Big change to make it harder for patients to get pain killers like Vicodin

[gvstn]

80. Really is lousy.

A friend of my mom's is 89 years old and addicted to Oxycontin (chronic leg pain and too old to worry about going through detox). I think it might already be a Schedule II drug because he has to go through this rigamarole every month. He has to pick up a paper prescription from his doctor and then go from pharmacy to pharmacy to get it filled. A lot of pharmacies don't even carry that drug on a regular basis (of course, his regular pharmacy should know by now that he will need a refill on a certain date but they are so afraid of the regulators that they would rather just send him elsewhere).

Bad enough on a good day but what in bad weather or when his doctor is out of town and forgets to leave his prescription at the office it becomes even more of a nightmare. And one should remember that Oxy was touted as a non-addicting pain reliever when it was first released and actively pushed on pain patients. I understand the need to try to keep these drugs off the black market but there should be an easier way for longterm patients to get their medicine without being treated like garbage.