It was around 7 o’clock pm, Tuesday, 10/02/2018′ the pharmacist at Sams Club in Clearwater, Fl. told me that they are no longer accepting “patients” who need schedule 2 medications. He said each store determines a quota amount they want to dispense. I told him that I was a sams club customer, not a patient. He looked at me with suspicion and walked away. According to the WHO, my schedule 2 pain medication is classified as an essential medication. How is this Sams Club policy going to help anybody?
It may be smarter to just go under the radar. Have a plan to activate something really dramatic if one gets “caught”. This paranoia is taking it’s toll.
I know a Pharmacist that was working for this same chain in South Florida and his particular store had cultivated a fairly good size of legit patients that had a need for various controlled substances. Apparently one day a supervisor/District Manager walked into this particular store and told this Pharmacist – who was also the Pharmacist in Charge – that the company (Walmart) had determined that the per-cent of controls meds that he was dispensing was to high and that he HAD TO CUT many of these pts loose – refuse/stop filling their prescriptions – and that his ability to order controlled meds and his inventory of controlled meds was going to be reduced. As I understand it, this pharmacist filed complaints with any/all agencies that could have authority over this corporate edict, and apparently none were interested in what was being done. In the end the Pharmacist was FIRED and sued Walmart/Sams and there was some settlement $$$ paid to the pharmacist.
Let’s look at what is going on.. one of the basics of the practice of medicine is the starting, changing, stopping a pt’s therapy/medication. There is this letter posted from the AMA to Walmart “healthcare ” Walmart style – Part TWO where Walmart has sent out a corporate edict that their pharmacists are limited to dispensing up to a 7 days supply on new opiate Rxs and/or 50 MME/day limits.
According to the Controlled Substance Act.. no one can prescribe/de-prescribe a controlled substance for a pt that they have not done a in-person physical exam. Of course, this must presume that the person has a medical license to practice medicine and a DEA license as well.
Most people who require a controlled med prescription are dealing with a physical/mental disability and would be a covered entity under the Americans with Disability Act, and denial/refusal to fill a valid/legit prescription for a controlled substance would be discrimination of those patients… which is a CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATION.
Are these Sams/Walmart pharmacies going to be providing these controlled substances on a first come – first serve basis or select certain pts that they are willing to fill these controlled meds for ? The former process will almost assure that some pts will be INTENTIONALLY THROWN INTO A COLD TURKEY WITHDRAWAL when the pharmacy has “ran out ” of a particular medication or a certain group of pts will be just “blacked balled” and not even have a chance to get their medically necessary controlled meds from a particular pharmacy.
No matter how you slice/dice this situation, some pts that are covered by the ADA will get discriminated against and/or denied their necessary medication.
Filed under: General Problems
My pm physician received multiple calls after Walmart refused to fill prescriptions from him. He stated to me that he called and spoke to pharmacy management and the reasoning for refusal was due to a FBI investigation after the DEA reported most Walmart pharmacies had too many opioids in stock at the end of the month??
That by federal law, each pharmacy was only supposed to have on hand the total of the amount prescribed the previous month plus an additional 7 days..and that Walmart pharmacies had up to 3 months on hand..
Therefore, to avoid having their licensing revoked, they agreed to only fill acute pain prescriptions (either no prior prescription or not have had any opiod prescription for 180 days)..
Just sharing what I was told re the situation..
IMO… that has to be the BIGGEST BULLSHIT STORY that I have ever heard for refusing to fill opiate Rxs. The average pharmacy has 12 inventory turns/yr which means that at any point in time they have 30 days supply on hand of any particular med at any particular point in time. IMO.. they are running out of excuses to deny opiate rxs… and they pulled this one out of their ass… I am only aware of two pharmacies that the DEA pulled their DEA license early in this decade… the DEA doesn’t pull chain pharmacy licenses… they just fine the shit out of them. Someone needs to ask for a copy of that portion of the FED law or the statue number…so that it can be looked up to verify it… I have never heard of it.
So I drove away from that Sams Club pharmacy encounter / “comedy show”, thinking that I’ve seen another similar act.
Perhaps my human condition benefiting from the prescribed medicine – would stand in for the role of gender.
My asking the pharmacist/ Sams Club/ Walmart, to fill and tender the medicine, would cast them in the role of the “Baker”
The product I wished to purchase, on reccomendation of physicians, would of course be the “Cake”
And their policy, which sent me away empty handed, is, in fact, the same bigoted discrimination we have seen in the Colorado comedy. Yes that was it.
And the indifference to it all, among the Government agencies we pay to protect us, is mirrored in the same way as the spineless Supreme Court addressed the Colorado case.
The Authorities could not force the individual to bake the wedding cake. He had some personal rights, including to be a bigot.
But Pharmacies are licensed and regulated. The standards should be in favour of the people. Who’s in charge here?
Advocating for access to demonized opioids in an era of overzealous political pressure to decrease access and supply will never allow for any empathetic employee at any regulatory agency to perform their fiduciary duty and pursue and enforce what they judge to be egregious violations of patient rights or even unlawful mandates. Sometimes it’s all in the timing and sometimes taking the high road results leads to failure in attempts to change policy and thought processes.
Sometimes, going completely bat shit crazy and ranting in blogs and You Tube Videos would be the better path. Any pharmacist feeling coerced to deny care and who is being subjected to unlawful corporate policy… do NOT take the high road. Get pissed and get vocal from one end of social media to the other. A wounded warrior.
How about blue cross who will not pay for my schedule two drugs. This is discrimination on their part as well?
The DEA claims that a pt paying cash for a controlled med when they have insurance is a RED FLAG,,, I have not seen anything where the DEA considers the insurance NOT PAYING for the controlled med… is the insurance companies basically “feeding” the pt, pharmacy and doc into the DEA’s trap ?
I have Blue Cross and they won’t cover my schedule 2 meds either. Doctor couldn’t even get them to cover 10 MME/day and I have CRPS. It does feel like a trap.
when they reduced your coverage… did they reduce your premiums ? get your policy out – it is actually a contract between you and them … taking money and promising something in return – per the contract – is FRAUD – find a section where they are promising to provider treating medically necessary medical issues. Do a research as to who their medical director is… and find out which states he/she is licensed in… One of the basic of the practice of medicine is the starting, changing, stopping a pt’s therapy… and under the controlled substance act no one can prescribe (deprescribe) a controlled substance without doing a in person physical exam. One must presume that their medical director is the reason you are not getting your meds… if he/she is not licensed in the state you live… then that is practicing medicine in state they are not licensed in… tell them that you are going to start filing complaints with any and all agencies that has oversight over his license. That should get their attention 🙂