pharmacist can be held liable for getting a controlled medication into the “wrong hand”.. but the DEA has no authority to make sure that medication gets into the “right hand”. “Corresponding Responsibility” should be a TWO WAY STREET… this is where the 51 Boards of Pharmacy should come into the picture, but I have yet to see a BOP to state anything other than “we don’t have the authority to require that a Pharmacist fill a prescription”
Could that be because the majority of BOP’s are “stacked” with non-practicing corporate/chain pharmacists… employed by the same corporate entities who are discouraging their pharmacists in filling controlled medications.
So if a Pharmacist gets a controlled substance in the “wrong hand”… if they get their employer fined by the DEA… they will be probably be fired… we have a very serious & growing Pharmacist surplus.. so getting fired.. could mean long term unemployment. Likewise, if the Walgreen/Rite Aid merger goes thru… two chains (CVS & Walgreens) will be controlling about 35% of all community pharmacy prescription depts.
The BOP could “come down” on the Pharmacist and fine, suspend, revoke their license.
So, it would appear that no one is going to “come down” on a pharmacist for refusing to fill a controlled medication prescription… so there seems to be potentially more adverse consequences to a pharmacist for filling a controlled substance than just electing to “JUST SAY NO “.
Filed under: General Problems
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