2011 30 Mg Oxycodone Shortage (Page 11)

I am a 51 y/o who lives in Florida, suffering from chronic back pain, and have been prescribed to take up to six 30mg oxycodone tablets a day for over two years by my Pain Management doctor. However, when I went to fill my prescription almost 4 weeks ago, my pharmacy told me their distributor had stopped shipping oxycodone to Florida pharmacies. Since then, I have personally visited about 100 pharmacies but have been unable to find them in stock anywhere. As a former paralegal, I attempted to research the situation, but could only confirm that the DEA has yearly quot on all controlled substances (for oxy's is 98 million grams in 2011). From I gather from the Internet, it appears that the ENTIRE state of FLORIDA is not getting any shipments of oxycodone 30 mg. from distributors, but are other states having this problem as well? Also, can anyone confirm whether (and HOW) the DEA is pressuring distributors to avoid Florida?

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Most people who take oxycodone are not addicts,and in since you are so brilliant,you should know percocet can be 7.5 and 10 mg's as well as 5.Perhaps you should follow your own advice,and read up on the medications.Oxycodone and oxycontin are relatively new pain meds,1995 they were introduced,and people with pancreatic cancer are hardly drug addicts.You my friend are an imbecile and nincompoop,who points the fingers at others,Worry about yourself,and others will do the same.Jack asses such as yourself,are the reason people think Oxycodone is for junkies,when the medical community,of which I am part,hailed these drugs as miracles for those with debilitating chronic pain,as well as those dying a painful death.People such as yourself,with no proper training and education,trying to belittle others,are worthless losers,who desperatly need a life.

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Hey Chris, #201 Who were you directing your comment at? I thinkl I totally agree with you. I am curious, If you don't want to post here I have an open e/m if you would let me know

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fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/Dru...
Everyone needs to read this website You will think different about a lot of things about 1 person that's for sure...he is on our side he is putting a stop to price gouging and the medication shortages....Thank Obama. I was not a Obama... fan at all but if u read it might change your mind because it sure changed my mine..he has my vote....please read he is on our side.HE is putting a stop to PRICE GOUGING AND THE MEDICATION SHORTAGES...Obama needs 4 years

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Tammie can you re-post the full link to the FDA article? It looks like the one you put up is cut off.

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Thanks Donna. But it has nothing to do with having an ER med w/an IR med. I had to go off the ER due to cost. Then a new doc changed mine to even less of the IR.

30mgs as of 03/2012 are not available. I use only the same pharmacy each month within a chain store - best rec I can give any patient. STAY WITH ONE PHARMACY!

The only reason I have not run into shortages is due to the care they provide. The only reason they provide me with great care is getting to know me, what's wrong with me and talking to me about my doc/s etc.

If you can find a pharmacy with a stable pharmacy staff [meaning few staff changes] they will go the extra mile for you. Perfect example was yesterday - had monthly doc appt and contacted them that morning so I knew what I was going to be up against. Turned out they only had enough to fill for me and that was only if another regular didnt get them first [because they weren't giving them to new patients - which is a HUGE problem. New patients are having the biggest problem].

Well my MIL came to my appt with me; after my urinalysis - doc gave my script to her to take into the pharmacy [it was getting late in the day/early evening]

Staff didnt know her LOL they almost told her NO until she told them it was for me. MIL called docs while I was still getting injections to say "all is well"

My doc was furious to find out an 85yr old woman had to drive to hundreds of different pharmacies to get script filled. I explained to *him* the process w/a pharmacy, getting to know the staff and how new patients are being screwed. Get to know thy pharmacy manager, treat them w/lots of respect, like anyone else. With advanced notice they will try to order your medications to be available for you when they arrive. Talk to them, explain why you take them. It's not that they must know but it sure helps them understand why.

Plus, they know who is a good doc and who is the shady doc in town - so they can give good recs or warn you if you are with a doc that pharmacies balk at. However, even if you run into a doc like that, if you have built your relationship up with the staff, they will take your script anyway. Just cannot say enough about sticking with the same store, within a chain. They can also call all other stores if there is a problem, saving you a long drive. There are many reasons for people going to dif pharmacies, but I've only been to two different chains in 10yrs. The one I'm with now has been for over 7yrs! Those ladies deserve some flowers now that I think about it. They really do go above and beyond for me!

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Been with WALGREENS for over 10 yrs.. same scripts for the last 6yrs "my" RX decided that they had none, couldn't get them etc..... so I went to every Walgreens I could find.. plus whatever RX i drove by I stopped Finally after 6hrs I found a Walgreens that saw I was there ever month for the past yr. I've had no problems for 3 months..but the Pharmacists I am dealing with is going to Greece for 6 months!! yikes so I will see what happens in April...

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To HUCK. Percodan and Percocet still exist. They are not for chronic, long term pain. Percocet especially is not due to the tylenol in them [APAP/combo pain meds tend to be for short term, acute pain like surgery, tooth probs, broken bone etc].

Tylenol is the #1 reason for liver transplants in the US. And you have it backwards, oxycodone IR has been around longer than the oxycontin [which is extended release]. I manage my pain on an IR alone. Been on very high doses and currently on relatively low dose mostly due to injections each month. But, I have to include a small amount of MJ daily - late afternoon - which has long been known by pain doctors and researchers in CA to help you require LESS opiates for your pain [literally meaning it stops the feeling of needing to add another opiate and you can go from 6 to 5 or 4 in a day. Let alone the help with pain and if it's good it'll help with anxiety too].

Plus the DEA has always been involved with these medications, the second they were manufactured.

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Good luck! Keep in contact. Let them know your concern, as well as getting the district manager and area manager's contact information! Walgreens used to be very good to people. Then I actually exp what you did when trying them one month when my store didnt have enough to fill my script in full. The line was "will not have them and we will *never* have them in stock" Well if you've been a regular patient, they should have called all other stores you would be willing to travel to if required.

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To bound up Kevin. Get some prune juice [for a quicker fix] and eat a lot of dried fruit. Your body is not used to the change yet and you should adjust to "normal" again, soon. In the mean time - god that sucks! It's worse than the having to go all the time. If I had a choice, guess give me a library, rather go than not! Peace and laughter

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Sandy,.. I wanted to say the same thing the other day, but figured I'd wait and let someone else catch that. I was getting Percodan, back in the 70's, Schedule II as always, made by Endo, yellow, and the half dose was Demi Percodan and pink. Then they came out with Percocet, white, which seems the mainstream now. Percodan having only 4.5mg oxycodone hydrocloride, but it also has small amounts of oxycodone in another form other than hydrochloride. So people don't necessarily think you get more from Percocet at 5mg hydrochloride. I have no idea or need to figure out the comparisons of the 1/2 mg more hydrochloride to the smaller doses of 1/2 mg that are not hydrochloride comparability, it may actually be stronger. I could never tell the difference. As you said, Perc's and Oxycontin, same drug, same drug been around many many years, one has APAP, one time release. Well there I go, I said it anyway, can't stop me once I get started.

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the Pharmacist had us come on the weekends when she was there and not during the week when the "other" Pharmacists was there.. I would drop the script on a Friday and p/u on Saturday.. I am a bit concerned about next month.. We went thru 4 months of Hell like others on here have.. looking for the oxy's..All I can say is thank goodness for the methadone.. it helps hubby maintain until they CAN get filled...

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Carl, that was an excellent response. I've seen pink and yellow percs - think it depends on mg and manufacturer. Just like there are blue vicodin and white ones.

Once I get on a roll, it's hard to stop me too LOL. Good to see some great, normal posts!

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Donna S. It shouldnt be like that but at least someone has taken care of you guys. I was on methadone w/oxycodone mix for chronic pain. It works but had to drop the methadone due to increased anxiety and breathing problems - that I thought was due to my panic/anxiety disorder flaring up. It takes almost 14 days to get methadone out of system [New Doc didnt know that either, until I brought him the info from pharmacy].

Ask current pharmacist to talk to their district manager for you - to ensure you continue to get the same standard of care from all staff there and not just the one pharmacist.

I've had to report a pharmacist that was filling in one day at my local! He refused to fill basically, then sent my doctor a nasty gram about me. What a wreck. He got fired in the end because he violated HIPAA laws PLUS his treatment of me - without even checking my profile 1st! Plus the nasty gram he sent my doctor.

Almost had to go in the next day when one of my fav pharmacists was on duty but the burden shouldn't be on *me* but on them.

Talked to his district manager - after the DM saw my profile and how straight forward it was he was outraged that I was treated so poorly.

Store prides itself on outstanding customer service after all and they did just spend a ton of money to make sure you can technically go into any of their stores and receive the same treatment from any pharmacy. WRONG and I proved it!] That ordeal isn't over. Still have to send paper work on him to Dept of Health Florida. He picked the WRONG CPP to mess with - whoops! Never let them treat you like rubbish or make you feel bad for needing the medication you need. It's not like there isn't thousands of other meds that are addictive [like most antidepressants and stuff like lyrica] the only dif is no street value to those compared to scheduled meds. After 12+ yrs dealing with this mess I've learned to fight for not just my right to fair and proper treatment, but for others too.

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John 183 - that's untrue.

See January news on CVS Sanford Florida raid by DEA. Any doctor can write pain medication of any kind, only Marinol requires a special license - it's synthetic THC for wasting/cancer patients and it sucks.

Anyway, the CVS down there got into trouble, IMHO due to other pharmacies turning people away, they started to fill more than normal. And got in trouble for it.

Plus in Lakeland Fl a wholesale distributor got busted by the DEA for something - kind of unclear on that one. But I know for a fact that the 30mgs are just not available right now to order. Very good pharmacists, very honest with me told me back in Jan they were having lots of trouble. So went onto the 15mgs [which funnily enough, I prefer because I couldnt break a 30 in half very well able to manage heaps better with the 15's LOL]

Now here is what should piss everyone off. The cops in Florida say [info online, google it] they are still seeing high numbers of these drugs on the streets - specifically oxy 30s and 15s. They also said the price hasn't gone up at all. [which it normally would if it was scarce, it's not "on the street"] So I want to know how the hell are these getting onto the streets? Us CPPs have been blamed for years now but clearly "it's not us" diverting them!

Which may be what's happening this year. Stop the flow into CPP hands to find out how they are actually getting to the street - and finally bust them. [oh we can hope]

CVS in Sanford cannot fill any scheduled medications until they have their trial/hearing over the situation. I don't think CVS was in the wrong, like mentioned just think they were filling for more patients. Also 90% of oxycodone sold by doctors in Florida are gone. 90%! Who's selling them in docs offices still? GA, KY and TN. The issue with pill mills was mostly 2 brothers out of Broward county who opened up several offices with in office pharmacies and catered to out of state people. Prescribing max dose for all chronic pain patients. It was a 50 million a year operation.

Also watch out for the group called STOPP they want all oxycodone and chronic pain medications stopped. These folks are as crazy as antiabortionist. They protest in front of doctors offices. Why? Well, their adult son's got addicted and that means....it's everyone else's fault and everyone else should suffer because of it. Well they have us suffering.

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@Sandy Thanks for all that info. you are correct they should not treat us like that especially with clean profiles..My goodness the law passed so RX & Dr Offices can check for Dr. Shopping and how many scripts etc. so I would think there would not be a problem but we'll see.

I like the idea of talking with the DM.. Being a many year customer with the same Chain of Drug Store ~Walgreens~ should count for something..lol I don't have insurance so that can't be it.. I have the printed off the Net RX Savings card it save us a bundle...#210 30mg for $135.. pretty good compared to a few months ago of almost $300 for the same amount.. crazy..

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Yes, Donna s. All those years should go to your benefit and the DM will make sure you are treated properly. If not, go above the DM's head. [gots ta do what's ya gots to do! LOL]

I can't get a hold of the 30mgs and my pharmacy has not been able to order them either. "out of stock" when they try. But the 15mgs are available. I find they work great.

Some are concerned with tablet amounts - because to double my 30's script to 15mgs means a LOT of tablets [over the 220 count people mentioned] but that plays no role according to both doc and pharmacy because they are using it in replace of the 30mgs.

Heck, doubt I'll go back to 30's. Manage better with 15s. Since you can't cut those tablets in half - you can mind F*ck yourself by taking one, then the other one later - sometimes I have one extra for days where I'll have a late night!

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@Sandy we did consider the 15mgs and like you mentioned that is a lot of pills hubby's case.. 420!! lol and the Pharmacy said nope! oy! what a mess
If you look at he posts below for DONNA RATLIFF and the name of her Group on Facebook,, they are really doing good work..well trying to.. petitions to the State Govt. Mail order RX's etc..plus you can see the other people posts there also..

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Donna Ratliff - I am the same Sandy that wrote "Welcome to Hell, the Reality of Chronic Pain"
Thanks so much for your great comments on my article!
I am on FB too.

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Donna Ratliff - I am the same Sandy that wrote "Welcome to Hell, the Reality of Chronic Pain"
Thanks so much for your great comments on my article!
I am on FB too.
Here is a link to my article, hope it helps.
worldwidehippies.com/2012/01/30/welcome-to-hell-the-reality-of-chronic-pain/
hope it posts LOL

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Sandy, your blog is on my facebook group. It was really great! Every has read it, enjoyed it, and made comments on it. I just friended you on FB and would love for you join in our advocacy group. I hope to see ya there.
Donna S. Thanks for joining us and helping to grow more members.

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