Articles like this and reading about the FDA forcing drug manufacturers to replace pseudoephedrine (effective cold medicine) with phenylephrine (basically a placebo) really make me wonder about the intelligence level of the federal agencies. https://pharmacy.ufl.edu/2015/10/14/uf-researchers-ask-fda-t...
I've never had a problem getting pseudoephedrine, though it is behind the counter in a pharmacy these days. There are limits, but they are well over what I would consider a therapeutic dose. I don't know if that varies state-to-state, but I doubt it's a federal issue.
Xanax and Adderall Access Is Being Blocked by Secret Drug Limits
161–170 of 282 posts
Re: Xanax and Adderall Access Is Being Blocked by Secret Drug Limits
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree should be , but unfortunately that's not the case. Not in proper detail. Broadly, the DEA's power comes from the Controlled Substances Act, originally passed in 1970 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_Substances_Act , but the modern day limits themselves are secret. The medications described are Schedule II, which is defined as "The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treat…
Someone willng to pursue a lawsuit might file a FOIA and pursue in court for non-response. A sketchy approach could be suing pharmacy for ... something ... then find the limits for that company via legal discovery. Land of the free or not.
as per the article, the limits are being imposed by the DEA not the pharmacies and not the distributors.... a better approach would be to do a FOIA on the DEA and get all evidence about their restrictions on distributors for schedule IV narcotics (xanax, adderall, etc) and then sue the DEA maybe for interfering with interstae commerce, i dont know...
Re: Xanax and Adderall Access Is Being Blocked by Secret Drug Limits
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
They can and should—that’s their area of expertise. I’ve had pharmacists catch dangerous but obscure drug interactions that my doctors failed to catch, typically because the two interacting medications were prescribed by two different types of doctors. Even though both would’ve had access to the same medical records and my full medication list, and even though that data was being checked by a computer, mistakes happe…
That's the only happy case. I've had pharmacists deny me because I was paying for amphetamine without insurance. They said it was suspicious and refused to call my doctor to confirm that I wasn't some sort of criminal. That's the kind of unreasonable power that they shouldn't have. Finding bad drug combos? I don't think anyone has an issue with that. If you find a customer to be suspicious (I was wearing a black t-sh…
I concur, pharmacists have no legal basis nor license basis in determining the decision making of a licensed medical doctor. The doctor is the one that provided the care came up with the diagnosis and came up with the plan for the prescription for the medication. The only role the pharmacist has is in dispensing that medication. it's wholly inappropriate for a pharmacist to get into the business of second guessing the work of a licensed MD.
Re: Xanax and Adderall Access Is Being Blocked by Secret Drug Limits
#164Remember last time we had a nationwide Adderall shortage it was deliberately caused by Shire to force people onto Vyvanse.
Prior to Vyvanse Shire has signed a generic supplier agreement with TEVA so generic adderall was just the brand drug stamped differently. When they had Vyvanse ready they cancelled the agreement on short notice. That sent TEVA scrambling to stand up a production line.
Standing up a C2 line is a pain because of the DEA approvals and quotas. The quotas also prevent any of the other generic makers from ramping up their own production. The quota setting process is retrospective and by design it can't respond quickly to market changes like this.
So keep an eye out on who has a new patented medication for ADHD coming out and follow the money trail. The big drug companies love to turn a crisis into an opportunity and it wouldn't be surprised if they lobbied to include non-opioids in the settlement to give them cover for this sort of manipulation.
Re: Xanax and Adderall Access Is Being Blocked by Secret Drug Limits
#165I find it fascinating how so many HN users ardently defend broad access to Adderall (which has tons of possible downsides, but also tons of positive use cases), but then claim that any and all uses of any and all opiates will lead to a deadly, incurable addiction, even though opiates also have tons of positive use cases too.
Re: Xanax and Adderall Access Is Being Blocked by Secret Drug Limits
#166I find it fascinating how so many HN users ardently defend broad access to Adderall (which has tons of possible downsides, but also tons of positive use cases), but then claim that any and all uses of any and all opiates will lead to a deadly, incurable addiction, even though opiates also have tons of positive use cases too.
Here's a clue: compare the income and SES of opiate addicts vs Adderall addicts. Which socioeconomic group is the average Hackernews more likely to fall into?
Re: Xanax and Adderall Access Is Being Blocked by Secret Drug Limits
#167Articles like this and reading about the FDA forcing drug manufacturers to replace pseudoephedrine (effective cold medicine) with phenylephrine (basically a placebo) really make me wonder about the intelligence level of the federal agencies. https://pharmacy.ufl.edu/2015/10/14/uf-researchers-ask-fda-t...
pseudoephedrine is amazing, I just recently found it and unlike every other cold medicine I've ever tried it actually works and clears my nose.
It is, but it's also one of those drugs cardiologists refuse to take themselves
Re: Xanax and Adderall Access Is Being Blocked by Secret Drug Limits
#168My favorite theory for the Adderall shortage is that it's all being diverted to soldiers on the front lines in Ukraine.
I really like this theory. It’s probably ridiculous, but I really do like it.
Re: Xanax and Adderall Access Is Being Blocked by Secret Drug Limits
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's the only happy case. I've had pharmacists deny me because I was paying for amphetamine without insurance. They said it was suspicious and refused to call my doctor to confirm that I wasn't some sort of criminal. That's the kind of unreasonable power that they shouldn't have. Finding bad drug combos? I don't think anyone has an issue with that. If you find a customer to be suspicious (I was wearing a black t-sh…
I concur, pharmacists have no legal basis nor license basis in determining the decision making of a licensed medical doctor. The doctor is the one that provided the care came up with the diagnosis and came up with the plan for the prescription for the medication. The only role the pharmacist has is in dispensing that medication. it's wholly inappropriate for a pharmacist to get into the business of second guessing th…
No … just no.
For one thing, pharmacists aren’t just retailers. For example, I take a very powerful medication. It’s essential to get the dose just right.
My health care organization employs a pharmacist who sepecializes in the medication, and sets the doses for patients in the program.
This pharmacist doesn’t dispense medication. She instructs the physicians on what dose to prescribe.
I recently had an extremely painful medical event. I was given hydrocodone, but it didn’t have any effect. A pharmacist was called in, and they figured out a drug cocktail that addresses the pain.
Pharmacists really are medical experts and a knowledgeable part of the care team. Doctors should use their expertise more than they do. And it’s completely appropriate for a pharmacist to assertively demand an explanation for what’s going on.
Re: Xanax and Adderall Access Is Being Blocked by Secret Drug Limits
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
> A handful of Adderalls is more fun than a bag of cocaine Yeah, this is fear mongering; and I doubt any abuse you are seeing is actually happening on any sort of scale. To imply adderall is more fun than Cocaine/Cocaethylene is a completely strange assertion given cocaine's continued and greater penetration despite the fact it's a highly controlled schedule 2 drug. If you could have more fun with adderall, why would…
> given cocaine's continued and greater penetration despite the fact it's a highly controlled schedule 2 drug. Not to take the wind out of your sails but adderall is also schedule II.
> Not to take the wind out of your sails but adderall is also schedule II.
OP was correct, cocaine is much more highly controlled despite sharing the same legal category. It’s only used in certain surgical procedures. You can’t get a prescription for it.