Tell your pharmacy to ID anyone who attempts to pick up your monthly narcotic prescriptions! Because of the following incident, I have instructed my regular pharmacy not to dispense ANY of my or my childrens' medications to anyone other than myself or my ex. I use Walgreens and they will make a notation in your account to ID and dispense only to approved people.

I know a few other people who are suffering chronic, intractable pain and with whom I meet in a support group at least once a week. One particular friend who was on OxyContin and Vicodin after a near-fatal motorcycle crash (he fractured his neck and spine, almost lost a leg when he suffered a compound fracture of his femur and developed an infection, a broken pelvis and collapsed lung with several broken ribs..talk about SERIOUS PAIN!) had to stop taking it when he lost his health insurance and could no longer afford the cost of the medication (there was a problem with his auto insurance as his vehicle was registered in a different state than the insurance was written through--a loophole that allowed them not to cover this accident, incidentally.) Recently, he received a phone call from the pharmacy that said "I'm sorry, Mr. XXXXX, but if you need a refill of your OxyContin, you will have to see your doctor." He was mystified as he hadn't been taking it for well over 6 months. Evidently someone called the pharmacy using his name and requested the refill. His doctor's office also called him and said the same thing about the refill. He explained to his physician's office that he still couldn't afford the medication and was doing OK without it and he had not called to request the refill in the first place. The pharmacy did not disclose to him if the person attempted to call it in or pick it up in person. But he did tell them not to dispense any medication in his name to anyone other than himself with a valid driver's license.

It had to have been someone in the support group or someone else who knew him well enough to have known the med he was on and the dosage, as well as the name of his doctor. Seeing as we are all very open about our pain and treatments in this group, it very well could have been someone there. Imagine if he had still been on that medication and someone had successfully managed to steal his monthly supply! He would have had to suffer withdrawal AND severe pain due to someone's addiction and greed. It's sickening. And it's a warning to everyone to tell you pharmacy to never dispense your meds to unapproved people and ask for an ID.