Walmart announced Monday the retail giant will begin to restrict opioid prescriptions to help stem the deadly drug epidemic.
"Walmart and Sam's Club pharmacies are set to limit customers' acute opioid prescriptions to a seven-day supply, with up to a 50 morphine milligram equivalent maximum per day, the company said in a news release.
The new rules align with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines which suggest "three days or less will often be sufficient" for those prescribed the painkillers, and "more than seven days will rarely be needed."
foxnews.com/health/2018/05/07/walmart-to-limit-opioid-prescriptions-at-pharmacies-amid-epidemic.html
[Ed Note - This is for initial acute opioid prescriptions only meaning short duration as opposed to chronic or long term prescriptions or courses of treatment.]
(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Wednesday May 09 2018, @08:12PM (1 child)
Actually I suggest you have a mistaken understanding of a pharmacist's job, or the training involved, and the laws they must follow:
They generally know more about drugs than the doctors prescribing them.
Further, the federal laws and state laws impose a duty not to fill prescriptions they know to be illegal or dangerous, even if a phone call to the doctor results in confirmation. Especially in cases of suspected "doctor shopping"
Texas examples here: https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/mtgs/pharm_awareness/conf_2012/sept_2012/houston/gdodson_1002.pdf [usdoj.gov]
Here's a summary of various state laws, pay attention to part III: Obligation of Pharmacists to Decline to Fill or Refill Prescriptions
http://www.namsdl.org/library/171EFA8E-19B9-E1C5-3193B89790E83B30/ [namsdl.org]
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 10 2018, @01:37AM
That is when he picks up the phone I mentioned, and instead of calling the doctor, he calls the law. He probably doesn't dial 911 in this instance, instead dialing the nearest office of the state police. Regular beat cops probably aren't trained or equipped to deal with a doctor abusing prescriptions. But, the pharmacist almost certainly knows which local agency is trained and equipped to deal with such a case.
However, the pharmicist with the script in his hand is the proper person to make such a determination. Not a bunch of hillbilly corporate heads in a building overlooking I-49 in northwest Arkansas.
Those corporate heads are only interested in public opinion and profit - they have no idea how legal any particular prescription might be.