[at-l] prescription meds in the mail

[nealb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (William Neal)]

I was not the one who sent out the original message but...

Actually I had several pharmacists, when I inquired about something similar
for a friend, actually recommend I get small baggies and put the meds in
them.  One even suggested my friend buy in bulk and put each day's meds in
different small baggies (like the multi-pill vitamin and supplements sets
you can buy).

And yes they did remind me that my friend should go by the doctor's
treatment plan.

And I do remember one saying my friend should not be worried about getting
arrested.  And the rest seemed to agree.  As long as the meds were not class
*** (I forgot the class) or as long as my friend had proof that they were
legally prescribed meds, the opinion seemed to be that I would have no
trouble.  NOTICE: This was from pharmacists and not cops.

And, contrary to one suggestion, having a med bottle is not a good way to
get an emergency refill.  They might call your pharmacy.  They might call
your doctor.  But they might call the police since they are not suppose to
dispense meds without a prescription.  Also, carrying in an empty bottle is
a con played by some druggies and by some small-time dealers.*  Of course
this is talking about "serious" meds that have a street value.  Most blood
pressure, allergy, diabetes, etc. meds -- even those that are strictly
prescription -- might be refilled for a day or two 'til you can see a local
doctor.  Otherwise, most legit pharmacists will not "blindly" refill a
prescription just because you have a bottle.*2

William, The "Been there, Done that" Turtle

*	One "dumb" crook I read about went to the pharmacy that had filled
the original prescription.  Now it was a big, busy drug store.  So maybe he
was only half-dumb.  But it was for a drug commonly given to women and it
was for the pharmacists daughter.

*2	If you have the information or if the bottle has the information,
the pharmacist will often try and find out if it is okay for them to refill
the prescription -- sometimes they charge you for the long distance phone
call first.  But most will check; especially the more restricted and/or
dangerous the drug is.  Which is why I try and carry a prescription or at
least a note from my doctor.  Sometimes calling your home pharmacy is not
enough because they cannot verify that your doctor is willing for you to get
a refill.

-----Original Message-----
From: Orange Bug [mailto:orangebug74@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 10:05 PM
To: J Bryan Kramer; at-l@backcountry.net
Subject: RE: [at-l] prescription meds in the mail


Actually, those are designed to help organize medications for a
person's use, not to transport several day's supply in the mail
or otherwise. These can be convenient to carry a day's supply of
medications, or occasionally some folks use these to bring a
week's supply of medications for midday use at their workplace.

Access to a safe supply of medication and compliance with a
treatment plan is a serious goal of physicians and pharmacists.
Sorry this doesn't seem serious to you.

Bill...

--- J Bryan Kramer <jbryankramer@msn.com> wrote:
> Also pharmacies sell those daily med cases that you can
> transfer your meds to, often labeled with the days of the
> week. So it seems that pharmacies don't take this seriously
> either.
>

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