Bad News for Chronic Pain Patients - PLEASE READ!

[femmy29]

This is not a question but rather a post notifying chronic pain patients of a new amendment that passed the Senate last month.  This new amendment will effectively make ALL Hydrocodone containing products a Schedule II drug.  Hydrocodone alone has always been a Schedule II drug; however, there are currently no drugs on the market that contain ONLY Hydrocodone.  All Hydrocodone products on the US market are combined with either Tylenol (Acetaminophen), Ibuprofen, or Aspirin.  There is a new Hydrocodone extended release med undergoing clinical trials called Zohydro that is expected to hit the market 2013-2014.  

What this means to those who are prescribed Vicodin, Lortab, or Norco: Upon President Obama signing the bill into law, the hydrocodone drugs Vicodin, Lortab, and Norco will become Schedule II drugs.  As of today, they are currently Schedule III drugs.  Schedule III drugs can be called or faxed in to the pharmacy and can contain refills.  Schedule II drugs cannot be called or faxed in to the pharmacy and require a triplicate prescription that MUST be hand delivered to the pharmacy every time the medication is requested for fill and refills are not allowed.

The passing of this amendment is part of the government's "War on Prescription Drugs" initiative.  Rescheduling Vicodin, Lortab, and Norco as Schedule II drugs will require more paperwork by the doctor and the pharmacy so that the prescriptions written can be tracked by the DEA to help aid their fight against diversion and abuse.  This amendment HURTS chronic pain patients as doctors are more reluctant to prescribe Schedule II medications such as Oxycodone, Morphine, Fentanyl, Opana ER, and Exalgo.  This amendment could lock many chronic pain patients out from medication desperately needed.  There will now only be a couple of opioid (or opioid-like) drugs that are more easily obtainable by chronic pain patients and that is Ultram, Tramadol, the associated combination products that contain Tramadol, and Codeine containing products such as Tylenol 3 and Tylenol 4 due to their higher Scheduling (CIII or CIV).

The article discussing the approval of this amendment and the possible consequences is located at the website below:

http://www.pharmacist.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Pharmacy_News&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=28562

As always, your comments are welcome.

femmy

[philnoir]

Rescheduling hasn't started yet, but many pharmacies are gearing up for the change.

Read more about what's happening to hydrocodone here:

http://americannewsreport.com/nationalpainreport/dea-rescheduling-hydrocodone-8824530.html

[JeriAnnEa]

Hi Femmy29,

Sorry to be a bearer of bad news, but I just had a problem getting a refill for my Norco 10/325 today. The dr. hadn't ordered any refills so they considered it a new prescription, which required her signature and a date. They did this to me last month too, so I called WalMart and they said that because it was a "new prescription," she would have to sign and date the form and fax it to them again. Then after the situation was taken care of I got a note from my dr's office after sending them one explaining what the problem was that I would have to as of October 1, 2014, without an explanation as to why I would have to, I would have to come into the doctor's office to pick it up! I thought they thought I was being a pain in the arse or something, so I called the pharmacist at Costco. She told me that not only are ALL HYRDROCODONE TYPE DRUGS BEING PUT ON SCHEDULE II, SO IS TRAMMADOL/ULTRAM!  So we're losing this one too. Probably because they are a low level opiod medication?

I don't understand why they have to make US get our sudafed over the counter with proof of age, etc., and now those of us who are in pain, who have enough trouble already just getting to the pharmacy, or having someone go for us, will now be forced to pick up a triplicate prescription when it's the darned college chemists who could mix 4 colors of chalk together and add the other ingredients and call is some rad name or something and it would be available cheaper on the street? The pharmaceutical companies are being punished here. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. They said this affecting a lot of their patients who had no idea this stupid idiotic bill had been signed, so what's next? Another new miracle pain drug, that won't be on the Sched II list because they want to replace everything else with something else. I remember when Obama said he would give an old woman a pill instead of a life saving surgery, well now he's taking the pill from us too! I'm SERIOUSLY PISSED OFF ABOUT THIS! I promise you, the President and the FDA will be getting a lot of letters about this from a lot of us who have never done anything illegal in our lives and it's not going to go away until there is a satisfactory resolution to this. Not only did you take our doctors and our plans Obama, now you gotta take our pain killers too? JERK!

From,
Disgusted Lady In A Lot of Pain

[Dee1956]

thank you for this article very helpful

[grietyou]

oh wow... you know its funny us americans like to think we are living in a free country, but it couldnt be father from the truth. I am 25 and a chronic pain patient. I am about to move over seas where i can just walk into a pharmacy and buy what i need over the counter, like you can in portugal or the british isles. Every time i go to the doctor they make me feel like a drug addict and on top of it most of my income goes to paying them to be treated like that. i wish this phoney war on drugs would end. Its not the drugs that kill people, its the people who abusive them that causes the problems. Anything can be addictive. Look at what happend to Excedrin when that was recalled now bottles are going for 125 bucks on the black market. *sigh*  putting more prohibitions on drugs just makes people want them more. If we legalized everything crime would be cut in half! what would fund the gangs and of course big pharma? plus you would not have that stereotype of people doing obsene acts and stealing for drugs because they could walk into the store and buy it. I know this whole thing is a power trip with the political figure heads ontop but rarely things stay the same, so hopefully one day we can open a history book and say "remember when the US government put a prohibition on everything making life unbearable and expensive?"  and kids will say " im glad i didnt live back then."

[railroaded]

The War on drugs! Are they serious, Vicodin being a triplicate?!  They don't do anything, except NOW the Dr. will be afraid to prescribe almost everything! I can NOT understand why we spend millions on research, to make formulations for stronger pain control, and then tremble at the thought of someone actually USING them for pain! It is ridiculous, if it didn't affect us so much, it would be laughable! When are they going to teach the med students, even in residency about pain control, I mean the need for it to live a reasonable life. It seems to take a person that is in so much pain, a chance like the lottery, to find a Dr. who understands!  What is wrong?Oncologists understand about pain, so why aren't other fields taught ?

[tm624]

Thanks for the info it's really helpful. I can't believe how stupid I've been. I'm thinking of canceling my insurance which cost 5 hundred a month and go with alternative medicine and walk in clinics. Why should they be paid for giving us more pain and suffering. I don't trust doctors!  I posted my sad story there.
I asked my doctor that did my surgery to let me try Lyrica lets hope it works. I get about 4 hours a day where I can get around in comfort then the pain starts in again but I'm grateful some people don't even have that. Thank you again.
I been dismissed because I took a pill that he prescribe a year ago because I ran out and he wouldn't refill till my next appointment and of course it was different from what he prescribed so he dismissed me. I didn't know that I couldn't take an old prescription. I really didn't read the contact and didn't know because my husband fills out my paper work. What dose red flag mean is this turn in to the DEA and all stores that refill my prescription or worst arrested. What can I do to get this red flag off. I only take 2 vicodin a day and the left over Percocet from surgery last April I have three left. I guess I should through them out there not worth the trouble I'm in. Thanks for listening, tm624