fun drug fact: in a couple weeks, all hydrocodone products will be classified as schedule II narcotics in New York State (but not federally).
Posted by
Tim (aka othertim)
Feb 5 '13, 12:15
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This will make life ridiculously miserable. It is currently a schedule III statewide (and federally), but this means these things will change.
No more refills. Each fill will require a new prescription. This is a federal law for all CII's. Existing refills will no longer be valid the moment this changes (I think the exact date is the 23rd). I can this causing a lot of arguments as people will ask why we can't honor the refills (it's the law), and why we can't just call the doctor for a new prescription (well, we can, but a phoned in controlled substance can only be filled for a 5 day supply of medication). Doctors I'm sure will continue to write new prescriptions with refills, but they won't be allowed, again to the confusion and frustration of people who don't understand.
Each hydrocodone product (and there are a LOT of them, I can name a dozen hydrocodone/acetaminophen combinations off the top of my head) will require an exact perpetual inventory to be on hand in the pharmacy at all times. With each prescription, the book is updated with the new count.
This is a company policy, but: all narcotics (mainly things like oxycodone, morphine, and ADHD medications) can only be handled by the pharmacist. I've counted things in the past but I generally don't feel comfortable doing it and I've been doing this for a long time. People drop off a Percoset prescription from the ER and look at me like I'm crazy when I say it's going to be at least 20-30 minutes, because I can't just grab the drug off the shelf and count it out. The pharmacist has to quit what they're doing (verifying all the other rx's), get it out of the safe (more on that in a minute), count it, update the inventory and then can resume what they're doing. This is (one of the many reasons) why your prescription takes so damn long to fill.
All narcotic medications must be kept in a secure location, either a safe or cabinet, that only the pharmacist on duty has access to and must remain locked at all times. I've been in this store for over 4 years and this might be the first one I don't actually know the combination to because LP is hardcore about this shit. I'm glad I don't know it anyway because it means I'm clean if there's ever issues. Anyway, here's the hard part: there is absolutely no way all the hydrocodone products can fit in our current safe. I'm sure that's true for every store, actually. They're going to have to find room for a separate locked cabinet to store the medication. I have no idea where it could currently go in my store. And they'd have to do this for virtually every single one.
And I'm sure there will be other issues as well. Can't wait!
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