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One Thing After Another for Pain Patient

Submitted by David Borden on
My wife and I just solved a problem getting the 90 days of pain medication we need to go see the grand-kids in Oregon and Montana. It was just a mis-communication with the doctor. Now Walmart pharmacy can't seem to get enough morphine.We dropped off two prescriptions for morphine IR on June 9th. When we dropped it off they told us that they were out of morphine, and they wouldn't get any until Thursday the 17th. My pain doctor requires we sign a pain contract that says we can only fill prescriptions at one pharmacy. I don't think he would drop me for going to another pharmacy, but it's just not worth the risk. My wife went in to pick up the prescriptions on Friday the 18th, and they had only one prescription filled. Now they tell her that they won't have more morphine until next Thursday June 24th. To wait 15 days to get a 30 day supply of medicine is ridicules. Someone at Walmart dropped the ball. Morphine is not the type of medicine you can just run out of, if a patient is withdrawn too quickly, they will go through withdrawals and get really sick. This has nothing to do with being addicted, it has to do with dependence. Anyone taking an opiate for a couple weeks or so, will go through withdrawals if the drug is withdrawn too quickly. Pharmacist should be able to fill partial prescriptions of Schedule II medications, and be able to fill the remaining portion of the prescription of the prescription when the pharmacies supply is replenished. This is currently not allowed by DEA. If a Schedule II prescription is partially filled, the pharmacist is not allowed to fill the remaining portion of the prescription. This seems to place a hardship on pain patients. We need a federal pain patients bill of rights that spells out both the patients responsibilities, and the doctors responsibilities.

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