Employees fill prescriptions for customers Monday at Roger's Pharmacy. Securing medicated narcotics has been an issue of late, making it more difficult for many patients to get the relief they need from chronic pain, said Registered Pharmacist Julie-Marie Nickelson of Roger's Pharmacy.
Employees fill prescriptions for customers Monday at Roger's Pharmacy. Securing medicated narcotics has been an issue of late, making it more difficult for many patients to get the relief they need from chronic pain, said Registered Pharmacist Julie-Marie Nickelson of Roger's Pharmacy.
People dealing with chronic pain issues may have a hard time finding relief thanks to national supply chain issues with medications like oxycodone and hydrocodone.
The waiting process is difficult because it could be a variety of factors that are causing the shortage, said Registered Pharmacist Julie-Marie Nickelson of Roger's Pharmacy.
"We don't know if it's just the manufacturers can't keep up with their facilities, making it into the pill form or we don't know if there's an issue getting it from the manufacturers to the wholesalers," she said. "There are so many different steps, and not knowing really where in that process each manufacturer is having an issue, it does make it very difficult."
Additionally, it could take a while for the situation to improve.
Even the potential for manufacturers to increase supply is unlikely, since medical narcotics are so tightly regulated, Nickelson said.
"I entirely understand the DEA has to regulate these medications very closely," she said. "They are, potentially, extremely dangerous. Unfortunately that does pose a giant issue when we get into situations like this, when one supplier can't provide their medication."
If one company can't meet the demand then others will have to apply for government approval before increasing how much they're manufacturing. But the odds of receiving that clearance are unlikely, Nickelson said.
She hasn't noticed more people in need of controlled-substance medications, but demand has been more pronounced because of the decreased supply, Nickelson said.
It's such a problem because there are minimal options for patients. By the time people reach the point of needing narcotics, they're often in the later stages of cancer, in hospice or have severe chronic pain, she said.
"It can be extremely detrimental when we can't get these products for our patients because at the end of the day, they can't just stop them cold turkey," she said. "Their bodies are reliant upon them to be functional."
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