Word on the street, and what I've witnessed with my very own lying eyes, information technology CHUDS and medical students alike have been crying like little bishes about the market failure to keep them supplied with their longtime legal drugs of dependency.
Bloomberg | Patients diagnosed with conditions like anxiety and sleep disorders have become caught in the crosshairs of America’s opioid crisis, as secret policies mandated by a national opioid settlement have turned filling legitimate prescriptions into a major headache.
In July, limits went into effect that flag and
sometimes block pharmacies’ orders of controlled substances such as
Adderall and Xanax when they exceed a certain threshold. The requirement
stems from a 2021 settlement with the US’s three largest drug
distributors — AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp.
But pharmacists said it curtails their ability to fill prescriptions
for many different types of controlled substances — not just opioids.
Independent
pharmacists said the rules force them come up with creative
workarounds. Sometimes, they must send patients on frustrating journeys
to find pharmacies that haven’t yet exceeded their caps in order to buy
prescribed medicines.
“I understand the intention of this policy
is to have control of controlled substances so they don’t get abused,
but it’s not working,” said Richard Glotzer, an independent pharmacist
in Millwood, New York. “There’s no reason I should be cut off from
ordering these products to dispense to my legitimate patients that need
it.”
It's unclear how the thresholds are impacting major chain
pharmacies. CVS Health Corp. didn’t provide comment. A spokesperson for
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said its pharmacists “work to resolve any
specific issues when possible, in coordination with our distributors.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration regulates the manufacturing,
distribution and sale of controlled substances, which can be dangerous
when used improperly. Drugmakers and wholesalers were always supposed to
keep an eye out for suspicious purchases and have long had systems to
catch, report and halt these orders. The prescription opioid crisis,
enabled by irresponsible drug company marketing and prescribing, led to a
slew of lawsuits and tighter regulations on many parts of the health
system, including monitoring of suspicious orders. One major settlement
required the three largest distributors to set thresholds on orders of
controlled substances starting last July.
The
“suspicious order” terminology is a bit of a misnomer, pharmacists
said. The orders themselves aren't suspicious, it's just that the
pharmacy has exceeded its limit for a specific drug over a certain time
period. Any order that puts the pharmacy over its limit can be stopped.
As a result, patients with legitimate prescriptions get caught up in the
dragnet.
Adding to the confusion, the limits themselves are
secret. Drug wholesalers are barred by the settlement agreement from
telling pharmacists what the thresholds are, how they’re determined or
when the pharmacy is getting close to hitting them.