There is something wrong with a system that punishes legitimate patients in pain

Overwhelmed by the insanity of the bureaucratic bungle surrounding the dispensing of narcotic pain medication, I’m not sure where to begin. So I will begin with my experience. I am a licensed physician in the state of Nevada.  I retired from full-time practice in California and moved to Las Vegas, where I work part time.   I have a friend who recently underwent a nephrectomy.  She was discharged with a prescription phoned in for oxycodone, which was filled at her local pharmacy. I accompanied her to an urgent care facility today because of a cough.  She took her last oxycodone this morning.  I asked the doctor seeing her to write her a prescription for more. She wrote a prescription, but informed me that most of the pharmacies in the city are out of narcotic medication.  I called my friend’s pharmacy and was told that they could not disclose over the phone whether or not they had any in stock. We would have to come to find out. By now the morning’s pain medication had worn off, and my friend was in pain.  Nevertheless, we drove to the pharmacy and were told that indeed they had no narcotic medication in stock. I asked her to call other pharmacies in her chain to find out which store had any. She told me that even the pharmacists were not permitted to tell each other about availability. We were told to come back in a few days and ask again. Really?  Patients in legitimate post-op pain need to wait until they can return another day to ask again if it is in s...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Physician Pain management Source Type: blogs