Hy-Vee pharmacies implement new opioid prescription policy

https://www.channel3000.com/news/hy-vee-pharmacies-to-limit-quantities-of-opioids/1135442312

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – Hy-Vee pharmacies will limit opioid prescriptions for treatment of acute pain to seven days starting Thursday, according to a news release.

Hy-Vee Grocery Stores said ​​​​​​the new seven-day limit “does not apply to chronic pain; pain being treated as a part of cancer care, hospice or other end-of-life care; pain being treated as part of palliative care practices; and medications used to treat opioid addiction.” Where state law or a third-party payer requires it, the limit will be less than seven days.

“We want to be part of solution, while continuing to provide needed care for customers,” senior vice president and chief health officer at Hy-Vee Kristin Williams said in a news release.

Hy-Vee said it also offers naloxone, which is used to reverse narcotic overdoses, without a prescription in all eight states where it operates pharmacies: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Naloxone is stored behind the counter and cost varies, the company said.

Hy-Vee also announced that it will be putting drug takeback containers in all 276 of its pharmacies by Nov. 7. The containers give customers a secure place to dispose of unused medications, including controlled substances.

The policy change Thursday comes months after Hy-Vee announced in January that its pharmacies would no longer allow a subsequent fill of a Schedule II controlled substance, or a refill of a Schedule III or Schedule IV controlled substance, more than 72 hours early without authorization from the prescriber.

One of the basics of the practice of medicine is the starting, changing, stopping a pt’s therapy and when that change involves a controlled substance it is a violation of the controlled substance act if the licensed prescriber has not done a IN PERSON PHYSICAL EXAM…

According to this https://pharmacy.uiowa.edu/directory/person/kristin-williams-0  senior vice president and chief health officer at Hy-Vee Kristin Williams is just a pharmacist who has worked her way up thru the ranks of the chain pharmacy Hy-Vee and according to this press release she may have been the driving force behind Hy-Vee decision to override the pt’s prescriber determination of what a particular pt’s needs for a controlled substance for acute pain.

Maybe it is time for pts who are affected by such corporate policies start filing complaints with the state’s board of pharmacy and the state’s medical licensing board and maybe the DEA…  Because there seems to be several potential breaking/violations involving the state’s pharmacy practice act, the state’s medical practice act and the Controlled Substance Act.

It would appear from this article and William’s corporate title, she is the person behind this corporate policy, but their is also at each Rx dept a PIC ( Pharmacist in charge) that is responsible to the state’s pharmacy board for the legal operation of the Rx dept…as well as the pharmacist that actually filled a controlled Rx and followed corporate policy to REDUCE the quantity on a pt’s prescription if they exceeded the corporation’s policy on absolute limits on a pt’s prescriptions for no more than 7 days for acute pain… regardless of the pt’s prescriber’s wishes.

Their statement also seems to imply that unless the chronic pain pt is being treated as a part of cancer care, hospice or other end-of-life care; pain being treated as part of palliative care practices; and medications used to treat opioid addiction… not all chronic pain pts are part of palliative care… but of course, those receiving medications for the treatment of opiate addiction… gets a automatic “pass” on days supply limits.

Filed under: General Problems