Rx Wrong date

[PurpleKitty]

My Dr gave me a new script for my pain meds and klonopin last week on a "controlled substance" form for a 90 day supply to be mailed to my mail-away pharmacy. I mailed it as usual, and today got a call from my insurance saying that they couldn't fill the script because it was too old, I needed a new script. I told them he just wrote it a fews days earlier and they told me it was dated 7-1-06!! What?? I called my Dr office and they refused to write me a new script until they see the original one. I explained my mail away pharmacy had the script, I requested they return it to me but that will take 7-10 days. Can you believe it, the wrong date on a controlled script?? I thought that Drs kept a copy of the controlled drug scripts, I know on the old controlled drug scripts it was a triple-carbon form, one for the Dr and 2 given to the pharmacy.

Has anyone else ever had this happen to them????

[Berkshire Road]

Actually, yes, my dr. wrote the wrong year on one of mine, and then I was trying to fill it on the weekend... nightmare. I think she actually wrote it for one year in the future, don't know where her brain was. Fortunately I had not sent it to a mail-in, and I was able to reach the on-call dr. He called the pharmacy to vouch for me, but they wouldn't fill it anyway, but then my husband took it to Walgreens and they were willing to fill the scrip with the doctor on the phone.

I don't know what you can do in your situation. Can't the dr. write you a new scrip, maybe just for the number of days until you can get the 90 day one? Then maybe you could fill that locally, right away. Just a scrip for 10 days' worth, or something. You might have to pay cash, but it's a one time thing, and generic painkillers are usually pretty cheap anyway.

Well, anyway, I'm sorry this happened to you and I hope you get it worked out. I've been stranded with no pain meds before, and it's no fun, but you do survive it. Good luck to you.

[jen74]

Your doctor likely wrote in the wrong year. I sometimes forget we are in the year 07. That sucks though that now you have to wait to get another script.I hope you get a new script soon so you can get your meds.
Jen

[mary124]

Yes, on my son's Adderall, luckily, it wasn't with medco pharmacy but with the local, but it was still a nightmare. It to 3 tries to get it straighten out. Finally I had to go to another pharmacy and get it filled. (It was still wrong, but the nurse talked to the pharmarist and they said for me to bring it in and they will fill it even with the wrong dates).

[SandyRN]

I didn't know you could get a controlled substance of any sort through mail order, especially for a 90 day supply! That is amazing.

That aside, I'm so sorry that you're going through this. You WOULD think that they would have been able to get access to the copy of that RX in some form or fashion...or maybe the mail order co could fax a COPY to the doctor and that would be good enough til they get the original RX back?

Why does being on pain management have to be so darn hard? Are you going to go into withdrawls because you will run out of meds??

[tigger_gal]

can't the mail order FAX over the orginal to the doctor?

[toby75]

A lot of drug card providers are perferring that their customers use pharmacies by mail. They do 3 month scripts as opposed to you using a physical pharmacy and they make you do this if you have a script that you will be using monthly over 3 months. If you don't use it then you are charged more by using your own pharmacy, stupid, saving money for them, and making it more difficult to get your medications correct or in a timely manner.

BTW-is your drug card Medco? Mine is and I don't use their 3 month supply mail service. I pay the extra $10 I would save by mail and use my pharmacy for less headaches, accuracy, and if there was a problem it can be resolved quickly. But some don't even allow you to do that, they make you use the mail service if you have them as a provider.

Does the 7/1 date refer to the next time you would need the 3 month script filled or was the date suppose to reflect march. I know he got the year wrong but was the month and day correct?

Sad part is I am so sure these mail in pharmacies run into these problems all the time but have yet to make it easier for the patient to have it corrected in a timely matter. Your dr should still give you a week supply till its resovled.

Laws or not they CAN do that if they want too.

Good Luck I hope you don't run out!

Amy

[toby75]

Another hugh probably with mailing it in, is, what if it gets lost in the mail? Another flaw in their money saving system.

[GriffsMommy]

Amy,
I have one of those Rx plans where you have to get all maintance drugs through mail order. They charge you 2 times the monthly copay so it does save you money but if you've been on it for more than 3 months and try to get it filled at the pharmacy they will reject it and you will have to pay full price for it if you need it then. I think it's a pain in the butt to have to use the mail order, espically since a 3 month supply of my Elmiron is $120, that's a lot of money all at once. But this is the insurance that my job offers so what can I do.

[PurpleKitty]

Toby,

Yep, my drug co is Medco, pain in the neck aren't they? If I don't use the mail-in for long term meds not only do I have to pay the additional co-pay at the pharmacy, but I am also "fined" an additional $30.00 per med for not using mail-in. Medco hasn't returned the script to me yet but told me the date read 7-1-06 and should have been 3-21-07, who knows maybe the Drs handwriting is just really, really sloppy. You can be sure I'll check and double check every script before I send it in from now on. Luckily my Dr. changed me to Ultram extended release on that day and the script was only for klonopin and break-through meds so I'll be fine till my appt. next week.

On a side note, the Ultram extended release is working wonders for me, has seriously decreased my pain without the need of any break-through meds with very few side-effects. For those of you that get releif from Ultram you may want to give the Ultram ER a try.