Pharmacists refusing to fill Adderall | ADHD Information

Hey all,


(my problem is in the last paragraph, feel free to skip right to it.)

Well for starters let me give you all some information about myself. I'm a 20 year old male and I've been taking Adderall for about 6 years now and also during this time have tried just about every other ADHD medication (ritalin, strattera, concerta ect.) and none had any positive effect. From 8th grade through freshmen year I took 20MG of the instant release form on school days. I got hit hard by all of the side effects (couldn't sleep, dry mouth, ect ect.) and was then switched to 30MG XR sophmore year. Had a lot of tramatic experiences all through 7th grade until junior year and it all effected my education immensely. They diagnosed me with ADD in 8th grade after spending all of 7th grade in the principals office. I had to have had atleast 15 suspensions all through middle school which was completely unlike me. It all started when the hormones hit, which coincidently started when I was diagnosed with cholestiatomas in my ears. Had 7 extensive surgeries during 7th and 8th grade, was deaf in my right ear for many years, suffered through immense ear pain through childhood ect ect. Anyways my grades were poor through high school, depending on my relationship with the teacher usually. Always have tested near the genious level on any IQ testing. My Dads side of the family is incredibley smart, with the more intelligent ones having less success in life however. Same story with my Moms side, both are the most successful kids in their families however. Mental illness on both sides with high intelligence. Was diagnosed with bipolar ect ect. Misdiagnosed with depression and stupidly was put on Zoloft which sent me manic for almost a year. Was being prescribed 120MG a day of IR Adderall, slept every other day, dropped 60 lbs of muscle making me look like I came from a concentration camp. Prescribed ativan and lamictal also which I never missed a dose of. Was unfairly hospitolized last summer after my parents thought it was the Adderall making me nuts. Anyways after being off of it for a month and not being able to do anything I went back on it, 10mg a day. Have been creeping back up to the right dosage but still not quite there yet. My psychiatrist is very cautious about increasing my dosage but I don't think she quite understands (honestly.) Anyways I dropped out of high school at the end of my junior year and took started college that summer (had placed into all college courses.) Took the SATs last fall for the heck of it and scored an 800 in math without studying. Now I'm at 20MG IR Adderall 3 times a day (I take a little more usually, just can't stand not being able to concentrate.)

Ok I can't believe I just typed out my life story, anyways here's the problem. I had already typed this out before so if there's any explict language I apologize ahead of time.

Went to fill my prescription and she refused to fill it because it was 2 days early. Then she started completely lieing to my face when I questioned her reasoning for not filling it. I told her that I felt she was discriminating against me based on my age and labeling me as an another college kid who sells his Adderall prescriptions. Tries telling me that it's a federal law stating that pharmacists can't fill a class II controlled substance more than 1 day early and she'll lose her job if she fills it. Right, if something happened to me because I got my prescription 1 day early, it'd be her liable huh... WRONG AGAIN! It'd be the Doctors butt, she's completely covered. THE DOCTOR, THE SAME ONE WHO WRITES OUT ALL MY PRESCRIPTIONS IS THE ONE WHO WROTE THE PRESCRIPTION OUT THAT SAME DAY KNOWING IT WAS EARLY. She wouldn't even call the doctor to make sure she knew it was a day early! Then I looked down at the prescription and she wrote on it "Do not fill until 7/15" and that's when I really let her have it. This isn't the first time this same pharmacist has pulled this crap either. I wouldn't go there if it wasn't the only 24 hour pharmacy in the area or even the only pharmacy in the area that has the brand name Adderall in stock. She then calls me a junkie and an addict and I nearly lost it. Somehow I restrained myself from jumping over the counter and looked at her with a puzzled face and said, "So that's why you won't fill it, because you assume all 20 year olds who take Adderall are addicts?" "I don't know where you're from, but here we call that stereotyping." She then proceeded to call the cops on me, for who knows what reason. I wasn't asked to leave until after she called, which I was going to do anyways, as the cops would've assumed that it was all my fault.

Can she legally refuse to fill a valid prescription simply because it's a couple days early and refusing to even confirm with the doctor that it's a couple days early? I feel like I've been labeled as an addict and feel like I'm being refused health care.
Hutch39278.9603009259Yes, she can refuse to fill the script early.  Here, we are allowed no more than 5 tab. on hand before a script can be filled.[equals 5 days of meds]  Because adhd meds are controlled substances, the gov . dictates when a script can be filled.  The pharm. keeps close tabs on the dates.[per gov. regs]I haven't had problems here filling my child's script early form the pharmacy standpoint.  However, the insurance company has a certain date that they will pay again on.  If your prescription has changed it is easier to get early.  Our doctor writes my sons for 2-3 months at atime.  Our insurance will pay for up to 90 days at a time so that works well for us.  I did think that they could overide the date issue by calling the doctor to verify.  I know they got an overide to prescribe my sons Concerta early but they couldn't get it past the insurance.  I hope it all works out. [QUOTE=granny Fran]Yes, she can refuse to fill the script early.  Here, we are allowed no more than 5 tab. on hand before a script can be filled.[equals 5 days of meds]  Because adhd meds are controlled substances, the gov . dictates when a script can be filled.  The pharm. keeps close tabs on the dates.[per gov. regs][/QUOTE]

I live in Massachusetts if that helps. Class II substances do not have any restrictions on how long they can be filled for (some pharmacists will try to tell you differently) and there's no expiration date on a prescription. Pharmacists don't have the right to refuse to fill a prescription based on moral objections. The only times they can refuse to fill a prescription is if there is a serious risk to your health or if they have reason to believe the prescription is forged. When they have reason to believe there is a risk to your health (interactions, getting 10 diff scripts from 10 diff doctors ect.) they are supposed to call the doctor and let them know. If the doctor says they are aware, I don't believe the pharmacist cannot refuse to fill it. The topic came up during the whole Plan B abortion pill or whatever when pharmacists were refusing to fill it based on their religous beliefs, forcing them on women who were trying to get their prescriptions filled. In most states (MA being one of them) pharmacists cannot refuse to fill them.
Hutch39279.5070717593Check with your state's Board of Pharmacy. They can answer questions for you and if you need to file a complaint, that is where it would be filed.

I'm not sure if it's law or my insurance company's rule, but I can fill a prescription when 3/4 of the old prescription is used.  On a 30-day prescription, that means I can fill it after 21 days (or maybe it's on the 21st day).  This isn't just an issue for controlled substances.  I tried to fill my guanfacine early because I'll only have one pill left when I get back from vacation.  They won't let me fill it early.

One exception is a change in the prescription.  If a new dose is prescribed, the pharmacist can fill it early.