Would a pharmacy split pills between parents??

[Crockpot]

DH's ex is on roll lately.  My SD is on ADHD meds.  BM is trying to hold one over on DH so she told him the next time she gets the prescription filled she's going to tell the pharmacy to split up the pills and make DH pick up his portion himself.  Logic tells me there is no way a pharmacy will do this.  Right?  She'll still have to pay for them all, but she thinks she will only have to take as many as she needs.  

[iceclimber]

in my experience this is possible.
walgreens does this for my family, as it is necessary.

it is basically the same concept if the pharmacy does not have enough of a drug on hand and must only give you a 'partial fill'. this does not mean that they will charge you for all of the medication. you will pay a partial price and the remainder with the pharmacy has the remainder in stock.
this is from personal experience as well.

hope this helps.

[Kitty C.]

Unless your SD is on Strattera, she is taking a C2 controlled substance, making it illegal for pharmacies to divide them up.  Most ADHD meds are controlled substances, which means you cannot call or fax the scripts, they have to be written every month and have to be picked up at the doctor's office.

BT, DT for 10+ years.  DS is currently going to tech school in WY, so I am filling his scripts every month and mailing them to him.  I can't even mail the scripts for him to fill there, because they won't fill a C2 drug from an out of state MD.

About the only thing the pharmacy will do is give you an extra bottle with an identical label.  I had to do that when DS had to take his meds at school and the school required new bottles every month.

It would be fun to be a fly on the wall of that pharmacy when she asks them to divide them...they will put her in her place in a hurry!  So tell her your DH will call the MD, pick up the scripts, get them filled and divide them up between your homes if it's such a hassle for her.  Wanna bet she backpedals and says she will do it herself?   :-)

[iceclimber]

all i know is that i live in florida.

i have split a class 4 drug, many times.

i have also had class 4 and class 5 medications called in and faxed more times than i can count. i may have had a written script for these four times in 10 years.

but, try what kitty suggested.

[tigger]

out more that one extra bottle.  I needed two extra bottles, one for school and one for my ex and then of course, the original for home.  They really didn't want to give out more than one extra.  

[Crockpot]

Interesting.  Sounds like it could go either way.  She's on Adderall, a controlled med.  The script can't be faxed in and is resubscibed each month.  They have given us an empty bottle for the other parent before.  I may have DH called the pharmancy and see what they say.  I'll update.

[Kitty C.]

Then it is a Class C and I still bet that the pharmacy won't split it, they will only give you an extra bottle.  I would venture to say that I doubt they would do it for any med because of the time it would take.  Considering how long you have to wait for scripts now, if they had to take the time to divide them up, you might have to wait a day or more to get one filled.  They just don't have the time.

[Crockpot]

DH called and they will split it.  The person picking it up first will have to pay the entire co-pay but the'll hold some pills in a drawer marked 'paid.'  

This is annoying.  BM is being a bi*ch about this.  She'll see DH on Sunday for the exchange.  God forbid she bring the pills.  She wants him to drive 20 miles out of his way to the pharmacy.  

[Kitty C.]

Wow!  I am amazed.  I still think it's illegal, but I'm wondering if BM got to the pharmacy first and gave them some sob story about maybe having a no-contact order with your DH (heaven forbid) and that prevents her from giving the medication directly to him.

If your curiosity gets the better of you, contact your state pharmacy board and tell them what's going on.  They may want to know about it.  ;-)

[iceclimber]

class 1-5 refers to controlled substances.
the classification using lettering, like 'class c' refers to the system used to classify drugs based on the threat to an unborn fetus.... during pregnancy.

Adderall is a class II drug for controlled substances.

it seems ridiculous that BM would do this. initially i thought it was about the cost... but you are saying that BM paid for it. what is the point? did she give a reason?

seems like BM is unreasonably frustrating DH's access to the child's medication.

a contentious parent would go out of their way to make it possible for their child to receive proper medical treatment.

[Crockpot]

Oh, she's not a contentious parent.  She's a moron.  She's mad because last month she gave DH the wrong number of pills, we had too many.  She wanted me to drop off the extra at the kids day care for her to pick up later that day (she was about to run out).  I first said no, the day care is not responsible for this type of thing.  My other option was to meet her the next night and give them to her (DH was at class).  We opted for me to bring them to the day care (but NEVER again).  DH called her over and over to tell her the meds were there but she kept picking up her phone and hanging up, making it impossible for him to tell her what we did.  

So, I guess she's still annoyed, although we did what she wanted and it was her error to begin with.  

Maybe she's off HER meds...  

DH is telling her if she does the split thing she needs to find a pharmacy between us or he's not going to pick them up.  Her choice.  

[iceclimber]

dealing with this type of parent can be difficult. try to remain focused. try to remain cool with things like this. i realize it is difficult and she is probably the ONE person that can get to you like this.
dealing with the situations as calm and without striking back is always the best route and will be admired by your children in years to come. they sense the hostility in their parents. don't let them sense that in you or DH.

so, i am not sure that refusing to pick up the pills is a good idea.
however, maybe i am not the best person to give an opinion on that, since i tend to do whatever it takes, aggravating or not. i give in a great deal, unless it will harm the child(ren) if i go along with the demands.

since the pharmacy did split the Rx... maybe you should contact the pharmacy manager.
in our case, i live on one side of town and the OP lives on another. we either alternate filling the Rx or i will fill it for my portion, paying a 'partial fill price' and the remainder can be filled, picked up, and paid for at another location across town.

the other option is to get samples. i am not sure if your child's medication is available at the physicians office as samples, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

i know that we stretch out our Rx supply by requesting samples at every office.

it may not work for you, but you can try.

best wishes

[Crockpot]

We're doing the wait and see thing.  We won't run out of meds for a week.  She's getting the script filled tomorrow.  We'll do what's right for the child but we don't let BM walk all over us doing it.  SD has been on meds since January.  Until last month we purchased all of it.  She would call him a few days before the pills ran out saying she can't afford to get them filled.  DH even gave her a check to get them filled one month and she spent it on cigarettes (she thanked him for the smokes in an email).  So he had to pay twice that month.  DH told her he's done until she catches up.  Then we'll do monthly back and forth or something similar.

Thanks so much for the response.  I do get worked up easily!  

[Kitty C.]

Thanks for the great laugh, Crockpot!!!!!!!!!  I about fell out of my chair when I read that!  You made my day!

Isn't it amazing the levels of stupidity some people will stoop to????

[iceclimber]

i do the pick up and hang up thing. maybe it isn't the best thing to do, but my ex is verbally abusive. so when i know he is angry and just wants to vent it on me, i do that.
mostly to protect myself from what he will say. i admit it gets to me at times, so i would rather not hear it, even on voicemail.

because in voicemail, he is the only one that can hang up... so he lets me have it.

[tigger]

And picking up and hanging up indicates an unwillingness to communicate.  If you at least allow him the opportunity to leave a message, then you haven't blocked communication.  

[Crockpot]

I'm glad I'm able to amuse you!  LOL!  Not sure if I've used it here, but my nickname for her is Satan.

[Crockpot]

One way DH worked around the pick up/hang up is to leave a VM through the mobile phone company.  If you have the same service you should be able to go into your VM compose a message and send it to another number on the system.  

True to form, BM didn't pay her Verizon bill and is now on another carrier.  

[Crockpot]

BM called today.  There are 8 pills waiting for DH at the pharmacy.  The pharmacy she just left.  And she will see DH on Sunday to exchange kids.  Alrighty then...  

Is this really the way she wants to run it for the next 12 years?!  

[iceclimber]

i understand what you are saying. i have only done this when he was already calling me names, so i hung up on him. and he will call twenty times in a fit of anger.

i've done the voicemail as evidence thing. the evaluator didn't pay it much mind.

on one of them i know the kids were in the car with him, because he demanded i meet him to get them. he was already angry and i would only pick them up at the babysitter's house. he was angry i wouldn't meet him at his office.

not one mention in the evaluation report.
so he gets away with it.
and if that is true... i don't have to listen to it.

[Crockpot]

I agree, no one should have to put up with that type of harassment.  In this case, my DH was trying to give BM important information about the kids.  That's when it's blocking communication.
 

[iceclimber]

now i can see that it might be possible, though unlikely, that he could have chilled out and wants to apologize or compromise or whatever.... anything other than what i am expecting.

without allowing him to vent could make him take his frustration out on the kids or his wife in their presence.

so i will at least let it go to voice mail in the future.

in your case crockpot.... BM is just using it to antagonize DH. in times like this he could loose his cool. in fact, she could be setting him up to do that.
don't fall into her trap.

[Crockpot]

>in your case crockpot.... BM is just using it to antagonize
>DH. in times like this he could loose his cool. in fact, she
>could be setting him up to do that.
>don't fall into her trap.

I agree and point taken.

Thanks!

[MixedBag]

can you submit the perscription to a "National Chain" pharmacy like Walmart, and then have the local Walmart transfer the perscription to their site and then have it filled?

I moved SS's perscriptions like that from AZ to AL with no problem......but none of his meds were "controlled substances" or anything like that.

[Kitty C.]

It can't be called, faxed or transferred.  DS's is a controlled substance and I've been doing this (picking up new scripts up EVERY month) for 8+ years now.  It would be nice if I could send the script to DS and have him get it filled out there, but they won't fill that kind of script from an out-of-state MD.  So I've been mailing the bottles to him and having to ensure it for at least $400, because even tho I have only a co-pay on Rx's, that's what it would cost to get it replaced.  

[MixedBag]

controlled substance, different rules.

[Crockpot]

Pharmacy said they would transfer other scripts to other locations but not this class of drug.

I can understand why they do it, but what a pain in the a$$!