I made the above blog post several days ago. I am hearing from pts claiming that some chain pharmacists are telling them that their wholesaler is no longer selling any control meds.
I know that many states’ pharmacy practice acts requires that a pharmacy stock all the meds that are normally use in the market they operate. I believe that wholesalers are also licensed by the state boards of pharmacy, but not sure if their are provisions within the state Pharmacy practice act that addresses the wholesaler’s operation or there is some separate law covering them.
I understand that some states professional licensing boards considers lying to a pt – unprofessional conduct. I suspect that many Pharmacists are working the – probably correct presumption – that pts don’t know that the Rx dept is required to maintain a perpetual inventory on all C-II’s. A pharmacy board inspector could come into the pharmacy and request the perpetual inventory on a particular med/strength and be able to tell EXACTLY on a certain day/time… what inventory of any particular med/strength the pharmacy had on hand inventory.
I often wonder what kind a response a pt would get from the Pharmacist that just told the pt that “we are out of inventory” and the pt asked that pharmacist if the pharmacy board inspector asked to see or have the particular page faxed to them, out of their perpetual inventory for the particular med/strength that their Rx if for and they just stated they had no inventory. Just what inventory on hand would it show ?
And ask the Pharmacist, do you think that the board of pharmacy might consider lying to a pt – UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT ?
I would also ask the Board of Pharmacy to verify if the particular pharmacy’s perpetual C-II inventory showed any inventory on hand for the particular med/strength on the particular date/time that you were told they had no inventory.
If I was a pt, I would look up the state’s pharmacy practice act and see if there is a requirement for inventory a pharmacy must/should carry. You don’t have to read the whole thing, some selective word searches should find some appropriate paragraphs.
Pt might be interested in filing a complaint with pharmacy board. Some states allow people to file complaints with the State Attorney General office, because the AG’s office is basically legal counsel for all licensing agencies in the state. If you can file a complaint with the AG and the Pharmacy Board refused to verify if the pharmacy did in fact out of inventory, then I would file a complaint against the pharmacy board for what appeared to not be concerned – or condones – pharmacists lying to pts.
If both agency ends up blowing smoke up your lower posterior orifice … contact your state Senate and House member. They are the people that passed these laws and the Governor is the one who signed them into law. Ask them, why to you pass laws when those charged with enforcing them, seems to have little interest in doing their job ?
Remember one of the core functions of the practice medicine is starting, changing, stopping a pt’s therapy. A Pharmacist lying to a pt about inventory on hand as the reason they can’t fill your Rx… and basically they are STOPPING YOUR THERAPY.
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