In order to refill my Rx, I have to send someone on a five-hour drive.

[Ladyhawk]

I'm on a Rx narcotic and order to have it refilled, I have to pick up the Rx in person in Sacramento, which is at least 2 and a half hours from here. I'm not supposed to drive.

Now, could someone please tell me how I'm supposed to pick up my pain medication? :mad: Perhaps Captain Picard could beam me to UC Davis. Or maybe if I click my heels together 3 times and say, "There's no place like UC Davis...there's no place like UC Davis...there's no place like UC Davis" I'll be magically transported to my destination. Or maybe, if I started walking right now, I might arrive only a few days after my medication runs out. Or maybe Rush Limbaugh's maid is available for a late-night rendezvous on some dark alley...

What do you think?

Sigh. Maybe they do this to make sure you get off the heavy stuff as soon as possible. Perhaps I'll go back to ibuprofen and hope it's enough. I still have OxyCodone, but it makes me itch.

[sarcasmo]

1. Have you tried ordering it from Canada like my freeper Father in law.

[Goblinmonger]

3. Doesn't that piss you off?

I know several freepers that do that. Their response to, "But isn't it hypocritical to not have socialized medicine here but order your meds from a socialized system because it is cheaper" is usually this:

*blink*
*blink*

Hate that.

[Jo March]

2. Could you order online and have it delivered?

5 hours worth of driving is way too much. Good grief. And if you can't get out on the road anyway?!

[Hamlette]

4. it could be that the doc needs picture ID to dispense

even the prescription itself. Couldn't the doc have ANOTHER doc, closer to your home, actually give you the script and check your ID?

Maybe worth asking.

[NV Whino]

5. Ask them if they can FedEx it.

My neighbor gets some of his meds via FedEx. Requires a signature and all that. Might work.

[Ladyhawk]

6. The prescription has to be dispensed by the doctor in person...

...to the patient or someone the patient authorizes.

I think my best bet would be to call my local doctor and see if he can work something out with the neurosurgeon.

I need a sword designed for cutting red tape. This grows tiresome.

[Spinzonner]

8. Doctors dispense prescriptions ?

I thought that was the job of pharmacists.

Have you asked the hospital pharmacy if there are any alternative ways of having the prescription filled that are more logistically convenient ?

[Mr.Green93]

9. Sorry for your hassles

but be thankful you can get any pain relief these days. The war on drugs and selfish abusers is causing suffering for many.

[gulfcoastliberal]

7. Hey I'm from Davis...

But I'm in Florida now. But I'm going back next week to visit my sick dad. Can't you transfer your script to a local place?

[NMMNG]

10. Wow, you have a pretty restrictive system

Why can't a closer pharmacy fill it?

I get Percocet and although I have to have a written prescription I could have someone else pick it up for me. I've also had a friend pick up the medication from the pharmacy for me.

My Vicodin can be called in to the pharmacy and I don't need to pick it up in person.

Both can be filled at any pharmacy.

[REP]

12. I Can Get My Triplicates In The Mail If I Want

Of course, I live only three blocks from my doctor's office and pharmacy, but I can get any of my prescriptions, even the narcotics, mailed to me at no additional charge.

[Chomskyite]

11. Consider ordering it from offshore

Since so many of the pills we buy at the US pharmacies are made in other countries to start with, you might consider ordering via the internet from an offshore pharmacist. The best clearinghouse for info on who is reputable and who is not, is this site:

http://www.drugbuyers.com/

[Ladyhawk]

13. OK, here's a better explanation (I hope) and a resolution (I hope).

In California, certain Rx drugs are listed as controlled substances. My pharmacy referred to them as "triplicates." Probably the request must be filled out in triplicate. The painkiller I'm on, Percocet, is a "triplicate" drug.

In order to refill this prescription, I would have to pick up the written Rx from my doctor and deliver it personally to a pharmacy. Either that or I would have to write a letter for the person picking it up, sign it, etc. In short, the written Rx has to be picked up in person and hand-carried to a pharmacy.

My neurosurgeon is at UC Davis, which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from here. So, in order to pick up the Rx, I'd have to drive there and back again. Right now, I can't drive. The pharmacy and UC Davis weren't terribly helpful when I told them the problem.

Then I thought that perhaps my local doctor could write the Rx and when UC Davis called back, they said they had no problems with that, but recommended I come off the Percocet and start taking Vicodin. In the past, Vicodin hasn't helped me at all. If this proves to be the case, I will go to my local doctor and ask him to prescribe Percocet.

Sound like a plan? :)

At least I'm getting better at finding my way through the red tape. Sheesh.