1KDAN

Okay, here goes....

I've been told by the FT moderators that this is the best place to post this. (Originally I wanted to offer some sort of reward, but FT felt that would be inappropriate.)

It feels so odd to ask for help from strangers (even if they're fellow road warriors).

A prescription medication I depend on has been discontinued.

It has not been recalled. Pharmacies still are allowed to sell it.

But the manufacturers and distributors don't have any more. The only remaining supplies exist on the shelves of the occasional pharmacy -- a bottle or two that they ordered but haven't sold yet.

My physician will issue a prescription for any and all that I can find. (Having called at least a thousand pharmacies, I have found some -- but they are few and far between.)

If you can find some at your local pharmacy (or any pharmacy), I'll have my doctor's office call in a prescription -- regardless of where you are geographically.

One FT member PM'd me (in response to an earlier post, before the thread was moved here) apologizing because he could find "only" 17 pills. Those 17 pills = 34 good days for me. I was thrilled.

If you'd like to help by calling a few pharmacies near you, please PM me for the details.

(And if you're reading this and thinking, "How presumptuous of this guy to ask strangers to make phone calls for him" -- I don't blame you.)

Thanks,
1KDan

UCBeau

I just had a thought, do big pharmacies like Walgreens have an interconnected computer inventory so one can check the stocks of medicines at other locations? Also, have you contacted the regional/national HQ's of the various chain pharmacies around?

1KDAN

It took me much longer than you to think of that. Today I got the word from The Walgreen Company: On instructions from their CEO's office, they did an inventory search of all their stores...and came up empty.

Although I've had one or two successes with isolated branches of big chains, almost all that I've found has been at small, independent pharmacies -- with smaller customer bases and less frequent turnover of product.

I will try to contact HQ's of the other big pharmaceutical chains -- but in general they're the first to sell out of such inventory.

The brand manufacturer also did a thorough search on my behalf but came up empty. (I'm still waiting to hear back from the generic manufacturers.) The problem is the manufacturers don't have any, and even their suppliers don't have any. The only existing supplies are in drugstores here and there....

But thanks very much for the suggestions.

Pat89339

Don't forget to check Costco Pharmacy.

Cholula

If there are FT'ers here who want to help, please PM 1KDAN as he suggests and he will supply you all the information you need to be of assistance.

Included will be the names the medication goes by as well as a very detailed script for talking to the pharmacist. He's made this a turnkey operation that requires no more than a bit of your time.

I'll throw my hat in the ring for being responsible for calling all the pharmacies in the 91709 and 91765 zip codes (Eastern Los Angeles County and Western San Bernadino County).

If others would be interested in tackling a geographical area no matter how large or small, feel free to post here. And don't forget to PM 1KDAN for all the pertinent information you'll need.

Thanks in advance for your help.

lili

That's a huge underaking, Cholula. I've PMd 1KDAN and will be calling small phamacies in Julian, Ramona, Escondido, Valley Center, but by no means a total sweep of North San Diego County.

I also think it wouldn't hurt to be redundant, or whatever. Like the proverbial hang up and call back until you get the answer you want: first person says no, next caller gets a yes.

1KDAN

Wow, thanks!

wesmills

PM sent; I'll be calling any small pharmacy (there's also a lot of teaching hospitals and such with their own pharmacy outfits) I can find in the North Texas (750xx-757xx and 760xx-762xx) area.

MatthewClement

I'm happy to make a few calls for you -- please PM me with the details of what you're looking for.

You may also try phoning the manufacturer direct -- they often know of stocks of discontinued drugs that still exist in the marketplace, and have teams devoted to keeping track of them.

MatthewClement

Without having done a lot of research on this, I wonder if a service like this might be applicable?

http://masters-uk.com/uk/content/blogcategory/20/57/

wharvey

I took zip code 02053 in Medway, MA.... I called the major pharmacies in the area last evening.... Walgreen's and CVS as well as Walgreen's in Bellingham (not sure of zip code). None of them have the medication.

I am going to try and call some small "mom and pop" places today.

William

karenkay

i'll try some places in houston, have sent pm.

i'm guessing, dan, that you've already tried all the big box stores--wal mart, target, cvs, sam's and costco, along with their computer inventory systems, right?

SchmutzigMSP

1KDAN: YHPM.

Has anyone considered calling the pharmacies at local hospitals or clinics? Perhaps that is another avenue.

1KDAN

Teaching hospitals is a great idea. I found a very small (but welcomed) amount at the UCLA pharmacy -- not part of the hospital, but on the university grounds.

And I was shocked to find two large bottles at a Kaiser Permanente pharmacy. So I located and called 20 more Kaiser pharmacies, which involves going through a lot of phone bank people. Alas, I didn't find any more that way.

If anyone who wants to help happens to be a member of Kaiser Permanente and wants to call their branch....

Thanks....

1KDAN

In my mass phoning, I've included hospital pharmacies...if their names were included in my Switchboard.com search for pharmacies.

It's possible, though, that some hospitals have pharmacies that aren't mentioned in such directories....