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posted by martyb on Monday September 25 2017, @12:59PM   Printer-friendly
from the addiction-sucks dept.

CVS is finally trying to do something about the opioid epidemic:

Drug-store chain CVS Health announced Thursday that it will limit opioid prescriptions in an effort to combat the epidemic that accounted for 64,000 overdose deaths last year alone.

Amid pressure on pharmacists, doctors, insurers and drug companies to take action, CVS also said it would boost funding for addiction programs, counseling and safe disposal of opioids.

[...] The company's prescription drug management division, CVS Caremark, which provides medications to nearly 90 million people, said it would use its sweeping influence to limit initial opioid prescriptions to seven-day supplies for new patients facing acute ailments.

It will instruct pharmacists to contact doctors when they encounter prescriptions that appear to offer more medication than would be deemed necessary for a patient's recovery. The doctor would be asked to revise it. Pharmacists already reach out to physicians for other reasons, such as when they prescribe medications that aren't covered by a patient's insurance plan.

The plan also involves capping daily dosages and initially requiring patients to get versions of the medications that dispense pain relief for a short period instead of a longer duration.

[...] "The whole effort here is to try to reduce the number of people who are going to end up with some sort of opioid addiction problem," CVS Chief Medical Officer Troyen Brennan said in an interview.

It appears this initiative is limited to initial filling of prescriptions — there is no mention of changes in the handling of refills.


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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @01:27PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @01:27PM (#572649)

    I applaud them, trying to stay above the rest. But it is really not their problem, and if it gets to the point that they are the ones limiting it then the whole system is broken beyond repair. It should not be up to their discretion. Sure they should maybe keep track of what doctors issue the scripts, and if Dr Feelgood has been prescribing 100 scripts a day forward the info to DEA, but they should not be in business of second guessing medical needs. Plus I'm sure that the pharmacists do not want or need this extra work.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Virindi on Monday September 25 2017, @01:34PM (1 child)

    by Virindi (3484) on Monday September 25 2017, @01:34PM (#572652)

    I believe what is really going on here is not that CVS has independently decided to address the problem. Instead, they are being pressured by politicians and law enforcement, who are trying to achieve what they could not otherwise do through coercion. Even if threats are not direct, the axe of the DEA is still there hanging over the heads of the pharmacists. They are trying to make themselves look like team players to try to avoid it.

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @06:52PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @06:52PM (#572748)

      exactly, this is about local control of people by the feds, plain and simple. it's not enough that you paid for an expensive doctor's visit and wasted time going in to see the quack, now you have to go to a brick and mortar like it's 1965, get put on a fed "doper" list and see if some dipshit whore of the federal government decides you can have your fucking medicine.

      if people are dying all over the country, i'm sorry but that's not my fucking problem. all that being said, i don't use any of this shit nor do business with these flu vaccine pushing pieces of shit, but if i broke my leg and this was happening i might lose my shit on these stupid mother fuckers.

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @04:02PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @04:02PM (#572700)

    You have no idea about pharmacy. They spend six years learning it before being qualified, and they keep studying forever.
    They know far more than most doctors about drugs, side effects and drug interactions. There are reasons why pharmacists ask what else you are taking, and there are many, many cases where they ring up a doctor and basically say "are you trying to kill this patient? cos that's what these two drugs together will do."

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday September 25 2017, @06:27PM

      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday September 25 2017, @06:27PM (#572739) Journal

      Back in 2015 when I had a big blood clot in my right lung--but *before* they knew that, thinking it was muscle strain--they prescribed me cyclobenzaprine (flexiril), a muscle relaxant that looks a lot like a tricyclic antidepressant, and Tramadol, an opioid painkiller. Now, I'm not a pharmacist, but I did get through most of Kaplan's training course before, ironically, having to quit due to getting sick. And something sounded off about this combination. So I looked it up, and it turns out combining these two is a good way to die of serotonin syndrome. Needless to say I didn't touch either, and it took over two years to run those initial small bottles down to nothing.

      I am one of those people who responds really, really well to opioids. They don't just relieve the pain; they make me feel *good.* And for that reason i am never, ever, ever going to get onto them.

      --
      I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...