Question about refilling a controlled substance

Quote: GenoDRPh

I will also state that pharmacies-independent or chain-also have their own rules on when they fill stuff and how soon they will do so. And they are allowed to do that, since there is law preventing such politices and no law compels filling any prescription.

That being said, a polite discussion about how long this patient has been taking this, the diagnosis and clinical reason as well as just asking how soon can each refill be would go a long way. No pharmacist wants to be a prick. We want to help, but stay within the law and stay within our employers rules. Stories I could tell...

Thanks again for the reply.

After many, many, phone calls, leaving numerous voice messages to machine answered calls, being shuffled between various departments and agencies, I was able to obtain a definitive answer from a subject matter expert.

Just for a reminder, the following is the applicable section of the law which I had questions about:

Quote:

Unless an earlier refilling is authorized by the prescriber, no prescription for a controlled substance may be refilled earlier than seven days prior to the date the previously dispensed supply would be exhausted if used in conformity with the directions for use.

Assuming that the records of the dates that the medicine was picked up on are correct, the “subject matter expert” indicated that the pharmacist was correctly following the law.

The correct way to understand the law is that yes, the medicine could be filled up to 7 days early but these 7 days are counted over the entire timeframe that a person has been prescribed the medication, which could be 6 months, 2 years, 10 years, etc. it doesn’t matter. I’m probably not explaining this too well so I will provide an example. (I am not trying to insult anyone’s intelligence here).

Let’s say a person has been on the meds for 5 years and monthly received a new 30 day prescription, in June 2022 the meds were picked up 1 day early, in Sep 2023 they were picked up 2 days early, and in Mar 2024 3 days early, and in May 2025 1 day early, Since meds were now picked up early a total of 7 days, from now on going forward from May 2025, the meds cannot be picked up early ever again.

I think that it is a little ridiculous that there is a 7 day limit over the entire timeframe a person is on the medication which could be 5, 10, 20 or more years. I think that the 7 day limit should be reset after a certain timeframe.

Quote: fleaswatter

Thanks again for the reply.

After many, many, phone calls, leaving numerous voice messages to machine answered calls, being shuffled between various departments and agencies, I was able to obtain a definitive answer from a subject matter expert.

Just for a reminder, the following is the applicable section of the law which I had questions about:
Assuming that the records of the dates that the medicine was picked up on are correct, the “subject matter expert” indicated that the pharmacist was correctly following the law.

The correct way to understand the law is that yes, the medicine could be filled up to 7 days early but these 7 days are counted over the entire timeframe that a person has been prescribed the medication, which could be 6 months, 2 years, 10 years, etc. it doesn’t matter. I’m probably not explaining this too well so I will provide an example. (I am not trying to insult anyone’s intelligence here).

Let’s say a person has been on the meds for 5 years and monthly received a new 30 day prescription, in June 2022 the meds were picked up 1 day early, in Sep 2023 they were picked up 2 days early, and in Mar 2024 3 days early, and in May 2025 1 day early, Since meds were now picked up early a total of 7 days, from now on going forward from May 2025, the meds cannot be picked up early ever again.

I think that it is a little ridiculous that there is a 7 day limit over the entire timeframe a person is on the medication which could be 5, 10, 20 or more years. I think that the 7 day limit should be reset after a certain timeframe.

I am licensed in MA and NH. I have never ever heard of an interpretation of the law like you described. This subject matter expert, was he/she a lawyer, regulator from a state or federal agency, a pharmacy manager or supervisor?

Quote: GenoDRPh

I am licensed in MA and NH. I have never ever heard of an interpretation of the law like you described. This subject matter expert, was he/she a lawyer, regulator from a state or federal agency, a pharmacy manager or supervisor?

I live in New York and the person I talked to was from the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement which is part of the NY Department of Health.

My next step is to obtain a copy of the pharmacy records for the medication to verify their calculation of number of early dispensing days.