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>From: fla…@cli.com (Arthur D. Flatau)
>Newsgroups: alt.drugs,misc.consumers,misc.legal,sci.med.pharmacy
>Subject: Re: Pharmacy law in Illinois? Stupid Question
>Date: 23 Jun 1994 11:57:16 -0500
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>>>> On 22 Jun 1994 23:54:13 GMT, cla…@iia.org (Terry R. Clark) said:
>Terry> People are confusing "Filling" and "Dispensing" a prescription.
>Terry> When the label goes on the bottle and it is ready to go the
>Terry> prescription is "filled".  When it is handed to the patinet it
>Terry> is dispensed. Theirfore "Filling" a prescription being phoned
>Terry> into a pharmacy by a customer which is not a refill is in
>Terry> violation of Federal Law.
>Well here in Texas I have had the following experience.  I was taking
>a drug (cyclosporine to be exact) that my pharmacy did not normally
>carry.  At least once I called the pharmacy the day before I wanted to
>pick up some more.  I would tell them I needed some more and how much
>and then would order it.  The next day I would go to my doctor to
>(among other things) get the prescription and then take this to the
>pharmacy.  As I remember the prescription was "filled" when I got to
>the pharmacy.
>Now the phamacist knew that I was on this drug and had previously
>filled a prescription of mine for this drug.  Still it seems that the
>prescription was "filled" on my word.
>Sure seems like a stupid law.
>Art
>fla…@cli.com
>Computational Logic, Inc.
>Austin, Texas

As a pharmacist, I have to agree.  I don’t think it’s illegal to prepare
the prescription in advance, pursuant to a patient’s telephone call, and
then dispense it only after receiving the written copy – but I personally
am not willing to.  I have had many instances where patients have tried to
read their prescriptions to me over the phone.  Most of the time they
cannot decipher the handwriting, and when they can, they cannot pronounce
the drug name and commonly used abbreviations.  

Assuming I were willing to fill this verbal order from my patient, in a
busy pharmacy there is an excellent possibility that this
yet-to-be-confirmed prescription would be sold by a harried clerk, to my
patient’s detriment.  There are too many chances to hurt the patient I am
trying to serve.  It really is better to bring the written prescription in
and have it done right.  Alternatively, have your physician call or fax it
to the pharmacy directly.

                                        Vic Walker R.Ph.

>Ronald Kavanagh (k8821…@u.washington.edu) wrote:
>: Contrary to this claim. It is illegal for a pharmacist to fill a
>: prescription which has been transmitted orally by a patient.

>: This is prohibited by United States FEDERAL LAW. You can find it in the  
>: Federal Food Drug and Cosmetics Act, As Amended 1979, Section 503B.

>But that’s not what the person who started this thread asked. He asked
>if it was really illegal for him to call in a prescription in advance and

                  ^^^^^^^

>present the written version upon arrive at the pharmacy to pick up the drug.

Not at all!  Nobody will arrest him for "Attempt to speed up the process,
prescription-wise"!  *However* (whether it is or is not legal, State-side),
it would take a pretty gutsy pharmacist to fill a prescription based on
information read by a non-pharmacist from an order written by any member of
the world’s most notoriously illegible scribes…..

Did I say "gutsy" back there?  How’s about "stupid"?  If concern for the
welfare of the patient is not primary, maybe concern about the state of
the malpractise insurance is (or *should be*)!

-Miranda
 –
 M. Rose Mulvale               November 7.  Solitude.  A puppy biscuit
 rmulv…@fox.nstn.ns.ca       did it, part of a puppy biscuit.

Just my $.02 worth.

Barbara-Jean
cf…@eiu.edu

>It seems unlikely to me that the Feds would have, or wish to pursue, a case
>against a pharmacist who prepared the medication based on a telephone call,
>but had not yet dispensed it, and would not until a legitimate prescription
>were presented … Don’t you think???

Sounds sensible to me, but how about the delightful individual who waxes
abusive should anything (eg a pharmacist checking the accuracy of a
prescription) slow his/her bulldozer progress through a day? (Have been
privileged to see these people in action, on occasion… Truly Impressive!)  

-Miranda
 –
 M. Rose Mulvale               November 7.  Solitude.  A puppy biscuit
 rmulv…@fox.nstn.ns.ca       did it, part of a puppy biscuit.

: You are all avoiding the obvious…….

: Kmart benefits from having you hanging around the place waiting.
: Can you say "impulse buying" …..?

Possibly, but you are missing the point. The law is to prevent a
prescription to be completely filled and waiting for the order to be
brought to the pharmacy.  If for some reason something goes wrong
(Murphy’s law) and the prescription is dispensed with out it being
compared to the written prescription.  You have a HUGE potentional for an
error to happen. Is a 15 min wait worth your life?

Terry

>You are all avoiding the obvious…….

>Kmart benefits from having you hanging around the place waiting.
>Can you say "impulse buying" …..?

   They do, however, that isnt the reason the Rx wasnt filled.  The pharmacist
behind the counter is not trying to get you to hang around the store so you’ll
hit the blue light special.  What IS happening is that when people try to call
in their own prescriptions, they often screw it up.  This causes duplicate
work for the pharmacist and staff and also adds an element of risk… the
incorrectly filled prescription may be dispensed to the patient inadvertently.
  If the patient is well known to the pharmacist and the medication is chronic,
the pharmacist may make an exception.  But it would be a nightmare behind the
counter if everyone tried to call in their interpretation of their prescription
continuously.
-Paul

Kmart benefits from having you hanging around the place waiting.
Can you say "impulse buying" …..?

–
A host is a host from coast to coast……………..wb8…@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that’s close………..(v)301 56 LINUX
Unless the host (that isn’t close)….kibo# 777…………pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead…………..vr………………..20915-1433

: Since there is
: virtually no way to pass on these costs and remain competitive.  
: Your arguments about whether a community pharmacist may fill a
: prescription in this situtation are really moot, because I don’t know any
: community pharmacist who is going to actually do it (Even if they tell
: the patient that they are, in order to placate them), because it is
: likely to wind up costing them money.

What’s the problem here? I moved into a new neighborhood a month ago. I just
went to a local drug store to fill a prescription. I expected that this drug
store would not have my medicine in stock since its not commonly prescribed.
As such, I called a day a head of time to let the phamacist know I was going
to order this prescription. I then picked up the phone again and called my
physician. He called the drug store to confirm the prescription. When I came
in the next day to pick up the drug, which costs me about $100, I saw the
pharmacist walk over to a shelf, pick up a bag, and she handed it to me as
soon as I paid for the medication. I waited all of 5 minutes and that was
mostly waiting for the person in front of me to be served. I am not saying
the pharmacist filled the prescription (which was new to him) on my word
alone, however, I still had no problem calling my doc up and asking him to
order the medication from me. As such, my suggestion is, don’t bother even  
calling K-Mart on your own, just call your doctor and have him or her order
the drug for you. Any doctor that would not do this simple thing may not
be worth seeing any more. If its some sort of restricted drug that even your
doc can’t order over the phone, just think a head and drop off the written
prescription at the pharmacy the day before you intend to pick it up if you
can or just bring a magazine or a newspaper with you to read while you wait
for the pharmacist to fill your prescription. All in all, I can think of
much worse fates than to have to wait 15 minutes for a prescription to be
filled. Its not like you’re stuck there while the prescription is filled.

–
My name is Stan Horwitz and my E-mail address is s…@astro.ocis.temple.edu
My opinions are all mine. They do not reflect those of my employer.