Percocet Shortage In South Florida
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It has been impossible for me to fill a prescription for oxycodone since last November. I have been using the same Walgreens, and the same doctors, for years. Suddenly, they have not received oxycodone orders (or so they say) and don't know when they will get them. What's going on?

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Re: PJ (# 9)

Have you ever solved your nov. problem with wallgreens.
My fill is for next week.

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We have gone to 17 different pharmacies (some chains like CVS and Walgreens and some independent pharmacies) over this past week and keep getting the same answer no matter where I go: we are out, it is backordered, we don't know when it is coming in. Now, our Walgreens pharmacist did say they are changing their vendors and a lack of planning on someone's part is causing the shortage in all Walgreens who are selling off what they had on hand, but it has been over a week, so as much as I like the pharmacist, I am starting to have my doubts.

I did read another post that there was no real shortage but because the regulations have gotten very cumbersome and overwhelming, pharmacies are finding it easier to just stop stocking it altogether. Apparently, some pharmacists have been reaching out to a Pharmacy Tech School located in South Florida, and It was recommended they take the "path of least resistance" and just tell their customers "they are out, don't know when it's coming in".

Because I don't like the withdrawal symptoms when out, earlier this year I asked my doctor to please put me on something else and he said he could but the problem is, due to my health situation, the other drugs have ingredients that will cause me harm. At this point, I don't see any other choice because we can't get what was prescribed.

I don't get it. We follow all the rules. We don't abuse, yet it seems the masses get punished due to a few. I am thinking I am getting a better understanding as to why some have turned to the illegal stuff. I won't but it sure seems like it is easier to get than if you follow the rules and do everything you are supposed to.

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Live in South Florida..started mail order the first day. Did not try one pharmacy the first time it takes about a week every other time 3 days..

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To those who have asked which state has a problem filling prescriptions for Percocet, I can only report from Florida. However, since my original post in January, I have twice had the same problem and have had to have my doctor switch from Percocet to Vicodin, which is similar but not as strong. It can be called in to the pharmacy from the doctor's office, unlike Percocet, which is a Schedule 2 narcotic and requires the patient to present a written prescription.

That said, I was able to get Percocet this week. I continue to believe that Florida's focus on illicit drug prescribing and its reputation as a "high abuse" state, are responsible for these new problems. I'm sorry if I frightened other patients from other states. I hope those of you who have a legitimate need for narcotic painkillers are able to get them when needed.

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Which states? Please let us know if you do?
Thanks,
MGrace

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Do you know which states?
My mother, 93 years old, needs a fairly strong painkiller for her ankylosing spondylitis (rheumatoid arthritis of the back). We live in Vermont. Any information would be gratefully received. Thanks!

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@Verwon: i mean no disrespect but you seem to be giving out the wrong information on these threads. There wasn't a product shortage of the schedule 2 meds. Certain states have been singled out as high-abuse and are now being highly monitored. Pharmacists will continue to deny many people with these scripts if or until this control is lifted.

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I may have some good news regarding finding Percocet Oxycodone in Southwest Florida. Yesterday a Walgreens Filled my Oxycodone 10/325 , Pharmacist said they had it in stock and She wrote a Note on my Script at the Top, she may have circled my Birth-date, not sure as I was in Drive-thru and could not see that well. She then told me that she could fill it, but it would take at least 1 1/2 Hours with the new Regulations that were in place. My feeling is they are crosschecking Data Bases to make sure you are not on any Blacklist for abuse. Well They took my Cell Phone and asked if I wanted a Text Message when the Script was ready, I said please, and like clockwork I received a Text in approx 1.5 hours. When I picked up the Script, I checked them out and they had substituted my Percocet for Watson Brand 10/325 #180 "5 times a Day" so far so good, they are Round whereas the percocets I had been getting were oblong tablet. I have read that watson may not be as effective, but I'm keeping a positive attitude that they will work on my Chronic lower back pain. Hope this is the Sign that Walgreens has turned over a New Leaf and the Old I don't feel Comfortable filling this prescription Canned Phraze is Out of here. The Pharmacy "In my Opinion" has a Legal and Moral Obligation to Fill a Legal Script that is written by a Licensed Doctor, as long as that Doctor and Script is Verified as Legitimate. By the Way I always wear a Sport Coat or Business like Attire when I go to turn in my Script and am very pleasant to the Pharmacist, I know they have been going thru Hell with The DEA and all the Abuse of Controlled Substances and they are just trying to protect their livelihood, but with that Said, I believe the Chronic Pain Patient has rights too and we all need to continue to keep the Pressure on Corporations like Walgreens and CVS so that they follow the Rules.

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Thanks for your response. Since writing my original post, I was able to fill my prescription at a CVS in my neighborhood, and my Walgreens pharmacist told me yesterday that they had just received a shipment. I've been a little sensitive on the subject ever since the Florida "pill mill" law passed in 2011, which was aimed at bogus storefront "offices" that both wrote and filled prescriptions for opiods, mostly Oxycontin. Good to know that those of us who have legitimate needs for pain meds still can get them.

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It's fairly common for their to be shortages during the last few months of the year and usually January of the new year.

It is due to mandatory manufacturing limits, once the manufacturers have reached their limits, they can't product new product until they receive their new allotment amount sometime after the start of the new year.

Learn more Oxycodone details here.

Thus, there hasn't been any supply for them to order from and no, they really don't know for sure when they will receive more.

Do you have insurance?

If so, then you might want to check and see if they have a preferred mail order pharmacy that you can use. They don't usually have as large of a customer base, so they manage to have a supply available longer.

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