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They can make placebo pills in different colors with all inert ingredients and if they're not the same, they don't feel the same to all the patients. Your stamp can come off the same assembly line and have the same stamp, but that doesn't mean it has all the same ingredients, or in the same amount.
To make it any differently from the originally approved formulation would require special approved from the FDA via an ANDA. That normally takes about 2 years for approval. This did not happen. They are using the NDA approval to make these. Why would Purdue go through the mess and cost of an ANDA for an authorized generic? No one does. They use what is already approved and put it in a different bottle. Lots of manufacturers do this.
Well, I can't dump all CVS pharmacies into the same category as that one where I experienced all the shortchanging and other issues, but I have to admit the experience sure has soured me on the brand.
My husband uses the CVS in the small town we live in and he's been happy with their services. But I'll stick with the Walgreens I use down the road from the CVS.
As I understand it, drug prices vary not only among different pharmacies, but also among the same pharmacy chains in different locations.
From what I've heard, the med prices go by what they pay for their order and how much they sell of the meds.
My pharmacist Greg can sometimes get me eszopiclone (generic Lunesta); 30 pills for $20 when my insurance stopped covering it 2 years ago. He gives it to me for what he pays for it since I spend a lot of money there with my pain meds. Now if someone else was on when I filled it there, I may pay $30 which was still cheap.
With insurance, my copay at Rite Aid has been anywhere from $3 to $50 for a 3 month script. Back then my 3mg pill wasn't covered by Good RX which is what my daughter uses at our local CVS. She gets it for $22. I tried using Good RX at the old CVS she used to use, they refused to fill it for me, saying I couldn't use Good RX because I had insurance and had to use insurance to fill it, which we all know isn't true because many people use Good RX when they have a high copay. My daughter now uses a different CVS so if my copay goes higher then $22 with whatever prescription insurance I get stuck with next year, I'll be using Good RX at CVS.
I don't know how CVS can give the eszopiclone so cheap as their not using the same cheapest generic that Greg gets but the price of $22 with Good RX hasn't changed in the 10 months she's used it. I just loaded eszopiclone on Good RX, Walmart $27, Walgreens $86, Rite Aid $91 so there is a big difference with prices.
Not my older pharmacist Greg, he doesn't understand why I can't take some generics, especially the oxycontin one that he said had the same lot number as the brand; saying it came from the same manufacturer, made on the same line. It will get me sick, actually throwing up with taking a pill or 3.
I still have to call him that I sent a report for my shingles vaccine side effects. They're probably going to contract him. I'm sure he won't be surprised because I told him I hope I'm not allergic to it. I was..
That's terrible. Patients KNOW when something is different. One of the manufactures for my prescription puts out a 'version' of the exact same active ingredients, except THEIR version & their version ONLY ... will give me a yeast infection (sorry for TMI) within my first 4 days of taking it.
Now, WTH is that? It's not 'in my head'; I can tell you that right now. I know exactly where it is & it is nowhere close to my head, lol.
You do not have to wait for the pharmacist to report your reaction. Many professionals are afraid to report va((ine reactions due to fear of retaliation. It is estimated that VAERS only accounts for 10% of all adverse events due to underreporting & you can file with VAERS yourself. https://vaers.hhs.gov/
I looked at my generic Oxycontin bottles today and yes, it says manufactured by Purdue pharma. The placebo effect is notoriously strong with pain medicines.
Maybe for people that get a random prescription here & there for a dental procedure or something similar but I highly doubt you could fool a chronic pain patient with a placebo. That would be terribly cruel, IMO.
I've used Walgreen's, CVS and Costco, and basically they all seem to suck.
Walgreen's is always telling me it's ready and when I go, nope. They won't have the need quantity and seem surprised that I won't just take what they have and lose the rest of the prescription. CVS could not get it right despite coming in ever month, they kept telling me that have nothing for me, I kept telling them it is in the fridge and to look again (always was there).
IN EVERY pharamacy the staff is bordering on rude, no smiles, etc. I once commented after called "I guess smiles are not encouraged" and everyone in line laughed.
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That's terrible. Patients KNOW when something is different. One of the manufactures for my prescription puts out a 'version' of the exact same active ingredients, except THEIR version & their version ONLY ... will give me a yeast infection (sorry for TMI) within my first 4 days of taking it.
Now, WTH is that? It's not 'in my head'; I can tell you that right now. I know exactly where it is & it is nowhere close to my head, lol.
You do not have to wait for the pharmacist to report your reaction. Many professionals are afraid to report va((ine reactions due to fear of retaliation. It is estimated that VAERS only accounts for 10% of all adverse events due to underreporting & you can file with VAERS yourself. https://vaers.hhs.gov/
Agree that chronic patients wouldn't be fooled. Back when I was on percocet 10/335 I could tell when they gave me the generic because it was exactly like taking Tylenol with no oxycodone.
I did report my Shingles vaccine side effects to VAERS last week. They're probably going to contact the pharmacy that I got it from cause they wanted the lot number and other things from the vaccine.
Agree that chronic patients wouldn't be fooled. Back when I was on percocet 10/335 I could tell when they gave me the generic because it was exactly like taking Tylenol with no oxycodone.
I did report my Shingles vaccine side effects to VAERS last week. They're probably going to contact the pharmacy that I got it from cause they wanted the lot number and other things from the vaccine.
You actually think they are going to contact the pharmacy. They're not. VAERS does not look at the individual. It's all about statistically significant unknown side effects. It's not considered to be the most reliable method of determining unknown side effects for anyone can report. If it's an established side effect, nothing will occur. Phase 4 is all about catching the very rare side effects which couldn't be determined during the initial trials and long term issues.
If you are going to vaccine court, than your individual claim will be reviewed.
I'm waiting from Thursday night - went around 8 hoping it would be calmer, but no luck - until Monday for them to order the generic that works. They are so understaffed and every time I go I get a receipt with a survey on it and fill it out and say how understaffed they are. I have managed to get the refill timed for a few days before I run out so I have enough to last because I've gone through this so often with the wrong med no matter how many times I ask them to put my request on file.
One pharmacist, 3 techs - pharmacist filling scripts, one tech serving the line, another the drive-thru, the third doing every other thing. I wouldn't have their job for any amount of money.
It does suck. My bff was a retail pharmacist for years before she became a SAHM. She worked at CVS, 12 hour shifts. No lunch break. Run quick to the bathroom when the line goes down, because there were no breaks. The money at least was really good then. Then pharmacy got glutted (partially due to foreign therapists, who they started recruiting in the beginning due to a genuine shortage) and now the money is not nearly what it was.
I've used Walgreen's, CVS and Costco, and basically they all seem to suck.
Walgreen's is always telling me it's ready and when I go, nope. They won't have the need quantity and seem surprised that I won't just take what they have and lose the rest of the prescription. CVS could not get it right despite coming in ever month, they kept telling me that have nothing for me, I kept telling them it is in the fridge and to look again (always was there).
IN EVERY pharamacy the staff is bordering on rude, no smiles, etc. I once commented after called "I guess smiles are not encouraged" and everyone in line laughed.
I stopped going to CVS when, after being a customer for 20-some years at the same store, I came in with a prescription for Percoset before my back surgery, and they treated me like a bum off the street. I go to Rite Aid now and really never have to wait, although it's not that crowded an area either. The pharmacists have all been pretty nice. I got my flu shot there last time and they took their time and explained things, etc. They have a private room where they do it now.
I have to say one thing about Walgreen's I like, is they recently partnered with LabCorp. I had to get blood drawn a few weeks ago, and I did it there. You wait in a seating area near the pharmacy, but they have a whole set-up in the back for the draws. It was nice because I could shop while I waited for my turn (they will text you) but really I didn't wait more than 3 minutes.
Too far for my regular pharmacy, though.
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