Pharmacy

Getting Methadone at a Pharmacy

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If you or someone you love is coming off a harmful and debilitating addiction to drugs then the road to recovery is sometimes incredibly painful. However, with the advent of modern medicine there are drugs now that can help you deal with that addiction in a much less painful way. One of the most popular and common drugs is Methadone which is used to treat those coming off a heroin addiction. But before you head to your local pharmacy to get it filled there are a couple of things you want to keep in mind.

First thing is that Methadone is an incredibly expensive drug if you aren’t properly insured. So it is important that you have your insurance in order and you bring your PRESCRIPTION insurance card to the pharmacy. This will help in not having to pay more than you can afford.

This drug is a Schedule II narcotic meaning it is one grade lower than that of heroin itself. This just means that it puts extra regulations on the filling of this drug. One of these regulations is the expiration date. Most regular prescriptions like anti-biotics are good for one year from the original date written on the prescription. A drug like Ambien is only good for six months from the date written. With a drug like Methadone it is only good for 90 days from the date written. It was 7 days, but the law has since changed. So know that if you get a prescription for the drug it is in your best interest to use it sooner than later.

A pharmacy will not give an early refill on this medication. Some drugs a pharmacy will give out a day or two early. This will never be given out a day early. It will be given out only at the appropriate time. If a pharmacy does not have enough supply of the medication in stock you may be forced to either take what they have and forfeit the rest or take your prescription to another pharmacy. There are strict rules for dealing with Methadone.

Filed Under: Addictive Substances Tagged With: Pharmaceutical drug, Pharmacy

Pharmacy Visits Are More Complex than Car Insurance Quotes

One of the worst parts of seeing a doctor has nothing to do with the doctor himself. It’s about going to the pharmacy afterward. While pharmacies are helpful in getting you the medication you need, just like with complex car insurance quotes, there are a lot of questions that can come up. So, if you are going to make a trip to the pharmacy, there are a few general rules you need to stick to in order to prevent a headache.

Stay Away from Heavy Traffic Times

Right after work, during lunch time, and on Mondays are the busiest times for a pharmacy. If you go in at this time, you should expect to wait longer than if you are coming in during the mid afternoon or on an off day. Pharmacies do their best to accommodate the high demand, but that doesn’t mean they can handle everyone who comes in immediately.

Give Refills Time

You assume you have refills left because your bottle says you do, but that doesn’t necessarily make it true. It could be an old bottle, there could be a new prescription, or it simply could be that your refills have expired. If this is the case, there is going to be an issue with getting it refilled on time. This means you have to get in early and give them time to get it ready for you.

Pharmacists Have Questions

Just because your doctor explained the details of medication to you doesn’t mean they wrote it clearly on the script. If this is the case, the pharmacist is going to have to clarify. There are miscommunications that happen, but you would rather have the pharmacist be sure or fast? If they fill it wrong, that could spell trouble for you and for them.

Filed Under: Addiction Care Programs Tagged With: Health, Medical prescription, Pharmacy

How Pharmacies Can Enable Drug Addicts

Prescription drug abuse is not a myth, and as the pharmacy landscape continues to evolve, so does the resourcefulness of the addict. These days there is no question that it is easier to abuse prescription drugs than ever before. From the different scams that are available to the new drugs on the market that are available for testing by addicts, to concoctions like “Purple Drank” the practice of script abuse is alive and well.

The influx of pharmacies is a big factor in the rise in prescription medication abuse. Years ago there was just the local pharmacy and therefore it made it difficult for addicts to continue to try and manipulate the same location time and time again. However, times have changed. With virtually only a mile separating one pharmacy from the next and many owned by different companies it becomes easier to turn your drug habit into a well organized system. The idea is to simply never involve the insurance and there are drugs for the taking.

Insurance is always the roadblock for a drug addict. If an addict where to fill their vicodin at one pharmacy and have it billed to the insurance, the insurance would alert the pharmacy that they just paid a claim 2 days ago for a rather high quantity of Vicodin. This would put the addict in a difficult position to get a refill on their pain meds.

What addicts do is forego the insurance at one pharmacy and at another pharmacy they bill to insurance. The interesting part of this is that sometimes pharmacies offer a drug discount card that will allow addicts to save money and even when they attempt to early refill their medication at the same pharmacy, not only does the system not alert the staff that the medication is being filled early(because it’s not billed to insurance) but it will give them a price break on the medication.

The rise in pharmacies and the competitive nature of pharmacies nowadays is making it easier for drug addicts to support their habit and it’s saving them money too.

Filed Under: Addiction Rehab Tagged With: Drug abuse, Pharmacy, Prescription drug

How to Spot a Prescription Addict

Sometimes it is difficult to know the signs if your loved one is abusing drugs or alcohol. As time goes on an addict usually reveals themselves just by their actions but there are times when it is hard for even those who are present everyday to see that someone is in too deep. This is especially true of those addicted to pain meds and other prescribed narcotics. It is often harder to detect because there are valid reasons for a person to have controlled narcotics and so an addict may be able to operate within that safety zone for quite some time before their behavior shows through. However there are signs that make it easier to notice.

The first is to look for prescriptions from different pharmacies. Most people go to the same pharmacy and only occasionally go to different pharmacies. They usually only venture to other pharmacies if there is a out of stock for a medication or if there is a significantly cheaper price somewhere else.

With controlled medications those two possibilities are slim and none as prices are usually the same and most pharmacies are well stocked with appropriate and well prescribed controlled narcotics. So when there are bottles from different chains this should raise a red flag.

Also, it is best to be checking the quantity on the bottles. This is important as most people with temporary pain are given a low quantity. Those with massive pain issues may be given significantly more but this does not mean that they are should be going through those pills in less time than prescribed. Just seeing the frequency of their refills should be enough to trigger a signal.

The other thing to watch out for is a change in doctors. Addicts will move their doctors around if they find that their doctor is wise to their abuse. If they suddenly change doctors then you may have a problem on your hands. There is no fool proof way to spot a script addict but these are just a few signs to let you know you may have a problem.

Filed Under: Addiction Advice Tagged With: addiction, Pharmaceutical drug, Pharmacy

Ground Rules for Dealing with an Addict

Drug addiction is one of the hardest things in the world to overcome. Millions and millions of dollars every single day is poured into outreach programs and research on how to help people combat this terrible disease of addiction. If someone you know and love is dealing with drug addiction it’s quite possible that you are having to deal with it too. This is not just their problem. This problem affects everyone.

So the question is how do you handle it? It’s not easy to practice tough love, but it’s also not easy to practice a nurturing behavior as you watch someone you care about destroy their lives. Making some simple rules for yourself can help you deal with the addict in your life.

The first thing you have to do is set ground rules, not only for yourself but for the addict themselves. The number one rule is not to enable. This makes you just as guilty as they are. So when an addict asks for money you must tell them no. It doesn’t matter what they tell you or how little they may be asking for. You must assume they are spending that money on drugs and firmly tell them you will not be giving them any money. If they claim they need money for a flat tire, explain to them you would be happy to help them by paying the tire shop in person or over the phone but there will be no transferring of money between the addict.

If an addict wants to enter your home you must make the simple rule that the addict cannot be clearly on drugs and cannot bring drugs into your home. You should feel very right in asking them to empty their pockets, backpack, or purse if you have to. Having drugs in your home is not only unacceptable to you but is something you could get in real trouble for.
Understand these rules may be met with some resistance by the addict. This may even strain your relationship, but you do not want to be an enabler to them.

Filed Under: Addiction Advice Tagged With: addiction, dealing with addict, Disease, Drug addiction, drugs, Drugs addiction, Health, health care, Pharmacy, Research, Substance abuse

Purchasing Pseudoephedrine Products

In the state of Illinois you might have found that buying over the counter cold medication has become a real hassle. Perhaps you have approached the back wall of a pharmacy only to find that the Sudafed you were looking for is now behind the counter. You reach the counter only to discover you need to have identification to buy this drug.

So why is it that now you have to give them your I.D to buy something that anyone was able to buy in the past? Well, if you can believe it for your own safety. A couple of years ago the lawmakers of Illinois got together and decided to approve the monitoring of all drugs containing pseudoephedrine. Not sure what pseudoephedrine is? Let’s make sure you are aware.

Pseudoephedrine is a drug used to make a more harmful drug called meth-amphetamines. This is a very seriously addictive drug. You might hear news programs where they are talking about crystal meth and if so then they are talking about the same kinds of ingredients that are used in some of the over the counter medicine that you have to go behind a pharmacy for.

So how does this work? Well you give a pharmacy technician your id and they run the drivers license number through the computer and it comes up with whatever pseudoephedrine products you have recently. This is because there is now a limit on the amount you are allowed to purchase. For instance you might by a 24 back of Claritin D but you cannot buy another 24 pack in the same day. All of your purchases are stored in a log and monitored and reviewed by the state. You can choose not have your purchases monitored but then you have to choose not purchase that product.

The manufacturers of these drugs are now coming out with pseudoephedrine free versions of these drugs. You have to make the determination on which drug will work best for you but understand that the law is there in the fight against illegal drugs.

Filed Under: Addictive Substances Tagged With: Health, Pharmaceutical drug, Pharmacy, Pseudoephedrine

The Growth of Rx Addicts

One of the growing issues in the American drug culture isn’t with known narcotics like cocaine and heroin. It lies with something you can find at the local pharmacy. Prescription medications are becoming some of the most abused drugs in the country and with the growing number of ways to steal these drugs, the trend is only getting higher.

It was once said that the higher class addicts were pill poppers as it was more dignified as opposed to buying drugs off a street corner or from unsavory characters. Well the times and perception of that have changed as now drug addicts are looking for high grade prescription medication. This is due to its ease of availability.

Common drugs such as cocaine or marijuana are often in scarce supply to a local dealer. Lots of things must happen and align for a dealer to be in constant supply of the drug. With prescription medication, it is strictly up to the addict to obtain the means to acquire the drug. Pharmacies are never in short supply of drugs like Xanax, Vicodin, and Ativan.

The means at which to obtain these prescription pills is also an attractive lure for addicts as there are several ways to do it. The first way is by simply calling in a phony prescription. Addicts usually have it mastered before they attempt it. Then there is simply forging a prescription. This is usually a result of stealing a doctors prescription paid before they realize that anything is missing.

The other, and certainly less common, method is having a doctor of compromised morals write out a prescription for painkillers or drugs like Xanax without the patient exhibiting the necessary medical symptoms to require such strong medications. These doctors usually work for cash upfront and in exchange agree to write prescriptions with no additional refills so that the patient will then have to come back and see them and pay for another office visit. As long as prescription drugs are readily available there will be addicts ready to abuse them. The trend continues.

Filed Under: Causes Of Addiction Tagged With: Drug addiction, Pharmacy, Prescription drug

How to Spot a Phony Prescription

Working in a pharmacy requires skill and a watchful eye. Any mistake made can result in the harm of someone else. As a health care professional the last thing you want to see is your mistake hurting someone. But there is something else you have to watch out for that you may not be on the lookout for and that’s a fake prescription.

There are more than enough addicts hanging around the pharmacy that you should be alert and be scouting every single prescription that comes through your pharmacy. If you don’t it could cost you more than the pills. It could cost you your job.

The first thing you need to forget is what you think a drug addict might look like. There are those that fit the classic Hollywood movie profile but most look just like you and if they came into the pharmacy you wouldn’t know the difference. This is majorly important. You must assume every single prescription carries with it the possibility of being a phony and judge each one accordingly.

One of the first and easiest things to spot on a phony medication order is how much of the directions are spelled out. A doctor may write “tab bid with food” this conveys the order to a pharmacy staff member but if the order were spelled out like “Take One tablet by mouth two times daily with food” is far too spelled out for a pharmacy not to raise a red flag.

Look for excessive quantities too and with no diagnosis on the front. Also look for suspicious order for a patient where they are tight lipped about the injury. A good doctor who is ordering a high quantity of a controlled narcotic and not outwardly justifying it is up to no good and should be trusted.

Also, when taking in a prescription called in over the phone make sure you ask for the doctors DEA number. Most patients don’t know the DEA number of the doctor they are trying to represent. These tips will help you with a phony prescription.

Filed Under: Addiction Advice Tagged With: Drug, Medical prescription, Pharmacy