Pharmacies...

I've been dealing with an issue with my pharmacy for going on a year now - and wondered if any of you have had similar situations.  I go to a "chain" pharmacy; I try to go to the closest one to home, but more often than not - they will be short the number of pills I need, so I have to go wherever they have the correct amount.  The computers are all linked though...  Anyway, I would "think" that a chain-drugstore would have a "standard" set of rules for the pharmacy.  Well, the ones where I live absolutely do not.  In fact, what they are willing to do even changes at the same location, depending what pharmacist is on duty.  Here's the problem: I am juggling about 15 prescript ions per month, from about 3 to 4 doctors (pain doc, cardiologist, endocrinologist, primary doc).  I usually get a 30 day supply of the meds.  Obviously, they are not all up for a refill at the same time.  In theory, if I filled each one exactly when needed - I could be going to the pharmacy up to 15 times a month.  Come on!  Add that to the fact that I hardly drive, have six children and getting dressed is a major accomplishment for me on most days - well, I don't need pharmacy issues. So, I went in to the pharmacy yesterday.  I had one medication that I had to get, and one that was due in about three days.  The pharmacist wouldn't do it.  True, this is one pharmacist that doesn't know me.  But it wasn't even a Class II medication; it was a muscle relaxer.  It was three days early.  The doctor wrote the Rx for it.  My insurance was going to cover it.  Now, I have to have another factor - which is will the pharmacist release it to me?  What's frustrating is that last week the same pharmacy (different pharmacist) released my narcotic (instant release morphine) FOUR days early, because I was there picking up my heart meds.  I tried to explain all of this to the pharmacist -and she wouldn't do it.  She said she'd fill it on Sunday, which she said "is still one day early, but I'll do it..." - as if she was doing me some GREAT favor.  I wasn't trying to get my meds early because I need the medications...but just because I was there. I've searched the web re: what the actual "laws" are for pharmacies; I haven't been able to find anything concrete.  So, has anyone dealt w/ this sort of thing?  Do most of you get your meds in a 30 day supply?  Do you have to wait until Day 30 to get your meds??  My husband HATES this pharmacy chain and thinks we should switch; but, I'm thinking that they all might be the same.  (Just reread what I wrote - and it sounds REALLY confusing; sorry.... My brains feeling rather slow tonight....) Tina

Tina,
As I sense it:

Pharmacist I released IRM 4 days early. He's decent and understands your
"special needs." I don't know how he got the insurance to ok it early and also
how he got the drawer to open. Pharmacists like any other employee know
how to pull workplace strings.

Pharmacist II would not release your medication, the muscle relaxer, because
he's an enemy of Pharmacist I. He wanted to get him in trouble so he
(Pharm II) would get the raise, the promotion, the pats on the head or what-
ever.

Also it could be that this was discussed at an employee meeting and The
Powers That Be decided to NEVER give out prescriptions early. In that
case, Pharm I could have had his fingers slapped.

You need this pharmacy close by. It will be so hard for you to travel to get
your scripts. Just stay where you are and forget about it. There was a time
in my life when I would NEVER have suggested such a thing. But now ... I
pick my battles very carefully.

I do think you should call the head pharmacist and see what She has to say. Explain
your circumstances. Maybe they can give you more green lights at the pharmacy.

My brain's pretty friend too. I went clothes shopping tonight and sweat all the way through the store. A
beautiful clerk asked me if something was wrong. I wanted to fall through the floor.
Pamela is trying to learn not to sweat the small stuff. Hi PaL ;-)

Post Edited (Pamela Neckpain) : 11/16/2008 1:51:16 AM (GMT-7)

WTG, Susie! Whatcha doin' up so late?
Pamela
This one's pretty interesting.

I go to CVS and I've been going to the same one for about 9 years now (they see me walk in now and wave a hello and holler "Hi Sherry!" lol). I have all my meds on automatic refill now. Which means that they fill it as soon as they can and actually they fill it sooner then I would have because I can still have about a weeks worth of meds left and I will get a call from CVS's automatic call reminder system. But before that, I was getting tired of running up to the pharmacy at different times to pick up my scripts. So what I did over a course of a year, is use the refill telephone line at CVS at one day earlier then the script said, so the next month it would be one day earlier and then I would call it in a day earlier then that and so on until I got all my meds to be dispensed at the same time. Did that make sense?

Red,
I absolutely know what you mean! I've been doing that slowly with most of my meds and have MOST of them right around the 15th of the month, which will help some with this switch I've got to make. Problem is the percocet is at the end of the month and that's not so easy to tweak. So that's likely at least 2 trips to the hospital a month to pick up meds, and that's if they're ready on time. Four trips if I've got to drop off scripts and then leave and come back. I will really miss my CVS "family" of pharmacists who treat me like yours did, Red. Hopefully, I can go back to them after this COBRA ends in 6 months. Course then I won't have any insurance, or I'll be on Medicaid. And I'll probably have to get some of the scripts by mail order which scares me. I'm always afraid of them getting lost, etc. and don't have the extra cash to pay for special delivery stuff.

I guess for now I try to be grateful I have insurance at all.

PaLady

Tina ~
Just had a thought:
When your doctor writes your prescription, it may (or may not) include "travel
days"
That means if the doctor writes that you are due for your triplicate medicine
on May 15. The pharmacy kindly gives you some days to pick it up and takes
into account problems of travel: illness, sick kids, broken car, no taxi or gas money.
In this case you could pick the script up on May 12.
Apparently they don't do that for you? I'm in CA.
Pamela
ps
I love the "travel days" I ALWAYS have my script picked up on Day One. That
way I can save for a rainy day. For instance, I am allowed 12 Methadone a
day. If you do the math, you will see that I can save 36 pills a month. I'm
always worried that the pill plant will go out of business or burn down ... or
have some horrible catastrophe.

I know at least 3 of the major chains where I live are willing to put an order in for me a week before I run out of my meds in anticipation of the scripts coming in or refills coming due the following week. Even if your pharmacy doesn't do "auto-refills", maybe you can ask the pharmacist at the store you like to make sure to order enough for you to have each month.

Also, maybe you can talk to your doctors about trying to get you on a better set-up with your meds. There might be some options for you. Sometimes they have samples or you can get a "trial coupon" off the internet for 1-2 weeks worth of free meds. There are lots of creative ways that they should be able to help you with just about everything but the C2 drugs (& sometimes they can even think up a solution for those). That's way too many trips to the pharmacy every month!!! I used to have to do that when I was on 15 different meds & it nearly drove me crazy trying to catch the bus or get a ride to the pharmacies -- and I don't even have any kids.

idk, just feeling bad for you & hoping there is some way they can work things out for you (plus, I agree with PALady that you should consider talking to the Head Pharmacist to find out what the deal was with the pharmacist who wouldn't give you your meds -- hopefully that wasn't the HP that turned you down :(.

good luck!
frances

How well do you get along with your DR.? Tell them about the problem.See if thay have samples of any of your med. to try to get more of them due at the same time.Or you could try the mail in pharmacys.Thay usualy ask for a three month order from your DR.I know that this might not work for all of your meds. but even if you could get a few more due for refill at the same time it might help.

I'm with Dagger, I fill mine around every 3 weeks. I know that narcotics are different, but I thought as long as you have the script and the insurance clears it then the pharmacy has to fill it.  I have never heard of a pharmacist refusing to fill a non-narcotic script.  Maybe I misunderstood and it was a narcotic, but if not and the insurance approves it you should be able to get it.  I know pharmacist can refuse if they are "uncomfortable" with it but if it was a schedule II or III they are just being a jerk and I would go else where.

I have had those horrible pharmacists and techs and am so grateful to be where I am now!

Melissa

OK I
I'll add my two cents in here but bare with me folks, I'm on the desktop as the laptop was sent to TN this afternoon because I was so strung out on my medications yesterday morning that I dropped the dang thing and caused the bottom to break so now it's off to be fixed. So this might be a little hap hazardly written.

Just before Christmas I had a appt with my new doc and she wrote script for not 200 mgs of Morphine but only 100 by my mistake as I have posted before. Well I called her about this and she went ahead and had me fill them telling me to take 200 mgs twice a day which made me run short for that script. Well yesterday when I went to pick up the new script for my morphine the Pharmacy (Walmart) was not going to fill it saying it was to soon. I had the Pharmacist call my doctor to confirm the mistake and within minutes I was in hand with script and out of there. But the kicker was that it took 30 minutes to get to that point plus another 15 min to get out of the store (bought some other things that I needed). By the time I got out of there I was in so much pain I just about did not make it home and all I wanted to do was to curl into a corner and cry.

Yeah I hate pharmacies they can be a pain sometimes. I miss my old Pharmacy. They knew me by name (mom and pop store) and were quite helpful with my scripts. Now I have to deal with one pharmacy can't change without my doc knowing and oking it and its such a pain. But the nice part about it is they aren't very far from home only 6 blocks from my door.

Hugssss

Scarred

P.S. Kara...Didn't doc give you a script for your Ambien? Or was it samples?

 

 

I want to talk about my pharmacy issues....When I first started going to my PM I had to sign a contract stating that I would only go to one pharmacy for all of my meds.  I thought that was fine, and I started using the Hospital pharmacy where my Dr.'s office was. When I had insurance that worked out pretty well, but when the insurance went bye-bye I had to go to another pharmacy due to $$ issues.

 

I went to a pharmacy that other patients used, it was a tiny mom & pop store, and it was great!!

They know me by name, they fill even if it's really early, and they never treat me badly.  I have been using them for about 3 years now and I wouldn't switch if you paid me.

 

I have been treated like a junkie at those "Chain Pharmacies" and told that it would take up to 2 hours to get a script filled....When I go to my small pharmacy it only takes them 5 min. from start to finish to fill 3 scripts....Why can't those other places do that?  I think they enjoy watching us squirm in pain....

 

Well, I hope we all have a great evening and a sleep filled night. 

 

Me.