Is it really just because of the fentanyl situation? I know there is a huge disagreement with how the strict rules for prescribing opioids are so tight even for chronic pain patients like myself who can’t participate in life without em struggle to find a provider who is willing to prescribe us them.
I’m on a pain management plan that includes an opioid. It requires mandatory 3 month check-ins with my doctor, and my previous pharmacy had a pharmacist that would ask me if I “really needed it”. That pharmacy delayed my refills so much sometimes that I would go into withdrawal. And if I called to ask what was going on, they would start asking me why I was so concerned and if I was actually using them.
New pharmacy only has an issue if I pre-emptively request a refill, but even then I just explain my work schedule and issues with remembering to submit the refill and they just hold it until the normal refill date.
So I don’t know if you’ve read about all of the lawsuits against pharmacies in the news. Basically, court found that pharmacy companies gave out prescriptions they should t have. And these are all scripts prescribed by the doctor. This changed the whole retail pharmacy policy. Pharmacies are actively pushing pharmacists to find any reason to deny the script so as to not get sued again.
Each pharmacist still is able to give their own judgement, but now has guidelines from their company that they should follow.
https://www.bmj.com/content/379/bmj.o2688