Is this usual or unusual in FL regarding meds..

[C.Ann]

In between posting here, I called my brother to let him know our cousin had passed away this afternoon..

Anyhow, he had a fairly difficult 4-hour surgery on Sept. 7th to repair quite a few injuries to his shoulder.. Initially they sent him home with a morphine pump for 10 days and when he didn't feel he needed anything quite that strong any longer, they switched him to oxycodone pills instead.. The "odd" part was that instead of getting the script and having it filled at the pharmacy, they called him and said it was ready and for him come in to the office (with his GF driving as he can't drive for at least 3 months) and pick up the actual medication right there..

I know I've read online that there are terrible problems with oxycodone abuse in Florida (and of course other states as well) and we were wondering if this might be the reason that he was asked to come to the surgeons office to pick up the meds.. This way they could "see" him - and make sure it was the actual "patient" getting the meds..

Would that make sense? If not, would there be another reason for it? He didn't have to be seen by the surgeon - just had to inform the nurse that he was there.. (And if it makes any difference, this is in Vero Beach/Jensen Beach area..)

Poor guy still can't even sleep laying down - he has to sleep in a recliner..

 

[TnTsParty]

It could possibly be the reason they had him physically go into the office. There is a real bad problem down here with oxycontin/oxycodone. Pain clinics down here have become nothing more than pill pushers for not just Florida residents but for residents of other states who are willing to fly down here pick up the drugs and go back to their states and sell for a BIG profit.

Hope your brother feels better soon. As long as he takes the medicine the way the dr prescribes it he should be ok. The problem comes when the so called dr at a pain clinc prescribe and deal out over 200 pills on one prescription - no one and I mean NO ONE should need that many pain meds on one prescription.

 

[C.Ann]

It could possibly be the reason they had him physically go into the office. There is a real bad problem down here with oxycontin/oxycodone. Pain clinics down here have become nothing more than pill pushers for not just Florida residents but for residents of other states who are willing to fly down here pick up the drugs and go back to their states and sell for a BIG profit.

Hope your brother feels better soon. As long as he takes the medicine the way the dr prescribes it he should be ok. The problem comes when the so called dr at a pain clinc prescribe and deal out over 200 pills on one prescription - no one and I mean NO ONE should need that many pain meds on one prescription.

I kind of thought that might be the reasoning - but since he's originally from NY (moved down there in 2003) - and has never had any injuries or surgeries that would require any type of narcotic medication in well over 25 years - he couldn't figure out why it was being done this way.. And of course being a "man", he didn't ask! LOL..

 

[GeorgeG]

That's the first time I've ever heard of a doctor dispensing pills out of his office other than samples. There are a lot of doctors who are setting up large offices/clinics so they can put a lot of services under the same roof (and into the same bank account). Some of these are called urgent care clinics. I suppose it's possible some might include a pharmacy in the mix. When I had my knee replacement in May my surgeon held to a policy of only prescribing pain meds for a few weeks post-op. After that it was Tylenol.

 

[TnTsParty]

Down here in South east Florida there are a lot of Pain Clinics which are usually owned and operated by 1 doctor for like 6 locations. For some reason they are able to prescribe and dispense boatloads of prescription pain meds to individual patients. It has gotten so bad down here in Palm Beach and Broward county that now at the pain clinics there are 3 lines - 1 for returning patients, 1 for new patients and 1 for patients picking up prescriptions. And all 3 lines are always packed.

Its a bad bad problem down here and its killing thousands of people and ruining countless families. The estimates are 11 people a day are dying because of prescription drug overdoses. I feel very strongly about the need for legistature to restrict these pain clinics and these legalized pill pushers. Like I said in my previous post these so called Dr's are sending the patients out of their clinics with way to many pills - and its not just one type of pill these Dr's are good about getting people hooked on Oxycodone, Xanax other pills similar to this.

This is a special report that was done on this epidemic - it is about 45 minutes to fully watch it through. It is hard for me to watch because someone very dear to me passed away last year because of this.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/100279/vanguard-the-oxycontin-express

 

[Acklander]

I don't think it's a Florida thing (or if it is, it's new) about 3 years ago I needed duladid (much stronger than oxycodone) and DH was able to bring the written prescription to the pharmacy and pick it up for me, I didn't have to get it from the Dr's office. Maybe he was getting samples instead of a prescription filled???

 

[TnTsParty]

Acklander - yes your DH was able to get it from the pharmacy - that has never really been a problem. There are Dr's offices down here in southeast Florida mostly the pain clinics which are handing out prescriptions at the clinic no need to go to a pharmacy. There is a law that is going into effect on Oct 1 that will ban pain clinics from selling more than a three-day supply of pills to customers paying with cash, check or credit; requires pain clinics to register; lets the state Department of Health inspect them and seize records without subpoenas; requires clinic doctors to get training in pain management; makes doctors examine patients before prescribing drugs; holds doctors responsible for clinic actions, and lets the state shut down clinics that break the rules.
Of course since the pain clincs are such money makers for these Dr's and investors they are up in arms and are trying to put a stop to this law because it will eat into their profits. Also in Dec there is supposed to be a new law creating a computerized database to log every pain prescription in the state but of course there is a protest being put up about that as well.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/health/fl-pill-mill-buyback-20100923,0,3966662.story

 

[Acklander]

Acklander - yes your DH was able to get it from the pharmacy - that has never really been a problem.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/health/fl-pill-mill-buyback-20100923,0,3966662.story

Yeah, but the OP's brother shouldn't have had a problem to get the prescription at the pharmacy???

 

[TnTsParty]

Yes you are right about that - no he shouldn't have had a problem getting them at the pharmacy. Maybe the Dr's office thought they were doing him a favor by having him go into the office to pick up the pills. who knows.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Here in PA my Mother-In-Law was required to go to a Pain Dr's office herself last year to pick up a pain medicine of some kind after a severe injury. She had to go herself, show ID and sign for it. I'm not sure what the drug was but I guess it could have been Oxy. I did think it was odd but just figured it was her own Dr being different. Maybe it's the pain management profession behind it? I wonder if they are trying to police themselves so the drug doesn't get banned altogether like so many others?

 

[Jaime4004]

Most narcotics have to be on a written prescription, by law the doctor office cannot call it into the pharmacy. Oxycodone is one of them... Vicodin and Darvocet can both be called it instead of written.

 

[Disneylover79]

It is ironic that you are posting this. We had a big Oxycodone bust here in the town I live in in Southwest Florida. There was a family going to the Dr. and asking for pain meds and getting oxycondone then once they had enough between the 3 of them they would ship the meds up to NJ. I couldn't believe it I was not shocked because I knew it was a very bad situation going on, but the fact that they (a family of a mom,dad, and son) were teaming up and once they had about 100-150 of them they would send it to their family members in New Jersey.

Here is the link: http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=13201068

 

[ratherbeatdisney]

Acklander - yes your DH was able to get it from the pharmacy - that has never really been a problem. There are Dr's offices down here in southeast Florida mostly the pain clinics which are handing out prescriptions at the clinic no need to go to a pharmacy. There is a law that is going into effect on Oct 1 that will ban pain clinics from selling more than a three-day supply of pills to customers paying with cash, check or credit; requires pain clinics to register; lets the state Department of Health inspect them and seize records without subpoenas; requires clinic doctors to get training in pain management; makes doctors examine patients before prescribing drugs; holds doctors responsible for clinic actions, and lets the state shut down clinics that break the rules.
Of course since the pain clincs are such money makers for these Dr's and investors they are up in arms and are trying to put a stop to this law because it will eat into their profits. Also in Dec there is supposed to be a new law creating a computerized database to log every pain prescription in the state but of course there is a protest being put up about that as well.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/health/fl-pill-mill-buyback-20100923,0,3966662.story

that article is crazy. it says in Broward county in 2007 they had 4 pain center clinics, and now only 3 years later they now have 154 !!! it must a drug addicts dream to live there..... of course there are many people who really need the pills , but an increase like that is only because of abuse. I read recently in another forum about people flying from all over the US to florida because they have more lax laws. 4 to 154 blows my mind !!

 

[Feralpeg]

When I had surgery a few years ago, the doctor gave me a script for Oxycodone. I had to fill it at the pharmacy.

 

[clh2]

Most narcotics have to be on a written prescription, by law the doctor office cannot call it into the pharmacy. Oxycodone is one of them... Vicodin and Darvocet can both be called it instead of written.

This is what I heard about Oxycodone too. It simply cannot be called in to a pharmacy like many other Rx's.

 

[mhsjax]

In between posting here, I called my brother to let him know our cousin had passed away this afternoon..

Anyhow, he had a fairly difficult 4-hour surgery on Sept. 7th to repair quite a few injuries to his shoulder.. Initially they sent him home with a morphine pump for 10 days and when he didn't feel he needed anything quite that strong any longer, they switched him to oxycodone pills instead.. The "odd" part was that instead of getting the script and having it filled at the pharmacy, they called him and said it was ready and for him come in to the office (with his GF driving as he can't drive for at least 3 months) and pick up the actual medication right there..

I know I've read online that there are terrible problems with oxycodone abuse in Florida (and of course other states as well) and we were wondering if this might be the reason that he was asked to come to the surgeons office to pick up the meds.. This way they could "see" him - and make sure it was the actual "patient" getting the meds..

Would that make sense? If not, would there be another reason for it? He didn't have to be seen by the surgeon - just had to inform the nurse that he was there.. (And if it makes any difference, this is in Vero Beach/Jensen Beach area..)

Poor guy still can't even sleep laying down - he has to sleep in a recliner..

I am in Florida, northern FL. I had surg last Dec. Morphine pump then sent me home with a script for oxycodone. DH took it to the pharmacy and got it filled no problem what so ever. I have no idea why they did this.

DH also had knee surgery last year and the same thing. It was out patient but they gave his a script for the oxy.

Maybe in you r relatives area they have more of a problem than we do.

 

[C.Ann]

Thanks for the replies all..

It sounds like there are some very, very serious problems with these "pain clinics" down there in FL.. I don't understand how there can be so many of them without them being shut down left and right.. That's downright scary..

Since my brother had to go to the surgeons office himself, I can only assume that with all of these problems occuring down there they wanted to make sure it was him that was actually getting the meds.. He wasn't upset about it - or annoyed in any way - just thought it was strange.. If his surgeon is doing this to prevent the kinds of problems you have discussed here, I'm sure my brother would be very happy to know that his doctor doesn't take this drug problem lightly..

I hope he feels better soon - poor guy.. He had to go for physical therapy yesterday and he said it felt like a "200 lb. gorilla" was trying to rip his shoulder off.. LOL..

Thanks again for taking the time to reply..

 

[mhsjax]

Thanks for the replies all..

It sounds like there are some very, very serious problems with these "pain clinics" down there in FL.. I don't understand how there can be so many of them without them being shut down left and right.. That's downright scary..

Since my brother had to go to the surgeons office himself, I can only assume that with all of these problems occuring down there they wanted to make sure it was him that was actually getting the meds.. He wasn't upset about it - or annoyed in any way - just thought it was strange.. If his surgeon is doing this to prevent the kinds of problems you have discussed here, I'm sure my brother would be very happy to know that his doctor doesn't take this drug problem lightly..

I hope he feels better soon - poor guy.. He had to go for physical therapy yesterday and he said it felt like a "200 lb. gorilla" was trying to rip his shoulder off.. LOL..

Thanks again for taking the time to reply..

Hope your brother feels better soon. I know it has to hurt, I watch my hubby scream bloody murder every time he had to get in the car after his know surg, and that was after the oxycodone.

We have gotten to know the pharmacist very well,(run of real bad luck in the past 2 years) anyway, he always joked with us about the street value of what we were picking up. I hear that stuff is very valuable and I can tell you after taking it, I know why some people may want the stuff. It is wild.

 

[LilyWDW]

Thanks for the replies all..

It sounds like there are some very, very serious problems with these "pain clinics" down there in FL.. I don't understand how there can be so many of them without them being shut down left and right.. That's downright scary..

Since my brother had to go to the surgeons office himself, I can only assume that with all of these problems occuring down there they wanted to make sure it was him that was actually getting the meds.. He wasn't upset about it - or annoyed in any way - just thought it was strange.. If his surgeon is doing this to prevent the kinds of problems you have discussed here, I'm sure my brother would be very happy to know that his doctor doesn't take this drug problem lightly..

I hope he feels better soon - poor guy.. He had to go for physical therapy yesterday and he said it felt like a "200 lb. gorilla" was trying to rip his shoulder off.. LOL..

Thanks again for taking the time to reply..

A few years ago, my mother fell and destroyed her ankle. She had to have surgery on it, plates and screws, the whole nine yards. When they sent her home they gave her a prescription for restricted pain meds. Well, there was NO way she was going to be able to deal with a ride to pick up the prescription (it had to be written out by the surgeon who was at another office that day) and then to actually get it filled. So, they had to call the other office, give them my name and DL number, all so I could pick up the script.

I had no problem filling it (took it to my pharmacy and since they know me by name there were no questions).

 

[LivingtheWDWdream]

we live in central florida. My mother had a knee replacement, and a spinal fusion done in the last 10 years and now has buldging discs in her spine and neck. So she is on some pretty strong pain meds.

In order to get her refills here, she has to go to a Pain management Office, where a Dr must meet with her, go over her file, and examine her then he will write out a new prescription which she can then take to the Pharmacy and get filled.

Her Ortho, can not write her a prescription, it has to go through the PM office so that the state can monitor how much of the drugs are being prescribed and if they are doing so legally for a patient with a true need for it.

So the OP's brother would have to go to the office in order to get the drugs prescribed, refilled script written in order to get the drugs then filled at the pharmacy.

It's a PITA at times but with how much drug dealing and drug abuse that goes on, I can definitely understand why they want to make sure people aren't getting the drugs for no reason.