I hope my pharmacy doesn’t start splitting pen cartridges out from boxes…my script is written for ~2 cartridges/month, and they give me a box of 5. Helpful because I only use 1.5ish per month, so I can refill every 2-3 months instead of every month, and still build up a bit of a stash…
It was a little astonishing to hear how many have had pharmacies fill to the lower end of a range (though I agree, it’s pretty ridiculous to even prescribe a range).
_ I ACTUALLY PHSYICALY SPLIT PEN CARTRIDGES_
… For Real N o J o k e
(out of the disposable pens) have been for nearly a year now.
The VA has lately also been shorting me a little on insulin. The VA seems to do almost anything these days, to $ave a buck, & not just on meds.
@Gomer, why don’t you ask your doc, at the VA, to up your script dosage?
The last thing we all want to do is short the insulin dosages we use. We know the consequences.
This may vary from state to state also…
I use about 20 bolus and 20 basal each day on average… my doc prescribes 30 basal and 60 bolus.
I fill through mail order for 90 day supplies because it’s much cheaper that way with my plan, so I would get 5400 bolus units, but they come in boxes of 1500 (5 pens) so I get 4 full boxes)
And 2 full boxes of basal pens…
It still May be worth looking into mail order it may solve some of your headaches
It would only be an issue if I we’re turning around and selling it or something, which Of course I’m not… I justified the excess because I work away from home sometimes for months at a time and can’t refill my script on their schedule (at least that’s how I justify it in my own mind, but nobody has ever asked or challenged me on it)
I go to Costco, and get Tresiba. I have an Rx for 44u/day. On Medicare, the pharmacy gives me 2 boxes, six pens. Enough for forty-one days. The prescription is just not eligible for refill until 33 days later (40 days-1week).
No box splitting. No shorting.
Wow, I see we have inadvertently stumbled on an issue that others are having too. It is sort of nice to know that others are in the same boat as us, but thinking back on the frustration, I am not happy with this at all.
This is what I was told also. Starting in January I also need to go in every 20 days to pick up insulin, and they give me 1 vial at a time although I used to get 2.
This speaks for the patient- pharmacist relationship. It should be the same as doctor-patient relationship.
You need to get to know your pharmacist and stick with him.
I could go mail order or CVS and save about $50 /mo., but my relationship with my Costco pharmacist is worth much more than $50/mo.
I’ve been going to him for eight years, and he’s always looking out for me.
If I need a refill and don’t have one, he’ll let me write an Rx for a 30 day supply for anything. Mail order won’t take my Rx for insulin or Advair or anything beyond the scope of dentistry. He’ll autmatically charge the Costco pharmacy membership price if it’s lower than my Medicare copay, which is not completely by the rules but has saved me hundreds of dollars.
A lot of problems are solved with a good patient-pharmacist relationship.
To me, this is a lawsuit waiting to happen. I have no doubt someone is going to die or get very sick as a result of this policy.
Glad you have found a good one, we have not despite shopping around. We went to the last in-person pharmacy that actually stocked insulin, i.e. the Walgreens near us has 0 insulin on hand, you need to order 1-2 days in advance so it can get shipped in. Then we had the range issue, then the auto refill issue, then we went to mail order…
I really wanted the in-person pharmacy to work, but they just weren’t willing to work with us.
That is totally crazy to me.
Btw, around here (right now this little corner of Spain), we can always get at least a cartridge, pen or vial of insulin in any pharmacy both long- and fast-acting, even in the far away countryside.
Yes, you would think that every pharmacy should have a small stock on hand for emergencies, but nope. I guess it costs too much or the hassle of maintaining inventory is high. Not sure really, just reinforces my feeling that we need to have a small stash for when the Cascadia earthquake hits.
That plus the fact that my endo’s office won’t take after hours calls regarding prescriptions…when it turned out that they called in the wrong insulin for me on a Friday afternoon…that was awesome.
I had other options due to my own planning and good fortune. But what about the people on the razor’s edge?
This is really where deaths are not likely but certain—enough odds. It is appaling to me.
Sometimes our Pharmacy does not have enough vials. We are using Fiasp and pick up a handful vials at a time so I get that it (Fiasp) probably is not heavily used (at least locally). But even with the Humalog and Novolog, it would happen sometimes (that we were asked to come back a couple days later).
It was never a big deal as I would never wait until we are about to run out. So if they said they were running low, I am completely fine with them hanging onto the last couple vials in case somebody with a more urgent need comes in to the store after me.
I just go back in 2 or 3 days and pick them up.
Lately they have been filling on the spot so maybe they have increased the level they stock or maybe I am just getting lucky.
Our usage includes waste insulin as we do not recapture leftover insulin from the old cartridge.
And without documentation?!? That’s insane. And probably not good. Wow. I’m sorry. I would be moderately freaked out by refrigeration issues and whatnot if they were splitting out pens. (Although I realized all other pills are bought en masse and then split out into customer sized doses by the month…so why the insulin weirds me out…?)
Because most pills don’t go bad…
That is OUTRAGEOUS! You should talk to the supervising pharmacist.
I remember when I first got penfills from Costco eight years ago they had to order it in. But that was the last time they were out. I had talked with the pharmacist and told him I would be refilling monthly and I’ve never had to wait again.