Pharmacy Refuses To Stock Qualitest, Which Is The Only Kind That Works For Me (Top voted first)

I have two medications that are made by Qualitest (which I understand both have been moved to other Pharmaceutical Co.) 1. Hydrocodone 10/325 cannot find locally in Qualitest brand so I have been prescribed Mallinckrodt. They cause my ears to ring at an extremely high level that I can't think or do anything. I am extremely nauseous constantly. This ringing in my ears is driving me crazy. No pharmacy will get the Qualitest brand. 2. Phentermine (also the same situation), no pharmacy will carry Qualitiest brand. If the drug works for said person, is still being made and the said person has legal prescription, why isn't there a way to force the pharmacy to get it? Why are we forced to purchase drugs we know won't work for us? Are there any lawyers out there that can find a way to make them get these medications for us? I have Fibromyalgia and there is very little that works for me and my system. Please help me. I am close to beating my head against the wall to stop this ringing in my ears.

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Re: Master Plumber (# 3)

You're absolutely correct!
Where I live my mom & pop pharmacy will order what ever brand I request if it's available to order. Sometimes the supply of better quality generics is low due to the fact they work better and the independent pharmacies across the country are the ones snapping them up for their customers.

The big chain pharmacies these days seem to go out of their way to carry the most ineffective narcotic generics they can find. They don't want your business because to them you're just a lowlife drug seeker!

I've been using my mom & pop pharmacy for over 20 years. Ever since a Walgreens treated me poorly and wouldn't order a brand that I was getting there for years! This type of pharmacy behavior started many years ago!

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Hey Comments, I had the same issue with mallinecroft meds they are the best for what I have & things have gone well for years untill last month when they ran out of that brand & I got something from India, Man they did not work and gave me gut issues My Pharmacist told me they have a contract with a dist. and once they meet there number tough luck. BUT I have the last great pharmacist in America he called around and so did i, and was able to secure at least a months supply for me. Thank our Lord I will be able to live this month. The fact is the pharmacy don't have to fill anything! If they don;t like the way you walk they can tell you " we don't have that BYE!" When you call a pharmacy and ask for a certain controlled drug THEY WILL LIE TO YOU unless they know you. Its like your calling to make sure they have what you want to come and steal from them. Many will just say NO! or they will run you thru the PMS. Best luck go to a Mom & Pop local and get a relationship with them, even if it costs a bit more you know its worth it to know you will be able to live some type of life. God Bless

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Focus on a small mom-and-pop pharmacy, they are your best chance bringing in what you want. But be prepared to pay more as it may cost them more.

But your post displays a “the world revolves around me and everyone should cater to me” attitude.

Use some common sense and understand that that obviously they are not in business to give you the burger anyway you want it. They have 1000 customers a week and they probably carry three different brands of each med. If they had the cater to every single customer they would need a warehouse to stock pills.

You’re not being reasonable or understanding to think that the pharmacy is some kind of a custom shop there to give you what you want.

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Hello Comments,

I'm sorry to say that this a bitter pill a lot of people have to swallow, no pun intended. Ultimately pharmacies are businesses and with that being the case they have to make choices on which brands they choose. To make a comparison, choosing a brand of pills for a pharmacy is similar to a fast food restaurant having to choose between carrying Pepsi or Coca Cola products.

I don't mean to upset you by any means and empathize with your situation, I am simply trying to explain the reality of the situation. It just isn't financially profitable for pharmacies to stock every single brand and cater to every single individual in the same way a food establishment would not be able to cater to every customers drink request specifically.

What I can do is give you some generic tips and information that I have gathered during the time I've spent on this website from others with the same problem.

Do not focus on one pharmacy in particular, in order to get what you want you will likely need to make many phone calls to different pharmacies to find which one will be able to meet your needs. If you are comfortable with the idea, there are online pharmacies which are far more capable of meeting your specific demands because they do not need to have a brick and mortar location to sell.

Many users have told me that the smaller mom and pop shop pharmacies tend to have far better customer service and flexibility when it comes to ordering specific brands. I would start with these.

People say that patience is important but perseverance is far more important. With your quality of life being on the line, it is important that you take the initiative in ensuring that you get the brand you need.

Lastly, remember that the people behind the counters are not always the ones in power. As frustrating as the situation may be, try to remember that they are far more likely to help your situation if you are a pleasant customer. Leave the venting for after you've walked out the door of the pharmacy.

I'm sorry I don't have all the answers but this is the best I can do for you at the moment. Best of luck.

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First of all I have tried several pharmacies local to me. They promise the world until you transfer your scripts all over to them and then they fall short. Pharmacies are screwing the patients out of medication and that is the real truth. I have done this before and I guess I will have to go back to my doctor and request that I get brand name so that I can have medicine that works for me. I will have to pay more, but I refuse to pay for stuff that is supposed to be the same, but is far from it. My ears ring so badly that I want to take a hammer and beat the crap out of my head and ears. Why doesn't anyone care anymore? Why is the almighty dollar more important than getting people what they want. BTW...they tend to start you out with the lowest of the grade of generic and if you complain they bump you up, if you don't you only get a portion of the real thing. It is a sham. It is an inservice to the people and it should not be tolerated. I have called Pharmaceutical Companies before and spoken with my doctor and looks like I will have to do this again and again and again. I will also sit down and write to DEA while I am at it, cause they are causing a lot of this.

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Par took over Qualitest, works better than Mallinckrodt.

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Wow! Thank you everyone for coming forward and sharing your experience. It really sounds like mom and pop shops are the way to go with faced with this issue.

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I tried using the HYDROCODONE manufactured by MALLINCKRODT sold by Wal-Mart. This does NOT work for me. They quit using the Rx coupons making it harder to get. I do not understand that part. Walgreens carries the HYDROCODONE 10/325 manufactured by WATSON. That at least gives me some kind of quality of life.

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Re: Mark (# 35)

Oh my gosh Mark!! Thank you for the information!! I suspected as much!! Big pharma and the stupid politicians are DIRTY and corrupt!! I KNOW pharma is doing us dirty on pain medication!! We have rights and they are being violated!! What can we do to stop this? And you are right. People are going to start buying it on the street more and THEN they can cry about opiate abuse!! This makes me furious!! Many of us have documented health issues that can ONLY be helped by pain medicine. Why are we being targeted!! The is a war on people with chronic pain and it has to STOP!! Dont those ***** politicians realize they are making the problem worse!!??

I take medicine responsibly!! Ive never lost medicine, had it stolen or tried to get it early. Isnt that proof enough Im not, and many others are not, the problem!!! It's the effing people who are buying it on the street not knowing what they are getting and od'ing and causing the problem!! I resent being put in the same category as those!! POLITICIANS DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!! Stop penalizing people who take medicine responsibly!! Check medical records!! It will show where people are abusing. Someone needs to help us and make the medicine right again!!

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Re: Master Plumber (# 40)

You couldn't know less if you tried! Myself and others have had our Oxytocin levels checked through the years. In fact the last 25+ years since the Oxycontin trails at UT Southwestern school of medicine in which I participated in the final human trials. Today being tested on Oxycontin, Roxicodone, Percocet, Norco and other opiates to numerous to list mine and everyone else's Oxytocin levels being tested monthly are almost non existent. Myself and about 200+ people have been in this ongoing study and I truly believe the doctors who run the study in which I've have had numerous conversations with know far more than you ever will about what I'm saying! You have absolutely know idea what you're talking about whatsoever, but now I know you're an Internet know-it-all... Which means less than nothing! All opiates have been reformulated to reduce or eliminate the Oxytocin release from the pituitary gland. They've been tested on my study group for many years! Everyone in the study group has had extreme injuries so our severe chronic pain can't be questioned as subjective. My qualification was an epidural and peridural abscess from a back surgery.

Next time you want to try to play Mr. Know-It-All you might want to try another person who hasn't been part of an extremely long-term study in pain medications at a world-renowned medical school!

It doesn't take a very smart person to correlate the timeline in heroin usage increase with pharmaceutical opiates being reformulated. If drug addicts aren't getting high they'll go elsewhere!

You really make me laugh. People still abuse instant release opiates Mr. Know-It-All! Where do you get your information???

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Joseph & Comments,

I feel exactly like you. The problem is qualitest is not making enough money because they put the required amount of active ingredient in where mallikroft plays with the DEA and the 20% they are allowed to use, where qualitest doesn’t. we need to write our congressman or ask doctors for more but with the epidemic you’re lucky you’re not getting what I do, Suboxone, but your time will come. I hope it doesn’t. That’s why I try to talk to as many patients as I can so the next set of pain patients doesn’t have to go thur this.

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Re: Master Plumber (# 48)

Troll somewhere else guy, you're only making a fool of yourself!

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It's not the Pharmacy, it's the Drug Wholesalers. The pharmacists are upset also because their Corporate Office is buying the cheapest drug made.

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I am so sorry. I know! Ive been through it too!! We all need to get together and get an attorney to help us!! These drugs we are getting from chain pharmacies are pure garbage!! I HATE GENERICS!! What ingredients are we being poisoned with!? There is a war on chronic pain patients because of those people that think its ok to "party" with them!! My meds that have worked the same for years are now INEFFECTIVE!!! WHY!!!??? Its NOT because of tolerance like they are trying to get us to believe. It's BECAUSE THE MEDICINE NOW IS S***!!!
They are taking out more of the pain relieving ingredient, antianxiety and antidepressants and replacing it with s***!! I'm so sick of this!!!

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Re: Comments (# 2)

You are so right! Are there test kits we can get to test the efficacy of the generics that are being forced on us? Can we find an attorney that will take on this corrupt system? The medicine these days is crap!!

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Sorry to hear about your experience. Chain pharmacies usually can't control what brands they get, and lawyers aren't interested unless an injury or life-threatening side effect occurs. The FDA encourages people to report side effects so that substandard drugs can be identified.

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I do not think any lawyer would touch this in our life time the drug industry is BIG business BIG money and no lawyer would could afford to do it. I looked up Aurobindo pharmaceuticals ans found many pages of where they were fined for cutting the actives in the med I was taking. I did this after a few days of taking that med because it was not working. Since it was a controlled drug I could do nothing but suffer untill refill time. I went to my doctor with 10 pages of where Aurobindo was cutting the actives. He didn't even bother to he he simply said they are "allowed" to short by 20% Thats a whole lot of cutting. No wonder they are made in India.

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Re: Karen (# 18)

I picked up my latest refill from Walgreens last week. I noticed the Watson pills are smaller, they dont work on the pain. They only make me tired. Dammit!! What is going on!!?? Its obvious they have changed the pain medicine even more to make it less effective!! This newer pill makes me tired, dizzy, stomach feels like its on fire. My pain is not relieved. What the hell is going on!!??

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Re: Roro (# 30)

If you're in Fort Worth, Texas go to Country Day Pharmacy near Harris Southwest hospital in City View. This is where I go and have been for 20+ years and they'll order any generic you want as long as it's available from their supplier. Sometimes the most sought after generics aren't available because of the DEA and DOJ limiting the number of pills said manufacturers can make or bring into the country these days... This pharmacy is where you won't be treated like a drug seeker, but be treated like a human being! They know that all generics don't work the same on all people and will work with you! Anyone who uses a chain pharmacy these days is pretty much guaranteed to get the crappiest generic available and get treated poorly like you're a drug seeker!

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Re: Mark (# 31)

Thhx mark but i am south of san antonio & i have a great store now they opened as heb turned crappy been there couple years now but thats the point i was making if they want to they can usually get it ...... thx again

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