Ritalin shortage in FL?

[TimmyTurner]

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Hello Pharmacy friends. Current Podiatry student here. I have a situation that I'm hoping y'all can advise.

I have a monthly script for low dose Ritalin. I meet with my doc bi-monthly and he gives me a single script for that month and the subsequent.

This month, I have not been able to have it filled anywhere. No one has it in stock. I've never had this problem before. I've tried every pharmacy within a 15 mile radius. I have to visit each pharmacy because, since it is a controlled, they can't tell me over the phone if they have it in stock. This is infuriatingly time consuming given the demands of school- spending hours driving from pharmacy to pharmacy to get the same bit of news. I'd let a few days pass in-between my fruitless trips to a new pharmacy. I've tried all the major retailers as well as the mom and pops. zip zero Nada.

Having been unable to fill November's prescription, the December prescription is almost ready to be filled.

I haven't ran out of meds- I take them as prescribed or less so I have had enough to hold me over and will for awhile. The question is- can I still fill both prescriptions if a pharmacy ever has them in stock ? Would the pharmacist allow it, or contact my doctor ? Should I contact my doctor? My main concern is the perception of 'drug seeking-behavior' and being blacklisted. I just haven't been able to fill it, and now want to fill both if I ever find a pharmacy down here that fills it, for fear of running out in the future.

Alternatively, I fly home for break next week. I could just fill both in my home state, again, worried about the complications of filling two prescriptions at the same time, dated a month apart.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ldiot]

No pharmacy is going to fill them both at the same time.

If I were you I'd try to stick with one pharmacy. Take it back to where you normally have it filled and see if they have it now or when they could have it delivered.

There's not much else you or your doctor can do unless the drug truly is on back order and you want to change to extended release or something.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Controlled drug shortages are common this type of year. Our government sets limits on how much of each controlled drug that a manufacturer can make each year. If there is a sudden spurge in usage in that drug over the year (say because a similar drug in the class goes backordered for raw materials shortage), then manufacturer can't legally just make more. So what happens near the end of the year, the manufacturer has met their limit and people have to wait until January when the manufacturer can start shipping again. I think there is a process where the manufacturer can request to make more, but it's unlikely that it would be looked at and approved before January starts.

As for filling both, not sure about FL law, it would be illegal in Illinois. As Idiot mentioned, no pharmacy is going to do it. And filling a controlled prescription that was written in one state, can't always be legally done (so if you haven't done this before, you will want to talk with the pharmacy in your home state to make sure that it will legally be able to be filled.) I would say your best bet is to talk to your doctor about other treatment options.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Oh, and if your 2 prescription are actually dated a month apart, then your doctor has wrote them illegally, per DEA regulation each RX *MUST* have the actual date it was actually written on. Not only will no pharmacy fill the 2nd RX, they might even confiscate it since it's clearly illegal. What your doctor should be doing is writing an RX with the actual date written on it, then he can put a "fill on" date after that. It is also against DEA regulation for a pharmacy to ignore the "fill on" date or to call to change that date over the phone.

Now in some states, your doctor could write you a 60 day supply, but it would have to be written as 1 prescription (and bear in mind your insurance may not pay for 60 days supply, if this happens the pharmacy can't legally break your script in to 30 days ins and 30 days cash, you would have to pay cash to get the entire 60 days.)

 

[sakigt]

Hello Pharmacy friends. Current Podiatry student here. I have a situation that I'm hoping y'all can advise.

I have a monthly script for low dose Ritalin. I meet with my doc bi-monthly and he gives me a single script for that month and the subsequent.

This month, I have not been able to have it filled anywhere. No one has it in stock. I've never had this problem before. I've tried every pharmacy within a 15 mile radius. I have to visit each pharmacy because, since it is a controlled, they can't tell me over the phone if they have it in stock. This is infuriatingly time consuming given the demands of school- spending hours driving from pharmacy to pharmacy to get the same bit of news. I'd let a few days pass in-between my fruitless trips to a new pharmacy. I've tried all the major retailers as well as the mom and pops. zip zero Nada.

Having been unable to fill November's prescription, the December prescription is almost ready to be filled.

I haven't ran out of meds- I take them as prescribed or less so I have had enough to hold me over and will for awhile. The question is- can I still fill both prescriptions if a pharmacy ever has them in stock ? Would the pharmacist allow it, or contact my doctor ? Should I contact my doctor? My main concern is the perception of 'drug seeking-behavior' and being blacklisted. I just haven't been able to fill it, and now want to fill both if I ever find a pharmacy down here that fills it, for fear of running out in the future.

Alternatively, I fly home for break next week. I could just fill both in my home state, again, worried about the complications of filling two prescriptions at the same time, dated a month apart.

Thanks in advance.

Try your insurance's mail order

 

[Lnsean]

Oh, and if your 2 prescription are actually dated a month apart, then your doctor has wrote them illegally, per DEA regulation each RX *MUST* have the actual date it was actually written on. Not only will no pharmacy fill the 2nd RX, they might even confiscate it since it's clearly illegal. What your doctor should be doing is writing an RX with the actual date written on it, then he can put a "fill on" date after that. It is also against DEA regulation for a pharmacy to ignore the "fill on" date or to call to change that date over the phone.

Now in some states, your doctor could write you a 60 day supply, but it would have to be written as 1 prescription (and bear in mind your insurance may not pay for 60 days supply, if this happens the pharmacy can't legally break your script in to 30 days ins and 30 days cash, you would have to pay cash to get the entire 60 days.)

This is state dependent...in NJ you can change everything on a C2 script over the phone except for the Patient's Name, Drug Name, and the Prescriber.

As for multiple scripts...you're right that each script must have the original date it was written and subsequent scripts have "do not fill dates"