It’s no surprise that Florida is the “Oxycodone Capital” of the US. So much has been in the media about this drug causing deaths, addictions and jail sentences. There has been a lot of “finger-pointing” on who to blame for its availability… the physician, the pharmacist or the drug dealer/fake patient. One thing we can all agree on is that there is significant abuse of its properties. This is unfortunate as there are legitimate patients out there who really need this medication and can’t seem to get any due to “rationing”.
In Florida, the pharmacy inspectors began cracking down on pharmacies and pharmacists that fill excessive amounts of this medication for patients. When I say excessive, I mean amounts ranging from 140 to 600 pills per month per patient. That’s right, there are physicians prescribing up to 600 pills of oxycodone 30mg per month per patient. Most of these types of prescriptions originate from the “pill mill” pain clinics that are slowly getting their doors closed in Florida.
As a practicing pharmacist, it is very difficult to ratify prescriptions presented for oxycodone. Fortunately, due to the abuse in Florida, some guidelines are available to assist in this matter. These guidelines focus on the geographic locations of the pain clinic, dispensing pharmacy and the patient’s local residence. If geographic locations are local to the town, or city, that’s three criteria met. Then the quantity requirements are next, followed by state ID and prescription verification with diagnostic codes. Lastly, good pain management guidelines are reviewed and checked before prescriptions can be filled for oxycodone. Just because there are guidelines, doesn’t mean that they are followed. Time and again, independent pharmacies are inspected and shut down due to excessively filling narcotic prescriptions. The inspectors have caught on that some of these pharmacies are contributing to the oxycodone availability within and throughout the southeast. And it’s not just independent pharmacies; chain locations are doing the same thing even though they have not been discovered yet. What some of these distribution sites don’t realize is the DEA gets feedback in the form of consumption reports from the manufacturer, wholesaler and pharmacies in the area. After compiling data on excessive consumption by a location, an investigation is started which, if proven to be substantial, results in a multi-task force sting operation which nets the prescriber, pharmacy, pharmacist and patients. Federal charges are soon brought against all responsible parties and then it’s over for everyone.\It is unfortunate that a few spoil it for the rest; however, in order to protect the innocent, abusers who are determined to focus on their selfish needs create an environment of mistrust and disrespect for legitimate pain management healthcare providers and patients. I hope this information will help all sides – prescribers, patients and pharmacists understand that sooner or later, the price has to be paid. The question is – do you have enough to cover the bill?
Until next time, stay well.
Dion