Refill / Doctor Visit Question

[Jazapan]

Hello. Im hoping someone on this forum will be able to help me out here. I live in florida. I was diagnosed with 2 kidney stone at the local hospital. I saw my regular doctor a few days later. He prescribed me vicoprophen.  (im allergic to acetaminophen)  I used it as prescribed and ran out, and am still in pain. I called the doctor's office and asked them to call in a refill and they told me I had to come in again to see my doctor for another prescription. Im out of work, have no insurance and cannot afford another $100 visit this month. Obviously is its very frustrating; kidney stones are very painful in case anyone has had them.  Now I've looked at the federal regulations and florida statutes for controlled substances. Hydrocodone is a schedule CIII drug, which allows up to 5 refills that can be called or faxed in. Anyway, my question is, Do they have the freedom to do that? To force anyone that is being prescribed any kind of controlled substance to come back to see a doctor for a refill?

[bamabred]

Hey i live in fla also,the dr. can CALL in a script and up tp 5 refills for vico,BUT  very doubtful they will, they want that office visit money,sad but true,call the office and try to set up payment plan,i have before its worth a try.. Good luck Danny

[Totie]

Maybe the dr. wants to do a follow up as too why you have not passed them yet & may be having ideas as to referring you to a specialist or doing other tests.

How long has it been since you saw him? I know my PCP would say, come see me if the issue has not been resolved like he thought it should be.

[msnova74]

Just thought I'd throw this out there.  I have been through some med induced stones and have at one point or another been given morphene but the best med I have ever been given is toradol and NSAID.  You might ask for that.

[Aftercancer]

First off REALLY sorry for your pain,i hav had kidney stones,everybody just assumes they will pass,which if they r small they will pass and they arent that painful but u hav two and im assuming they must b big to cause really bad pain.Now what was the plan when u saw the dr.?He could hav very well called n a refill if he wanted ,idk his reasons for not doin so,but my advice is to go se a Urologist(which you should have been referred to when u left the E.R).The urologist is specialized in that area,he can better diagnose,set a care plan and control your pain.Hope this helps,Good luck!

[Weathergirl21]

Hi there...sorry to hear of your pain...

To answer your question...yes...a Dr. has the right to decide what opiate and how often they want to prescribe it to you. They do not have to provide a refill to you because they expect that if it's going to be some sort of chronic issue then you need to seek out a specialist to deal with this.

Most people have their kidney stones pass and can be controlled with diet, drinking more fluids, and other non medicinal ways.

Many states also have laws/regulations now that any type of controlled substance (this includes all schedule opiates) cannot be prescribed for "chronic" pain unless they are specifically trained in this area like an actual PM Dr. From what your write your regular Dr. is a PCP. So they just don't continue to give opiate prescriptions as I described early.

I haven't had insurance for many years now so I completely empathize with your situation in that area.

Good luck..