Will pharmacies take back an Rx?

[WeLoveLilo05]

I am a little annoyed to say the least....
2 days ago the ped wrote out an Rx for DD for her Epipen. I had him do it now for back to school so she could keep it in the nurses office the whole school year. We have had epipens in our house for 3 years now and everytime I have gotten one the shelf life has been 1 year. SO I figured if we got it NOW it won't expire til July 2011 and we wouldn't need a new one in the middle of the school year.
So DF goes to pick it up today and I take them out, one expires in Feb and the other in Mar 2011. I am a little annoyed that these were a total of $76 and they will only last a few months. Will the pharmacy take them back? I got them at Rite Aid.

 

[Mkrop]

Why dont you call and ask?

 

[Christine]

I would definitely call them. I always check the expiration date when I pick up my Epi-pens because that happened to me once before. They are TOO expensive not to last a year. I've noticed that my pharmacy has gotten much better about it and I haven't had a problem lately.

Honestly, I think when the shelf-life on them gets below a year, they need to donate them to free clinics where they can be given to people who need them and cannot afford them.

 

[buckler]

In the future, call several pharmacies and ask what the expiration dates are on the pens they have in stock. Then fill the prescription at the place with the best date.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

The answer is NO, but they may. If they do, they have to throw them out. They can not be re-dispensed to anyone else. If the pharmacist is agreeable he may let you do an exchange if they have them in stock. It is common practice to dispense the meds that expire with the soonest date. Anything that expires during the month should be returned to the manufacturer for proper disposal.

As a previous poster stated, either check the date prior to leaving the store, or call first.

Sorry this happened.

 

[buckler]

The answer is NO, but they may. If they do, they have to throw them out. They can not be re-dispensed to anyone else. If the pharmacist is agreeable he may let you do an exchange if they have them in stock. It is common practice to dispense the meds that expire with the soonest date. Anything that expires during the month should be returned to the manufacturer for proper disposal.

As a previous poster stated, either check the date prior to leaving the store, or call first.

Sorry this happened.

I would not call about this. I would go into the store in person and bring your daughter with you. They will have more trouble saying no to you in person, especially with a child with you. Don't demand, just ask "if there is anything we can do about this?" and explain why it is such a problem with the school year and see where it goes from there.

Edited to add: oh good I see she's only 5. That will make it harder for them to resist helping!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I hope they take them back for you. I ran into the same trouble with ds asthma inhaler.

If its for school I tell them I want an expiration date that will cover up to June 2011 as this will stay at school all year etc.

In the past before I learned to ask I just swapped out the one I kept at home for the school date one depending on the dates etc.

Best of luck.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I guess I just assumed they always gave the expiration date a year from the purchased date as I never had this problem before in the past 3 years, never even thought to ask.
And its not like I *need* it right now, I have 2 in my medicine cabinet, 1 in my purse and my parents have 1, and they expire in Dec. This was for Sept for BTS.
Thanks, guess I will be going over there today.

 

[Gigi22]

Same thing happened to my DH once. We now unwrap the epipen so that we can see the expiry date--if it is too close, we ask for another--and unwrap it too!