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Moving Perscription refrills for controlled drugs beween states


hankfolk

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With new controls on which drugs are now controlled we recently ran into a problem in moving controlled drug prescribed in AL, reissued in VA and moved to Texas. Texas voided the prescription as it had been move moved than twice.

 

What are others doing to work around this. Wal-Marts response was to get a local

TX to issue the prescription. Not exactly feasible on short notice.

 

Hank and Ellen Folk

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I get my prescriptions through the mail and have them sent to our mail forwarding service and just have them forward on to me where ever we happen to be. BTW the deal about moving some is nothing new, some meds can only be moved once and only for one refill.

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How long are you gone from home? If less than 3 months at a time, have doctor order a 90 day supply. Do you have family in the home area, you trust (lol)? When we've been gone for long periods of time, we order refills over phone and our son goes in and picks it up (he just needs name and birthday), then he mails it to us. You have to know where you are going to be, before you need the meds and before you get to where they need to mail it (unless you plan to be there for a few days for the mail to catch up to you), but it does work. If you know where your going, just make contact with the CG you are going to, giving them a heads up you are getting mail, you don't even have to say what, but that way they don't refuse it. When we go on extended travel, we have our son mail our mail in a box, along with anything else we need, ie meds, etc, we have had no problems. Another thought, if you know your local pharmacist, they might mail the meds to you also, we did that once, but my parents did that for 22 years, traveling from one end of the USA to other, with no problems.

 

Hope this helps and God bless,

Mike

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Most controlled drugs now have new rules about the amount and how many refills can be issued. An example is Ambien. It requires a new script each time. How your Dr. Handles that could be getting tricky. My Dr writes for 90 days at a time. When I need a new script I contact his office and it gets sent to Express Scripts our mail order pharmacy. It requires a written signature so I have to allow for the minutia that Is required to make it happen.

Ron & Linda

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Barb

How are the mail order pharmacy prices compared to calling around where you are to get the "best" price? We've been debating going to a mail order pharmacy for quite some time. Thanks. Hugs, Di

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I've never compared because our meds are covered by insurance and I have no idea what the costs of each would be without the insurance. The maximum that we pay for any 90 day generic Rx is $20 - and most often it is $5-10.

 

Barb

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Has anyone had a problem with having the prescription filled at Walgreen's, or CVC, and then as you move around the country go to one of their local stores and picking up a refill? I took one bottle into a store in New York for a refill that had been filled in AZ, and did not have a problem.

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anyone had a problem with having the prescription filled at Walgreen's, or CVC, and then as you move around the country go to one of their local stores and picking up a refill?

No problem for most drugs and that includes Wal-Mart.. But with some high control factored drugs, the dispensing physical pharmacy needs the script. That is where the mail-order pharmacies are an advantage. But so far, the few times we have had one of those drugs, it was also one we needed right away and also didn't need a refill.

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Barb

How are the mail order pharmacy prices compared to calling around where you are to get the "best" price? We've been debating going to a mail order pharmacy for quite some time. Thanks. Hugs, Di

We find that Costco mostly beats the mail order pharmacy our insurance uses, Express Scripts. So we get 90 day supplies at Costco and do not use insurance. I took our medication list in to Costco and the pharmacy gave me the prices in under 5 minutes. This all depends on your particular insurance. We are on a group plan with higher copays on medications than most seem to have.

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Thanks to all who responded.

We have used Wal-Mart, as they have by far the greatest coverage in the areas where we have been traveling for . the past 5 years. Walgreens and Costco are very sporadic in their coverage.

We have MEDCO coverage so I guess that is the way we go.

 

Hank Folk

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People, it is nice that you describe how you get your drugs. But the OP is asking about controlled substances - which are totally different than drugs off the controlled list. There is definitely an issue with getting controlled substances nationwide. If I understand it right you have to get a new physical prescription EACH TIME. It cannot be called in. This all takes time. The mail order and good planning would seem like the best route. But it is inconvenient no matter how you cut it.

 

Regular prescriptions don't seem to be an issue transferring around the country. At least with Walgreens.

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Hank, is Jack correct that you are asking about medications that are on the controlled drug listing or just routine medications? If you are thinking of routine maintenance medications then I suggest you look at the mail order pharmacy that MEDCO is a part of. On the other hand, if you are dealing with controlled substances, they probably will not mail them to you and you must hand carry a prescription into the pharmacy. You might be able to work around that if your doctor is willing to give you several prescriptions to take in each time you need a refill. Many of the controlled medications also are limited to a 30 day supply for each prescription. It is a growing problem and there doesn't seem to be any easy answer, so far.

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With the audits being performed on Dr's these days I doubt "many" Dr's would write you "future prescriptions". That is about the fastest way I know of for them to lose their BNDD number.

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OK we do have one controlled drug. We use Express Scripts which is also Medco

1. yes it requires a new script each time. I am able to have my drug filled for 90 Days at a time

2 you must have a signed script

3 Here's how our Dr does it

A. One month prior to need refill I contact the Dr.

B. Dr send a new script electronically. However since it requires a signature Express Scripts faxes a Document back to Dr who signs it and faxes it back.

C. Express scripts then ship to either our mail service or our temp address.

D. We can go to the web site and input any temp address we want. Usually if we are in travel mode it goes to our mail service and then we have it forwarded

BEWARE:: Once Express Sends the confirmation signature required document to the Dr there is a limited time for them to sign and return the script. Recently we had a pharmacy tech arbitraryly cancel the script after 3 days. So you need to be proactive and check the website daily to make sure things are progressing as needed

I don't know how anyone else's Dr will handle this. Our Dr understands our situation and his practice group had to review this arrangement and approve it. However he is the only one in the practice who can sign the script. So you need to have a conversation with your Dr.

Hopes this clarifys for you. I would assume that since Medco now owns Express the policy's are the same

Also know that usually our stuff works seamlessly. However if you have a situation the initial customer service reps are not empowered to solve a problem.I usually need to get to a supervisor's supervisor

Ron & Linda

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"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are" Theodore Roosevelt

"We can't control the wind, but we can adjust our sail"

"When man gave up his freedom to roam the earth, he gave up his soul for a conditioned ego that is bound by time and the fear of losing its attachments."

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It also depends on the class of the controlled drug. A lot of the lesser drugs can be filled and transferred twice to the different states or different drug stores. . 90% of the time this works well, The other 5 % of the time can be a bit of a bummer.

I think the controlled drug would work best as Barb states. Send the script to a mail order service and have it sent to your same address for all of the refills.. Then Escapees or whoever you use can forward it to you and things should be fine. Hugs, Di.

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Per USPS Mailing of controlled substances:

 

"For prescription medicines containing mailable narcotic drugs (controlled substances), only a pharmacist or medical practitioner, etc., who dispenses the medicine may mail such substances to the patients under their care."

 

Better check with Escapees Office to see what their position is as to accepting and re-mailing controlled substances.

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Has anyone had a problem with having the prescription filled at Walgreen's, or CVC, and then as you move around the country go to one of their local stores and picking up a refill? I took one bottle into a store in New York for a refill that had been filled in AZ, and did not have a problem.

We use both Walgreen's and CVS and have had no problem. Sometimes we've had to transfer from one store to another but no major problem. The issue now is with certain meds being under tighter regulations. I have to take Norco. I used to be able to just have the refill done via phone. No longer. Now I MUST pickup the prescription and sign for it at prescribing doctor's office. Fortunately I have someone at home who will go to doctor's office and sign and get prescription and then take it to CVS or Walgreen's and then mail it to me when filled. Obviously this is only going to work for as long as I have someone I can count on! It is now much harder for us to travel and not worry about getting our meds. But it still beats sitting home! :) Dennis

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Per USPS Mailing of controlled substances:

 

"For prescription medicines containing mailable narcotic drugs (controlled substances), only a pharmacist or medical practitioner, etc., who dispenses the medicine may mail such substances to the patients under their care."

 

Better check with Escapees Office to see what their position is as to accepting and re-mailing controlled substances.

Yikes! After reading this I'm going to have some problems. Will try working with doctor and pharmacy to figure out what will work. Don't want to be breaking the law. Dennis

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Express Scripts (and I'm sure Medco) can and will mail to General Delivery. We just make sure ahead of time that the post office we choose accepts GD. We can track the shipment if need be so we know when it will arrive. We just make sure we have leway in our plans.

Ron & Linda

Class of 2007
2000 Monaco Diplomat

2005 Honda Element

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are" Theodore Roosevelt

"We can't control the wind, but we can adjust our sail"

"When man gave up his freedom to roam the earth, he gave up his soul for a conditioned ego that is bound by time and the fear of losing its attachments."

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Express Scripts (and I'm sure Medco) can and will mail to General Delivery. We just make sure ahead of time that the post office we choose accepts GD. We can track the shipment if need be so we know when it will arrive. We just make sure we have leway in our plans.

Ron & Linda

Class of 2007
2000 Monaco Diplomat

2005 Honda Element

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are" Theodore Roosevelt

"We can't control the wind, but we can adjust our sail"

"When man gave up his freedom to roam the earth, he gave up his soul for a conditioned ego that is bound by time and the fear of losing its attachments."

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Fortunately I have someone at home who will go to doctor's office and sign and get prescription and then take it to CVS or Walgreen's and then mail it to me when filled. Obviously this is only going to work for as long as I have someone I can count on! It is now much harder for us to travel and not worry about getting our meds. But it still beats sitting home! :) Dennis

 

 

Yikes! After reading this I'm going to have some problems. Will try working with doctor and pharmacy to figure out what will work. Don't want to be breaking the law. Dennis

 

You needn't worry - You are not breaking the law - the person who mails it to you is! :rolleyes:

 

That's why you should check with Escapees office - As a re mailer they must have run into this question before and gotten an official response on it. They may be able to suggest a practical solution.

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  • 4 months later...

We had the same problem in April/May this year when we left winter quarters in Arizona, went to Texas for Birding HOP, then through several states until we returned home to Custer SD in mid-May..about 6 weeks. The DW has a controlled-substance scrip from a bad fall last year and can only get one-month scrips from Pain Mgt Dr. in AZ and also when home in SD. Even though the scrips are written correctly and on non-copiable paper, no pharmacy in TX, MO or IN would touch us. So she toughed it out a bit and we cut our trip a bit shorter to get home just in time to get new meds.

 

Sounds like some Dr.'s are willing to write a scrip for 90 days, but most will not. I wonder if this issue is "big enough" to get Escapees involved?

 

We will likely run into this situation again as my wife's neurosurgeon says her condition (and pain) could last for a while (or forever) since it involves nerve damage.

 

Any good/encouraging updates from folks who previously posted on this thread?

 

Hank

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my wife's neurosurgeon says her condition (and pain) could last for a while (or forever) since it involves nerve damage.

 

Any good/encouraging updates from folks who previously posted on this thread?

I can only say twice I had some damaged nerves heal themselves over time so there may be hope for her future.

 

Linda Sand

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