Where's the rest of my Oxycontin??? - Pain Management Message Board

kasie1970 · 02-29-2008, 04:42 PM

Last month my doctor gave me a script of oxycontin,my insurance wouldn't pay for it so all I could afford to pay for was 20 pills which was 10 days worth...so why won't the pharmacy allow me to get the rest? They told me I wouldn't be able to but I still don't understand why.

RetiredDirector · 02-29-2008, 05:00 PM

In some states, if you can't fill the entire script of a C-II medication (Oxycontin is a C-II), then you must forfeit the rest. In other states, if the pharmacy can't fill all of it, or you choose to fill and pay for only part of it, you can have the rest filled, if you do so within 72 hours.

There are a couple states that allow you to do a partial fill and don't have a time limit on filling the remainder. Of course, the six month rule on C-II through C-IV would apply.

brianpain33 · 02-29-2008, 05:29 PM

Yes I found this out as well.
In Ohio if you get a partial fill you must forfeit the rest. However, if the pharmacy does not have all of the pills for an order they can give you what they have and then give you the rest when they come in

Brian

conductor · 02-29-2008, 06:38 PM

In Florida and Michigan, there are some rules that apply to C-II's involving additional paperwork if a pharmacist fills a portion of the Rx and then gives you the rest when it comes in. This has happened to me in both states.

It happened in Michigan first. The pharmacist decided he could fill my Dilaudid--in two parts since he didn't have enough initially--because he knew my family and therefore, "where to find me!" I got nearly 60 on the first day and the remainder within a few days. The pharmacist stated, just in a matter-of-fact way, that dividing C-II's means more DEA paperwork.

**It may be different now, but Michigan does not fill Rx's from other states. I found out the hard way when I tried to get my scripts filled. We have a cottage on Lake Huron that is used by our extended family, so we are sometimes not at home when the medications become due!! I cannot possibly express how difficult it was for me to find a doctor who would write my medications. Frankly, I had my doctor's written Rx's. And, by that time, the doctor was waiting to have a supportive conversation with any doctor I found. Kentucky, has transferred several C-III's for me, but it may be due to the fact that I knew the pharmacist from when I lived there.

I've found Florida, where I live, to be the most accomodating. I hope it doesn't change!! Wouldn't it be great if we could live in a state where C-II's could be phoned in just like any other Rx's??!! Ahh...just dreaming...

Sincerely,
Jon (Conductor)

P.S. If I have stated something incorrectly, please inform me on this thread! I want to know.

Executor · 02-29-2008, 07:32 PM

First of all, all pharmacy laws are FEDERAL, not state. Rules on CIIs, CIIIs & etc. are set by the board of pharmacy and the Federal Gov't. The law states that with a schedule II drug, you must get all the script filled or forfeit what you don't fill. However, if you call your Doc, I feel quite sure he/she will be very understanding, especially when you explain the cost issue. A common example is a patient who goes to a pharmacy for a pain med...And the pharmacy is running low on inventory and can't fill the entire lot, but either you don't want to go somewhere else, or can't find it anywhere else, and you elect to go ahead and have a partial fill. Either the patient or the pharmacist can call the Doc and explain the situation and the Doc will write a follow-up script for the balance.

Unfortunately, the pharmacy should have explained the laws to you when you filled it so you could have made an educated decision...But it is what it is now.

As far as some patients getting the balance filled at a later date, they experienced a very lax pharmacist, or one who may have owned their own pharmacy, where they control the paperwork. Chain pharmacies, however, usually follow the rules to a T.

Hope this helps.

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