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What is your policy on how soon you will refill a controlled substance in the retail setting? How many days before it's due? Some stores I have worked in have said 2 days and others 3 days. Thanks.
Refills on Controlled Substances
- Thread starter MistressReznor
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Walgreen I interned at had a 2 day policy as well. Your however, it allowed for pharmacist judgement. Someone who early fill every time should be separated from a one time thing for someone who always filled either on time/late. So the pharmacist also usually practiced an unspoken 1 week max cumulative early fill.
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3 to 5 days. i practice the 'cumulative 7 days supply' rule too tho .. so if they are constantly looking to get it early, NOPE
if they are always on time and need it 5 days early for some reason, yea sure.
if they are always on time and need it 5 days early for some reason, yea sure.
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3 days, is a good general rule. It really is a judgement call based on the person's refill history. Do they always have a story about going on vacation or some other uncheckable reason why they need an early refill? Or have they always been on time, and this is the first time they are asking for it a week early? When in doubt, tell them you will have to check with their doctor.
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From what I understand it is supposed to be 3 days without Dr ok for early release. I will say that I recently had an experience where a pharmacy tech made a snap judgment about me when I dropped off a new script early, because it was convenient. I wasn't expecting to get it until 3 days before anyway. My history with them is that I usually get it a few days after it's due. She said she would get it filled right away even though I said I would come back Friday or Saturday. Before I left the store, she called me back and said I could not have it. Not until the 30th day. Then she said the 29th day maybe. In the middle of all this I was trying to tell her this was a special circumstance, that I did not need it until Friday or Saturday, and could she please contact my doctor who was aware of the early request. She kept interrupting me and saying that I should have plenty of medication to last me until the due date and that it was illegal to give it to me early. Her attitude towards me made me feel like the scum of the earth for requesting early. If you have never been in that situation, I implore all of you to please state the facts of the law, or your store policy, and then ask if the customer would like for you to contact the doctor. I left the store almost in tears, not because of having to wait for the fill, but because I actually felt like the lowest of the low and was embarrassed that she was loud enough about it that half the store turned around and was staring at me the same way.
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Some people are jerks. Crying about it then posting in a thread from 4 years ago is not a great way to deal with it. Anyone who doesn't want to be an ass is already doing that. Your advice to "treat people like humans" won't influence anyone one way or the other.
owlegrad
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Doctor being aware of the request does absolutely nothing to change my corresponding responsibility or decision wither or not to fill early. That said I do often grant early refill requests as I do not consider myself to be the adjudicator of all truth and knowledge. I only cut people off if they start requesting multiple early refills or demonstrate other sketchy behavor.
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It sounds like the technician was way out of line in how she handled that situation, especially with HIPAA if she was speaking loud enough that everyone could hear, that is inappropriate.
That said, the "3 days early" doesn't mean ALWAYS 3 days early, if you are always getting it early, then you are going to get cut off after a few fills. When you a prescription 3 days early, that doesn't mean you get to double up for 3 days that month, it means you have 3 days extra medication to cover you in situations like you are describing. So yes, if you are always getting your prescription 3 days early, the technician was absolutely correct it telling you that you shouldn't be out and that it couldn't be filled yet. Some insurances will cut people off after so many early fills, and make them wait past even the date it would have been due on from the last month. I think its NY has a law limiting how many extra days of a controlled that can be given out, and that counts in a perpertual rolling period.
So, what HAVE you done with all that extra medication, since you state you always get it a "few days early"? It sounds like the pharmacy would have every right to tell you that they won't fill your prescription until the day its due, since you should have a considerable supply of medication built up by now. (if you've gotten it filled 3 days early every month for year, that is 36 extra days of medication!!!! Where has your extra medication went to?)
At the pharmacy that I work at I follow a strict 2 day early policy due to the area I am in (we fill a lot opioids). Unfortunately we do hear a lot of stories on why they may need it early and thats why we follow that policy. We put the onus on the patient to call their doctor or nurse to give the pharmacy the OK to fill early.
