CVS Pharmacy Will Only Give You a One-Week Supply of Opiates
Limiting the amount of opiate prescription pills that hit the streets around the nation is one good way to start fighting back against the opiate epidemic. It was the over-prescribing of painkillers and their wide availability inside the medicine cabinets of millions of American households and on the streets of nearly every town around the country, that caused the problem to begin with. As a giant leap in the right direction, CVS pharmacy has decided to limit the number of opiates a person can be dispensed at one time in the hopes it may not only prevent new addictions from being formed but maybe, and this is my opinion, enough people may start to realize not only do they have a problem but they should seek help in dealing with it.
Few organizations have stepped up to do anything constructive about the situation, i.e. health insurance companies making it easier to opiates; until now. CVS pharmacy has not only seen the destruction caused by opiates but they’re trying to make a difference out there in the world. Starting February 1, 2018, the company will begin its own opiate control efforts and begin restricting prescriptions for painkillers. Basically, the pharmacies will only dispense a week’s supply of the drug, regardless if the doctor prescribed more. Also, dosage limits will be put in place and restrictions will depend upon the strength of the drug. Pharmacists are also going to be required to use immediate-release versions versus extended release.
After hearing that, I initially thought that doing that was a bad idea, because addicts prefer immediate release drugs, so what’s the point in that? The idea is that using extended-release drugs often creates a higher tolerance to the drug and creates it faster than if a person is using immediate-release drugs, so I understand the logic in that.
Larry J. Merlo, President and CEO, CVS Health said, “We are further strengthening our commitment to help providers and patients balance the need for these powerful medications with the risk of abuse and misuse.”
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 91.8 million Americans used painkillers in 2015 and according to the CDC, 15,000 people died because of prescription opiates. That’s a whole lot of people using and abusing opiates. Not to mention, the United States is one of the top opiate-consuming countries on the planet.
Not only are CVS pharmacists going to be required to get trained on substance abuse and learn how to speak to their patients about the addictive qualities of the medication they’re taking but they’re also going to be training their patients about proper medication disposal and offer disposal kiosks nationwide.
This is a great move in the right direction and I think if more doctors and pharmacies adopted similar policies, there would be a noticeable difference in the substance abuse problem in this country. This should be one of many solutions put in place to really take control of this growing issue.
Sources Used:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cvs-limit-opioid-prescriptions-7-day-supply-n803486
