If you are a pt that has been on what has been called the “pharmacy crawl” going from pharmacy to pharmacy to find one that has in stock the controlled med that you have been prescribed. I would recommend that don’t get too excited, expecting to see this new DEA rule to be in place with all the various pharmacy software companies and the “switch” Sure Scripts where all E-Rx data goes thru and it was brought on line abt 20 yrs ago and I don’t know if they provided for pharmacies to pharmacy communications. I know when the DEA first granted the ability for prescribers to be able to send controlled Rxs electronically, all the mandatory protocol that was required by the DEA to get a pharmacy software certified was really a challenge to software programmers. As I remember, many pharmacy software companies, it took months to get their software certified. If we take a recent example of DEA waiting until about 4-6 weeks before prescribers were told to renew their DEA licenses to created the mandate for them to complete the 8-12 hr training program to meet the old X-wavier exemption to be able to prescribe SUD meds in treating addiction to be able to renew their DEA license.
In effect: DEA final rule on transfer of EPCS in schedules II–V between pharmacies for initial filling
A new DEA final rule, which became effective August 28, states that an electronic prescription for a controlled substance (EPCS) in schedule II–V may be transferred between retail pharmacies for initial filling on a one-time basis only, upon request from the patient. The DEA also clarified that any authorized refills included on a prescription for a schedule III, IV, or V controlled substance are transferred with the original prescription.
The final rule requires that the transfer of EPCS in schedule II-V must be communicated directly between two licensed pharmacists, the prescription must remain in its electronic form, and the contents of the prescription must be unaltered during the transmission. The final rule also stipulates that the transfer of EPCS in schedule II–V for initial dispensing is permissible only if allowable under existing state or other applicable law. In addition, the final rule describes the information that must be recorded to document transfer of EPCS in schedule II–V between pharmacies for initial dispensing. The electronic records documenting EPCS transfers must be maintained by both pharmacies for two years from the date of the transfer
Filed under: General Problems
I read ALL of that and it occurred to me that Steve was exactly right when he implied not to get too excited about these possible, small conveniences for the customer. I wonder how much they spent to figure out how to drop a loophole or an accept where prohibited as a final point?! I am actually laughing. My apologies for that. Great story!