Group works to solve prescription access problem
Florida’s Controlled Substances Standards Subcommittee working to help patients
http://www.wesh.com/news/group-works-to-solve-prescription-access-problem/35403312
Thousands of pain patients who have had their legitimate prescriptions denied at the pharmacy are one step closer to seeing relief.
Florida’s Controlled Substances Standards Subcommittee is working to solve the crisis that WESH 2 News Investigates has been digging into for the past eight months.
The group is working to help patients to get their needed medication.
In Tallahassee, a subcommittee of the Florida Board of Pharmacy, made up of doctors, pharmacists and one of the largest drug wholesalers in the country, met to tackle the state’s prescription access problem. The group is trying to develop a way for legitimate patients to fill pain prescriptions, from pharmacists who remain hesitant following the state’s pill-mill crackdown.
Special Section: State of Pain
“We are now operating in a time where people are afraid to do their jobs,” said Dr. Jesse Lipnick, with the Florida Medical Association.
WESH 2 News asked Lipnick if the group is confident things will improve for patients.
“I think so,” Lipnick said.
To help make things better, the group is proposing that by the end of 2017, pharmacists should be required to take a two-hour class that would focus on ensuring access for all patients with a valid prescription. That class would be required every two years.
The group is also rewriting a rule that Florida pharmacists must follow to help alleviate concerns, writing in part, “Pharmacists should not fear disciplinary action for dispensing controlled substances for a legitimate medical purpose.”
WESH 2 News spoke with Michael Jackson, with the Florida Pharmacy Association.
“If pharmacists are afraid of the DEA, whether that fear is founded or unfounded, will anything you guys do really make a difference then?” WESH 2 News asked.
“We are not sure,” Jackson said.
Jackson concedes it won’t be an easy fix, but he said they’re committed to trying.
“They just can’t continue to turn away legitimate prescriptions,” Jackson said.
While the subcommittee feels a lot was accomplished, their proposals still hinge on a Florida Board of Pharmacy vote. That could happen in two weeks.
The recommendations will be presented to the Florida Board of Pharmacy at its next meeting Oct. 5 in Tampa.
Filed under: General Problems
The DEA defines and decides who is a “legitimate” patient with a “legitimate” prescription. Until doctors take back that power, patients are doomed to suffer the consequences.