\u201cI\u2019m about to run out of my hormones\u2026.my Adderall..my blood pressure meds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy pharmacist said he sent a FAX\u2026I need an early refill\u2026I\u2019m leaving for Paris in 3 days!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Okay, okay, slow down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m going to walk you through the incredible complexity of rules and regulations concerning your prescriptions. On the one hand, my dedicated staff gets about a hundred or so requests every day, from patients, pharmacists, insurance companies (they\u2019re the worst).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You need to know (and probably don\u2019t) <\/strong>there are State of Illinois and Federal regulations that must be followed, otherwise your prescription will be automatically blocked by some computer, somewhere. Another hurdle<\/strong> is your health insurance company which can randomly decide not to cover your medication or medications (\u201cnot on our formulary\u201d) or change your pharmacy (\u201cplease move all your prescriptions to Walgreen\u2019s\u201d). This means, of course, you calling us to do this work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most confusing to patients are requirements for prescription refills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n First, the so-called controlled drugs<\/strong>, which are divided into schedules:<\/strong> Schedule I through V<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schedule I<\/span> <\/strong>are never prescribed by physicians although you\u2019ve certainly heard of heroin, LSD, cannabis, peyote. At present, they have no FDA approved medical use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schedule II<\/span>, <\/strong>also known as \u201ccontrolled drugs\u201d, are opioids for pain (oxycodone, Norco, Morphine), meds for ADD (Adderall, Ritalin). These are quite carefully controlled and you need a new prescription every month<\/strong>. Yes, a face-to-face office visit is required to prescribe a Schedule II drug, unless the patient has a psychiatric disability or substance use disorder. This is due to a proposal from the DEA that requires an in-person exam before prescribing a Schedule II medication, with the exception of an initial 30-day prescription period. The proposal aims to prevent online over-prescribing of controlled medications. To continue to be prescribed Schedule II drugs, a patient must be seen in office every 6 months. The Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program tracks everyone\u2019s use of these meds. Early refills and automatic refills are not allowed. If you lose your prescription, it will not be replaced. If your prescription is stolen, you must file a police report and bring it to our office for a replacement.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Schedule III<\/span><\/strong> drugs are monitored by your health care practitioner rather than the State. These have a potential for abuse and dependence but less so than those in Class II. These include Tylenol #3, ketamine, testosterone, psychostimulants (armodafinil). You will need an office visit (telemed is okay) every six months to get Schedule III prescriptions renewed, but an in person visit is required once a year.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Schedule IV<\/span><\/strong> drugs have an even lower potential for abuse and dependence. The common antianxiety meds (alprazolam, clonazepam), sleeping meds (zolpidem). You will need<\/strong> an office visit (telemed is okay) every six months for schedule IV prescriptions but an in person visit once a year.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n WHAT ABOUT ALL THE “NON CONTROLLED MEDICATIONS”?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Then of course, there is \u201ceverything else\u201d. Your meds for cholesterol, thyroid, diabetes, arthritis, depression, blood pressure, your heart and so forth. At least here at WholeHealth Chicago we do try to make our best effort to reduce your number of medications, but sometimes you\u2019re stuck taking a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most efficient way to get a prescription refilled from WholeHealth is to request the refill through the pharmacy you initially filled it. As I said, we get hundreds of prescription refill requests daily, so sifting through ten different communications for the same request creates a backlog for staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You might want to mark this Health Tip as a \u201cSAVE\u201d because some time in the future when you are asking one of my staff \u201cWhere is my prescription?\u201d, she\u2019ll refer to the Health Tip of 8\/27\/24 (which will be updated when the rules change again!)<\/strong>. You can also see our formal medication refill policy on our website under the “Resources” tab. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Be well,<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Edelberg, MD<\/em><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI\u2019m about to run out of my hormones\u2026.my Adderall..my blood pressure meds.\u201d \u201cMy pharmacist said he sent a FAX\u2026I need an early refill\u2026I\u2019m leaving for Paris in 3 days!\u201d Okay, okay, slow down. I\u2019m going to walk you through the incredible complexity of rules and regulations concerning your prescriptions. On the one hand, my dedicated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2087,"featured_media":31655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2747,2793,2794],"tags":[2795,2797,2798,2796],"class_list":["post-31653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthcare","category-medication","category-pharmacy-guidance","tag-healthcare-tips","tag-medication-refills","tag-pharmacy-guidance","tag-prescription-management"],"yoast_head":"\r\nHere are some suggestions to make medication renewals a little easier for yourself:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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