2012 Oxycodone 30mg Shortage In Florida (Top voted first)

My spouse, who is in severe, chronic pain, has been a customer of Walgreens for many years. We live in Pinellas County, Florida. Everyday this week we have driven from Walgreen's to Walgreen's trying to fill his prescription for Roxicodone 30mg, to no avail. I cannot get any help from his regular pharmacy. I know that it's dangerous for them to tell a total stranger which store has them in stock, but I don't understand since they know him, why they can't call around or give us any assistance. I am at a total loss as to what to do & would appreciate any information that you could provide. It is so hard to see him in so much pain. Thank you.

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Wow, Read all this for four hours. I have been getting sick and stressed out so much over this issue for a year. Nobody was talking about it though (not in "real" circles), only on these blogs I guess. I hope to post more soon, but just to let you know, I am a pharmacist, I work at a chain that is mentioned here over and over again. I have been as honest as I could to my patients I have relationships with them. I have seen seem leave crying when I was unable to fill for them (for many reasons I will divulge later). I hate it. I really do. Believe me, I loved throwing junkies out, and I thought this was all going to get better, where I, as a pharmacist, was finally allowed to use my profession judgment, and judgment is what it is, to fill or not to fill without worrying about an addict complaining to a pencil necked manager that I was rude, and have to just doll the crap out to all the junkies. But that is what corporate wanted, and the DEA hammered them, then us. Now, I can no longer fill for those of you on this blog, "because I am filling to many". If they had always let Pharmacists do what we were trained to do (and no, we are not God, we do not diagnose, but with a given diagnosis, we are trained to know the best medication for that condition and all aspects of how that drug works, that part the doctors do not know, they learn how to find the problem, then they prescribe recommended treatments for that problem, pharmacists learn all about that "treatment"). Many years ago before the oxy epidemic in Florida, I had more autonomy. I didn't fill for obvious addicts and pill mill doctors. But I did for real chronic pain patients and board certified physicians. And sure, many fooled me over the years, and yes, I probably judge some wrong....that's how medicine (and humans) are. But now, I can't fill anything for anybody because we can't get it, and when we do, its not enough for all the patients that need it. And I hate deciding who needs it more than the other. I have no idea how many weeks I have left as a retail pharmacist. I try not to take my emotions to work, but I do feel for many of you, and I do know many of you will be better off the meds (after many months of feeling like crap, because it will take your body a long time change after having that medication in you for so long)...but for some of you, I know how good it makes you feel. How productive you are, how much energy and life you feel. But the Government does not think you have this chemically induced happiness, because you don't show up in the headlines, only the dead youths, addicted babies, and well-fare recipient drug dealers do.

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Yep sure does, get this, I live in Hollywood, Been goin to same r. for more than almost a year, Had another accident discplacing the 3 devices in my back and neck, I have been frantically trying to find 30 Oxycodone, I finally get this nice pharmarcy after 4 days, she says she has them, even at a DECENT $$$, I cooked ass there, Called my DR, and then the Pharamacist comes up to me and says, I see you moved out of town for a moth in December? I wxplained I was struck but yet again from behind, Had to saty with freind to help me, ALSO had to get my DR changed to fill script in that area, Then A month later went back to same DR. He said Ihe could NOT fill, He said DEA has Stritct rules and you must NOT change DR Lic, Nor DR forr ^ months for a pharmacy to take you on as a new patient or they can get shut done, I am so PO'ed, Because I do understand the abuse, But what about people Like Me, US? I canot help it that pill helps me???? GRRRRR

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Our constitutional rights are being violated and we need to start a class action suit against the state of Florida and the FDLE for preventing us the persuit of happyness. I am going to now file for disability and get a lawyer because I can not work with out this medication and now can not provide for my family the government is preventing me from obtaining the legal medication I need to be a productive member of society so the can now support me my wife and my adopted son. Obama wants every one on the dole anyway ....

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I've have asked this question to several people and rx's but I cant really get a straight answer. When a rx says that their out or its first come first serve are they being truthful? What I mean is if they say their out does that mean that if I check back every day I may actually get them or should I not even bother. I was going th the same rx for over 3 years but the last 3 months I wasnt able to get from them and they say were out check back. are they being truthful and should I keep trying with them or did they just decide not to get them anymore and arent telling me. Because that would be very cruel to make me keep comming back.

Just getting in and out of the car takes me about 5 minutes just to get in the car and 10min to get out with the wheel chair. If someone knows for sure please assist with a responce. or if you know where I can fill my script in naples to north port

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The situation now is depriving people with legitimate needs. The abusers are most likely still finding a way to obtain their drugs to get their high, while true chronic pain patients are forced to go without or being delayed relief as a result of poor planning by the state and federal government. This needs to be addressed and resolved YESTERDAY.
There's no doubt that it will force some to obtain their meds via alternate sources (illegally). How f'ing ironic is that..

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Avoid Walgreens, they are faxing your prescriptions to the DEA. They are not out of the medication. They just don't want to fill your prescription. DEA and Florida board of pharmacy is on board, STAY AWAY. They just took my script, scanned it and said "they don't feel comfortable filling my prescription" with a smirk.

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Yep Steve, that's what we are getting here in Jax as well. Of course if you read the article I can see why. That was the reason we only had a few pharms that where able to get the meds due to the fact that the 6 Walgreens that are under investigation down state were getting them all. As I've said before the stuff is going to start getting real ugly. It's a shame that it has come to this. And what's really sad is that in 6 months, it will be something new that the DEA and pharms have a problem with.

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Let me start by stating that I'm a retired US Marine that because of my service, I do have legitmate injuries to my upper back and legs from humpiing and grumping an 80# pack, produce delivery driver for 15 years handleing a hand truck with up to 350# pounds on it, jumping in and out of truck daily, plus, had a rear end car collsion. Our everfaithful VA won't touch me so I go to a liceinsed pain management office for years, and don't dr.shop.Yeah same story in SW Florida, Been from Port Charlotte, North Port, Englewod, Punta Gorda with same script in wallet for 2 weeks now. No one has any and when they do get them, it's first come first serve if your lucky. This the work of the DEA and I don't know why?. The scripts are barcoded, the dr. is registered with a DEA number. A copy of the script is automatically transmitted to the DEA as soon as they are printed (now from laptops, in case no one noticed). It is up now to the pharmacist! They ARE GOD when it comes to saying yes or no. I'll sometimes agree that they when they say they don't them, but when they tell you "I don't feel comfortable filling it" That is plain bulls***!. They have then but don't fell comfortable? Come on, I' not stupid, they have them they like the POWER OF BEING ABLE TO SAY NO!. But what can you do? Can't argue or DEMAND them that would be stupid person who does and I've seen it done. Now I'm not stupid and it is the idiots that abuse and or sell them (which is means us). Have heard dumbass people IN office setting up deals over phone, really! So the legit people are turning illegal to get their meds. Why can't they leave us alone? Seriously, with the new laws, some stated here- you can no longer be an out of state resident to be seen, nor under the age of 25, Need to have it filled within a 50 mile radius of the issueing dr. Only 2 pain meds now- one is a quick release and the other must be a timed released. No more Xanax unless from a Psyciatrist, only Valium. The Florida Drug Discount Card is life saver at Walgreens/CVS ($100-150) but they say that they no longer have them. Checked thier wbsite for places that take the card- even though they list them, it's mostly for everything OTHER than the pain meds. If a mom&pop shop have them, prepare to pay an arm&leg for them and then guess what, you'll probably HAVE TO SELL some to get the price down, so NOW we are guilty and have had to short ourselves to offset the cost. One mom&pop shop in North Port had them and the person actually paid $1,080.00 for 240 of them! Why? Because of the DEA, also Gov. Rick Scott is the driving force behind this senario becuase HIS BROTHER is a PILL HEAD!! And he is taking it out on his own people. So be smart in the next vote and get him the HELL OUT OF OFFICE. Enough is enough. Keep checking this site as I'm going to figure out how to start a petition against this. WE NEED TO STAND TOGETHER AGAINST BIG BOTHER.

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Well I hope none of you live in Jacksonville Fl cause except for the Mom and Pop's it is virtually empty. I have had my brother's script for 3 weeks, have driven to every possible pharmacy in town : CVS,Walgreens,WinnDixie,Publix,Target,Walmart. Noone has any. And the sad thing is that he, like alot of the rest of you, need this just to function. He was in a terrible auto accident a few years back and when they came out with this medication, it was like a miracle to him. I just think it is very sad when you have been with a pharmacy for years and cannot get your medication

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Exactly. Abusers always have ways of getting their fix and there are people selling this stuff on the street up the wazoo (or so I hear), yet disabled people in horrible pain are forced to drive to every pharmacy within 80 miles every single day just to be turned down?? Wow, this "war on drugs" is going great!! What idiots thought of this??

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Tired of arguing....it does no good :( However, I do have this to say...when you have been taking these meds for a while (anywhere from a few months to a few years), we all know your body becomes dependent upon them. It says right on the patient information to NOT stop taking the medication abruptly. However, the pharmacies are causing us to stop taking them abruptly which then puts some people into severe withdrawal which could possibly kill them. Go ahead and tell me I'm wrong. I'm not stupid. I'm educated. I may not be a pharmacist, but I have the good sense to educate myself about what I am taking. As I said, there is a reason I take the medication that I do rather than something else. I would rather be productive than a vegetable in bed drugged and asleep. You say the doctors and pharmacists are ultimately responsible if something happens to the patients because of them prescribing or dispensing the medication.....well what happens when something happens to a patient because of abrupt withdrawal? Who answers for that one?

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Often a cancer patient does not develop tolerance, a natural phenomenon, because of the time course of the disease. Higher doses are needed at times in chronic non-cancer pain. The dose of medication does not by itself indicate a problem.

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Chronic pain is a debilitating condition, no matter what the cause. The vast majority of patients go thru months and even years of treatments that simply do not work. We all have tried so many different medications, OTHER than opoiods to relieve the pain we are in every day. We do NOT want to have to take these powerful narcotics, but alas, the medical research has not kept up with what we are going thru. Personally, i have tried over 8 different medications over the course of 15 months in an attempt to find ANYTHING that might ease my pain and allow me to function on some level of normalcy. For me, they simply do not work. I have also tried a "synthetic" narcotic pain medicine and i may as well have been taking a baby aspirin for all the relief it brought, which was NONE.

Law makers are so focused on the "abusers" of these medicines and what they need to do to stop them, that they have totally lost sight of who these drugs were designed to help. We are NOT looking for the next high. We do NOT get a buzz from taking these meds. We do NOT even get adequate relief in many cases from taking these drugs. Too many of us suffer every day because of the laws that have been passed in the last few years. Our doctors and pharmacists are afraid to prescribe and fill our medicines and we are the ones that suffer. Yes, accidents happen, but that is not confined to this particular class of drugs. You can OD on just about anything, even OTC medicines.

Before you can pass judgement on anyone surrounding this issue, ask yourself this.... if your mother, father, sister, child were in extreme pain every day but they are not "allowed" to obtain a medication that would allow them to function outside of the bed they are lying in, wouldn't you insist that this medication be made available to them? That's what it's like...every day. Without these meds, patients become bound to bed rest and are suffering horrendously every day. I feel that there are more suicides from being unable to endure the pain any longer than there are lives saved by restricting addicts from getting them!

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Well said Karin. I'm so sick of being judged, & looked upon like a piece of trash by some. I never thought I would need pain medication to live a quality of life. I hate it, I beat myself up everyday BC I'm ashamed I'm not stronger. This is not how I thought I would spend my older yrs. I raised kids, worked hard all my life & am a good person. I've tried many other options, & got little relief. I take med as needed, & use hot/ cold therapy & lidoderm patches also. Most of us didn't choose this path, so before some are quick to judge us, refer to Karin's post on if it ead 2 of your loved ones suffering day after day, for yrs. It's a basic human right to get some sort of pain control. BC of the severe abuse, CPP's are being made to suffer needlessly. I've had to switch to another med,& now deal with chronic nausea & vomiting. I get some pain relief, but being constantly nauseated & the cost of the med, makes me wonder if I'm better off w/o med or not living at all. I would never choose the latter, BC I love my family. But the last yr has been almost intolerable. God Bless those that are living this life of chronic pain. For those who are quick to pass judgment, I wish you could feel how we feel, just for a short time, then you'd possibly understand a day in the life of a CP sufferer.

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Ignorant people need to realize that these drugs were created FOR pain patients, to limit their pain! Morons like dude seem to think junkies make these meds in their basement to sell on the street. Nope, just prescribed by doctors (you know, the only people qualified to say whether or not it's needed?!) for legitimate conditions for the most part. The junkies abusing it for fun came after. The pain patients suffering here would certainly rather trade all the pain meds in the world to get their lives back and not have to suffer daily. Think about that. And I agree- if your family member (or you, seeing as you sound shallow and selfish) was suffering from global arthritis would you be whining about them taking medication Southey can get out of bed every morning? I think not. Use your brain.

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Dude knows nothing. The relative I spoke of has stage 4 CA, & is going to a PM Dr to recieve his pain meds. The amt he's prescribed is a very high dosage. 12- 30mg roxycodone daily + 100mg fentenyl patch x every 3 days. The person is also receiving tx from an oncologist too. Before you post, educate yourself. Like many have posted, each person is different, whether if its an illness, accident etc. You only prove you're a judgemental jerk. Why people are posting here that aren't in need of pain meds is ignorant.

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@flatom, misinformed about mail order dispensing meds, also need referral to pain mgt from primary Dr. Also need an MRI. Pharmacy won't fill without insurance. Do your homework before rewriting your whole life's story over & over & giving incorrect info.

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By the way Flatom, I'm not from the south,nor did I EVER say no 18-25 year olds have problems with rx meds. You're the last person in the world I'd want to put words in my mouth. Also, you worked with, what, maybe 10 kids in that age range?? Yeah, I have worked with probably near 200. And the average is taken out of hundreds of thousands. If you still don't get that you are clueless, then I can't help you and YOU need to seek "metal help". And not only have you only worked with a few kids, but the people who normally move furniture for a living have little education, no real work skills and/or have criminal records, all which makes them more likely to abuse drugs. So, clearly, your ridiculous "focus group" is totally worthless as far as gauging the average age of Abusers. The FACT is that the average oxy abuser is older than 25 by several years. And I'M not getting that number from my own experience like you are- it's a simple, researched, surveyed FACT. Stop whining about your horrible circumstances and blaming others for your pain. Pain meds don't take away anyone's pain completely. No one feels sorry for you and no one wants to read your novel of complaining and gibberish.

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Thank you Lisa, taking care of my family is difficult due to my medical conditions. Giving my 6 year old daughter a bath & washing & conditioning her hair is extremely painful, bent over the tub kills my neck & back. Sweeping, mopping, dishes...all extremely painful. Sometimes it hurts so bad I can hardly take in a breath. All if this while on pain medication, if I had to try it without I'd just give up & my marriage & family would fall apart. My point its that there are people my age (35) who need this medication to have some quality of life. If you looked at my body, just my physical body you would never imagine I suffer so much on the inside. One should never judge the need for pain management based on looks & age alone. I don't walk around with my medical file, x-rays, blood tests & MRI stapled to my body. Just because I'm not missing a limb or.dying of cancer, God forbid, doesn't mean I don't deserve to be able to be comfortable playing with my kids & performing my daily tasks. I'm not rich, had to work fur everything I have & yes flatom my husband & I owned a furniture moving company. Just us two, no help. So I have worked & worked hard, just like you! But if you looked at me, I'd just be another undeserving junkie banned from pain relief. Thank God flatom & his "opinions" don't dictate who deserves meds & when they should be allowed to get them. I think a lot of us would be screwed!!

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@941Btown, I understand all to well where you're coming from, not all of us look like we're suffering. We manage to keep it all inside, work hard, & care for our families. There is so much ignorance all around us. People who obviously know very little, to the pharmacists who think they can judge a cpp by looking at them & deciding if they will help based on looks alone. How sad our quality of life is in their hands. My apologies for going off on issues that might belong on another thread. When you're suffering needlessly, & feel alone, it sometimes gets the better of me.

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