Rx refills shouldn't be this complicated

[Traci_Momof2]

My son is on Methylphenidate (an ADHD med) which is considered a controlled substance. Therefore, the pharmacy can't just refill it. My doctor has to send over an rx every time.

I called my clinic last Thursday morning to have them send over a refill. They have a refill line where you leave a VM with all the pertinent info and they take care of it. Come Tuesday morning I hadn't heard anything so I checked with my pharmacy (Walgreens) and they hadn't received anything yet. Wednesday I try to call my clinic and actually talk to someone about the status but I couldn't get through to a person. Only the voicemail. So this morning (Thurs) I go up to my clinic in person and ask. She said the doctor sent it Tuesday evening at 5:something pm. I check with Walgreens again and they say they got the rx but they are out of the med. Earliest delivery is Friday (tomorrow). Latest delivery could be next Wednesday. He's out of the med now.

Ugh. I just wish these people would let me know what's going on. The clinic medication voicemail line says "allow 24 to 48 hours". Well they didn't even send it to the pharmacy for over 5 days. Then the pharmacy gets it and they can't fill it for potentially another week? If the clinic had called me and told me when they sent it then I could have started bugging Walgreens sooner. And if Walgreens had called and said "we got your rx but can't fill it right now we will let you know when we have it in" then I would know what's going on. That's the thing. If I didn't bug these people I would be completely in the dark as to where my rx is and what the status is ect. And it shouldn't take two weeks from the time I call for it 'till I have the meds in my hands. Because if I call two weeks before I need it then insurance is going to reject it because it's only been two weeks since the last one month refill.

And this isn't a one time situation. I ALWAYS end up having to jump through hoops just to get my son's med refilled. He's been on it for over 3 years. It shouldn't be that hard.

[AubreeGrace17]

That sounds much more challenging than need be. Have you tried any other local pharmacies?

[Lotus]

Very frustrating. I have no experience in the area so I don't know how adversely this will affect yours son, I hope he will be OK. I would have had it sent some place else to be filled.

[famousglm714]

Ugh, some of their pharmacies are horrible. The one closest to me is so bad that I switched it back over to the one in my old neighborhood. I'd rather drive a bit farther than deal with incompetence . It's scary that these people are in charge of medication.

[Sassy762]

I always picked up the prescription until the doctor started using the E-prescription thing. I use a private pharmacy instead of the chain pharmacy's. When he first started on the medication I had a few problems with the pharmacy keeping his meds in stock until I showed them my "crazy side", lol I haven't had a problem since......

[RedBottoms]

You can think drug addicts and politicians for these stupid laws that only harm the people that actually NEED the medication

[Mom of monkeys]

Our doctor gave us 3 prescriptions at a time. We had visits every 3 months. And you could have asked Walgreens if a near by Walgreens had it in stock.

[Angelic.Zombie]

I know it would be a pain in the ass, but could you physically pick up the prescription and take it to the pharmacy?

[CreamTop]

When this used to happen, they could often ship them from another Walgreens. Have you tried asking that?

[Traci_Momof2]

That sounds much more challenging than need be. Have you tried any other local pharmacies?

I actually used to get it from a local pharmacy that rarely had issues but they closed about a year ago. That's when I switched to Walgreens. Around here, once I find a place I am hesitant to switch because when we moved here three years ago not all pharmacies would even fill it. CVS and Walgreens said they couldn't get it at all and at the time Wal-Mart said they could get it but it would take two weeks. That's when I found the little local one. Obviously Walgreens changed on that since then but I don't know if others have or not.