To be honest, I don't think it really matters. Unless the pharmacist really has it out for you and keeps up with your prescription timestamps (i.e. the hour, minute, and second you actually exchange money for the prescription) with respect to the daily dosing instructions (i.e. AM/PM), then I would imagine your pharmacist him/herself probably couldn't answer this question without first consulting your state's pharmacy law handbook. You'd have to have a really sore history with substance abuse for your pharmacist to split hairs over something like this. You could always call your pharmacy and ask, though (or if it's a chain retail pharmacy, you could probably send an anonymous email and get a response by email if you want to avoid seeming a little too interested in the matter, if you catch my drift).

 

So, would it be 30 days starting on the day you filled it or would the 30 days start the day after filling it?

 

:b Relentless, I see.

My guess is that they count the day you fill the prescription - even if it's a Rx for Adderall and you're filling it at 8PM in the evening (i.e. you're more than likely not going to be taking any until the next day). So the 30 days probably start the very day you pick up the prescription from the pharmacy.

 

:b Relentless, I see.

My guess is that they count the day you fill the prescription - even if it's a Rx for Adderall and you're filling it at 8PM in the evening (i.e. you're more than likely not going to be taking any until the next day). So the 30 days probably start the very day you pick up the prescription from the pharmacy.

Thanks. And I'm not relentless. I just need to tell my doc. what date I'll need a new script by. I always tell him how much I have left and how long it will last me. Not sure if I'm supposed to do that or if he is, I just do it anyway.

 

Straight from my particular state's Board of Pharmacy:

Schedule II controlled substances shall not be dispensed for a patient with greater frequency than the approximate interval of time that the dosage regimen ordered by the prescriber would indicate unless circumstances are documented which would justify a shorter interval of time. Schedule II prescriptions shall not be filled after six (6) months from the date of issuance.

So even the laws regarding this issue (in my state, at least) leave it at "approximate." I'm guessing that, as a general rule of thumb, the 30 days begin on the day the prescription is filled, but if there are weird circumstances, then the discretion is left up to the pharmacist.

 

How the hell does the anal retentive Nazi state 30 day rule work if you filled a C-II script on June 4? 30 days later is July 4 and most pharmacies are closed on a national holiday.

 

How the hell does the anal retentive Nazi state 30 day rule work if you filled a C-II script on June 4? 30 days later is July 4 and most pharmacies are closed on a national holiday.

I'm guessing that the pharmacist uses his or her "better judgment" to assess the situation, but I really don't think a pharmacist would make a customer wait longer than he or she absolutely had to (i.e. the customer comes in for a refill the day before the 30-day mark, but the pharmacist fills the prescription anyway despite 30 exact days not having passed). If this issue is so bothersome, why not ask your doctor to write out the prescription, tape it to one of his/her letterheads, write a brief explanation allowing the dispensing once you make it to the pharmacy with the hard copy prescription, and then fax that to your pharmacy, so when you arrive, the pharmacist will have to fill the prescription being as the prescribing doctor ordered it via fax and then sent the required written prescription with the patient (you).