Comments on Drug Channels: One Pharmacist’s View of Cardinal’s DEA Issues

We bumped up against one of our suppliers' limit o...

2008-02-24T15:04:00.000-05:00

We bumped up against one of our suppliers' limit on hydrocodone dosage units purchased per month a while back. I told our rep to have them check hc purchases versus everything else and see if the percent of sales was out of line. It wasn't, they raised our limit and we haven't had a problem since.

As for pharmacies having trouble with Cardinal, this is just one more argument for using more than one supplier and spreading your business around if you can afford to.

Tom Connelly, RPh
Sun Pharmacy
Rising Sun, MD

The heavy handed DEA is once again making assumpti...

2008-02-22T18:29:00.000-05:00

The heavy handed DEA is once again making assumptions of inpropriety in the routine conduct of licensed businesses, prescibers and pharmacies.
When some Senator can't get his legally prescribed whatever( viagra, PSE, pain med or other controlled substance), then the DEA will do as it always does..loosen the rules to pacify the supremely inconvenienced few.
Meanwhile, if you are just in pain, well then get in line for the government allocation.
Either they know who the bad guy is, or they know how to allocate.
They know neither.......

I am surprised Cardinal has gone to such lengths t...

2008-02-22T14:44:00.000-05:00

I am surprised Cardinal has gone to such lengths to police its customers. This is the slippery slope I was talking about in my November 30th post.

I almost can't believe they have taken action against a hospital outpatient pharmacy. Does Cardinal really think the hospital pharmacy is diverting drugs? Did they think long and hard about the consequences of a customer suspension, especially in this situation? I doubt it... and that scares me.

"it sounds like there was poor communication between the head office and the field"

Poor communication is a gross understatement if I ever heard one.

I feel sorry for the discharged patients which went to the outpatient pharmacy to pick up post-op oxycodone only to find out the pharmacy couldn't get the drug. Having to tell one freshly discharged patient that you are out of stock of a particular drug is bad enough, but all controlled substances for all patients? Ouch.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record player, this excerpt from one of my previous comments still rings true:

The “small independent“ pharmacy I worked for could have dispensed 605,000 units in 67 business days, almost 3 times the volume of Horen’s in a like period. Does that make it a candidate for contract suspension or termination? Does the volume of a particular controlled substance indicate the incidence of drug diversion? Even if there is a “pain clinic” involved in possible illegal prescribing activity, is it the pharmacy wholesalers’ responsibility to identify and/or control the dispensing pharmacies? (Rhetorical)

Without specific laws on the books, or even guidance from any given federal, state, or local government agency, department, or branch, how can a wholesaler investigate and determine “at risk” status of a customer? If that kind of policing begins, I can see hundreds of class action suits alleging unfair treatment and discrimination of pharmacy customers and patients. That is a slippery slope.