https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/kaiser.pdf
Above is a link to a synopsis of the nearly 600-page agreement between 40+ state AGs and the three major drug wholesalers – who control about 80%-85% of all Rx med distribution to pharmacies. This agreement was not to see the light of day, and it took 1-1.5 yrs for someone to leak it. These 3 wholesalers agreed to restrict the number of controlled meds sold to pharmacies. There is no concern about the pts that have a valid medical necessity for some of these meds. Up front, these wholesalers don’t have a legal right to know what meds they sell to pharmacies and what patients are dispensed to. The questions that I have are this, 100 dose limit, a policy of the pharmacy, or multiple pharmacies have colluded to do this 100 dose limit. Did the 3 drug wholesalers in this agreement collude to impose this limit on all community pharmacies?
My opinion, one of the primary functions of the practice of medicine is the starting, changing, or stopping a pt’s therapy. Given that, any entity that is restricting the availability of any medications to pts, could be guilty of practicing medicine without a license. Could this rationing be a violation of the Interstate Commerce laws?
private pharmacies are being told. They cannot dispense more than 100 opioid pills to each patient. He had to call so many patients even if they are on palliative care this also applied to them.. i’m unclear where to try to address this I have given copies of the recent Illinois bill that was passed regarding opioids to see if someone would sponsor a similar bill, but I’m trying to figure out. Why would the private pharmacies be told they cannot dispense more than 100 opioid pills per month to each patient? this very kind young pharmacist had to call all of his customers and let them know they could no longer get more than 100 pills dispensed. And whoever told him this was how things had to be did not discriminate. It was across-the-board whether you’re on palliative care or not. The medical condition, diagnosis, terminal or not, the reason didn’t matter. 100 pills max.
Filed under: General Problems
The drug warriors are full of big talk about cartels and alleged rising death numbers. But they seem to focus a lot of enforcement activities on law abiding citizens, who are far easier to find and more cooperative in the face of authority, that the antisocial street dwellers we are supposed to believe were turned into antisocial creatures by drugs. The data says it’s the reverse. The criminal starts with crime then later starts using drugs. All the money spent on drug enforcement, addiction treatment and education, drug courts, etc., do nothing to reduce crime. But hiring 7000 cops in 2009 reduced every category of crime – including murder. If the goal is less crime, the answer is more cops, not whatever the drug warriors are selling.