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DelCamper's avatar
DelCamper
Explorer
Feb 26, 2014

Medications

My wife needs prescription pain medication that can be difficult to get the prescription filled. We would love to take our motor home out for a few months but getting these prescriptions filled out of state or even in Florida (our new residence) is problematic.

Anyone else have this problem and is it nation wide or just confined to Florida?

19 Replies

  • One more option would be to see if her Doctor would write the prescription for more per day than normal, this would be after explaining the problem with traveling.

    I have what is referred to as Failed Back Syndrome from having back surgery in 2005 that did not turn out very well and I understand your problem. My Doctor writes my script for 90 days at a time but after that I must pick up a new script at her office. Also, at my Walgreen's if someone else besides me is going to pick up my order I must notify them before hand.

    When it come to hitting the road I need to be very aware of my prescription renewal time and either have to plan to be back in time to renew or plan ahead to have someone setup to do it for me. Unfortunately now a days with all of these pill mills and people selling their prescriptions this is what pain sufferers must deal with.

    I hope that you can get it figured out.
  • You have a difficult but not an impossible problem. If the pain medication in Federal Class II and new written prescription will be required every time the medication is filled. If the medication in Class III it can be refilled, but each State has it's own laws regarding the refills. In California it can be transferred for refill only once, even if additional refills are indicated. In all States the pharmacist must accept legal liability for the "legal proper use of the medication." This degree of risk will create a situation where most pharmacists will not fill an out of state prescription for a pain medication, and they may not even fill an in state prescription when the doctor or the patient is not known. If you are going to a location for an extended stay, establish yourself with a single pharmacy and make arraignments in advance for your prescription to be faxed or mailed and verified. Some prescription must be original and cannot be faxed. If you are going to traveling, it would be best to have your physician e-mail or fax a letter to a clinic in each area you anticipate visiting at the time of a needed refill...you will then have to visit the clinic, pay for a consult, and have a new prescription issued. This seems like a horrible bother, but enforcement by the DEA and local State Boards, and articles by major news sources have created an atmosphere of fear among health professionals. You might also check with your insurance carrier to see if they have a nationwide network where you can see an urgent care physician for refills. Again, an advance letter from your physician would be most helpful.
    This is the opinion of a retired California/Nevada pharmacist.
    Hope it helps.
  • Don't know about Florida laws, so can't answer your question.

    So true....lots of things in life where our freedom is limited due to the bad apples.
  • I can only get 30 days worth of medication at a time. Not a day earlier.

    I appreciate and agree with the tough laws for narcotics but it can be inconvenient. We have to plan times away based on picking up my meds. There are no last minute decisions to go away for a weekend if I have to pick up meds on a saturday, we can't get it early.
  • Janss

    The question is will they fill a pain med Rx out of state?

    Getting someone else to get a pain med Rx filled here in Florida is a virtual impossibility. Drug Stores can only do a small amount of their business in pain meds here regardless of the validity of the Dr and Rx. They face expensive inventory control from the police if they fill too many (less than 20%) which they desire to avoid. One store refused to fill an Rx that has been unchanged for years because they said they reached their limit for the month.

    The reality is the junkies are setting the policy that the law abiding must live by. Its unfair having a motor home and the time and money to travel only to be shackled with this nonsense.

    If someone is traveling to Florida don't even think of getting a pain med out of state RX filled here regardless of need or validity.
  • We are from NY and have our son pick up my wife's narcotic prescription and then put them in a USPS flat rate box with our mail once a month and mail it to us General delivery at a local post office
  • Some people suggest getting the doctor to write several post-dated scripts.
  • She can get 30 day RX only. You can't get a pain med Rx filled here for more than 30 days but you can get two 30 day Rx. They will fill the second one 30 days later. Just wondering if the rest of the US is the same.

    Your like a dog on a leash.
  • Pain meds are difficult to get ANY where.

    Does her DOC write her a Rx with refills or does she have to see the DOC for new Rx?

    Talk with her DOC about your travel plans and see if he can write a 90 Rx......
    You may have to pay out of pocket cause some Ins. Med Rx coverage will only cover 30 day scripts

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