Dear JA Customer:

Thank you for allowing me to assist you with your question.

Your question is very important to me, but please remember that I can only respond to the information you provide and I do not know your entire situation. I do not know what you already know, so my answer may contain information you are already aware of. If so, please let me know so I can provide further information. Also, please note that my response is limited to what you have written to me and the answer may change with additional facts.

Also, due to site reasons, there are times I am initially only able to see a portion of post, so I apologize in advance if it means that you have to duplicate information.

There may be future facts that are as yet undetermined in your matter, that can and must leave some areas of information provided by me broad in nature. However, don't hesitate to ask for clarification if needed! At times, there can also be a delay of an hour or more in between my answers because I may be helping other customers or taking a break. Now, let’s address your question!

I am going to take your questions one at a time:

1. Can a Pharmacist withdraw a refill if the doctor finds the pharmacy it was filled at and ask it not to be filled.

Answer: Yes, if the prescribing Physician notifies the pharmacy that the Physician withdraws the prescription.

2. The drug in question is NOT a narcotic or a "watched" drug. It was an NSAID.

Answer: The specific drug is not important, it is the Doctor's action of retracting the prescription he wrote. The Doctor could realize that the prescription he wrote interferes with another drug or that there could be a dangerous interaction, or any number of other reasons he may make a reasonable medical decision that the prescription he previously wrote is not to be filled.

3. Also, in another instance, the pharmacy, deleted all refills of a regular "non-watched" drug when I presented her with another paper prescription of it.

Answer: The new prescription superseded previous prescriptions. The pharmacist would have used the new prescription to fill your needs and discarded the old prescription, even if they were for the same. What you, as a consumer should have done is to have held on to the new prescription until you old refills ran out. But you cannot hold on to it for too long.

Effective October 1, 2011, every hard copy prescription drug order for any Schedule II controlled substance written in this state by a practitioner must be written on security paper. If you have questions, please contact the Pharmacy Board at(NNN) NNN-NNNN This may have triggered a 'overkill' response by your Pharmacist on your medication and it also may have triggered a company (the drug store) to issue a blanket mandate that effected your refills.

4. So therefore, all of the others are gone (should I unexpectedly lose my insurance, I won't have any additional months of this written Rx) Can she do this? Why not "stack" the refills?

Answer:

You would not lose your insurance. Your insurance company would only allow coverage for a month's supply at a time (or a 3 month supply), In any event, if you filled for the month of May on May 1st, you would not be allowed to fill for June for at least 29 days, so you still will have the same amount of medication available to you. You will just have to present a new prescription when this one lapses, and the refills have been used.

I hope this helps you to better understand the system.

Have I satisfactorily addressed your concerns? If not, then please feel free to ask for clarification.

If I don’t’ answer immediately, I may be off line. If so, I will answer as soon as I come back. If I am online, I may be assisting someone else and will respond as soon as I can. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Please remember that we have not created an attorney-client relationship, and that my post is not intended to be specific legal advice. The answers given are limited to the information you have provided in your post. For specific legal advice, please consult with an attorney licensed in your state.

DISCLAIMER: Please understand that the complexities of most legal problems cannot be adequately addressed in this setting, and that I am only licensed to practice law in the states of Florida and Mississippi. Accordingly, you acknowledge (1) that we have not formed an attorney-client relationship, and (2) that my post is general information only and not specific legal advice.