Posted by Rick on August 12, 1999, at 3:52:22
In reply to Re: Anyone but me having trouble buying Klonopin?, posted by Craig on August 12, 1999, at 1:47:37
Sounds fishy. Please let us know what your doc says.
Wild guess as to what's going on: Klonopin (especially .5) is in short supply, either because the manufacturer really wants to phase it out OR there are production shortfalls vs. demand (hopefully the latter). Or maybe something more insidious, like insurance companies pressuring Walgreens due to a price increase in branded Klonopin.
In any event, Wag's is probably calling docs and saying, "gee, it looks like we're backordered on Klonopin indefinitely, so Clonazepam is really O.K., isn't it (nudge, nudge)?
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> Here's my unsettling experience last night with Walgreens in the Detroit area and then tell me if you think what they told me is true. My doctor wrote D.A.W. (Dispense As Written, which means don't dispense the generic) on my original prescription for .5 mg Klonopin, yet when I went to Walgreens to renew it, the pharmacist told me they had called my doctor's office and he'd said it was OK to give me the generic. I said, "If my doctor thought the generic was OK, he would NOT have written D.A.W. on the script." Their explanation of this being part of a review program that Walgreens runs by itself didn't make sense. I don't understand when or why Walgreens would have called my doctor's office since it has nothing to do with my insurance coverage. Then Walgreens tried to convince me that I'd save a lot of money using the generic, which simply isn't true. Taking the generic only saves me 94 cents! (There actually is $4.70 difference between Klonopin and generic clonazepam for a 30-day supply, but my insurance pays 80% of my prescriptions.)
>
> Anyway, I will call my doctor's office later today and ask them if I should shut up and take the generic or insist that Walgreens honor the original D.A.W. prescription for Klonopin.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > Hmmm....now you've got me worried! About two weeks ago I started on Klokopin, 1mg blue pills. (I have seen one article saying that generic Clonazepam is differs chemically from the branded med, and have also seen many posts on various net boards insisting that the brand-name drug is superior.)
> >
> > I had no trouble filling my first prescription at a Walgreen's in the Chicago area. But when I was prescribed 90 pills 10 days later, they (a different Walgreen's, near my office) only had 59. Told me they would probably get more in the next day, and mail me the remaining 41 tablets.
> >
> > Since a week has passed, I called tonight and spoke to a pharmacist to make sure nothing was amiss. "What medication are you waiting for?" she asked. Me: "Klonopin". She: "OHHH! Yes, we've been having trouble getting that in". ME:"Well, it should certainly be in within a week or so, right?" She: "I really can't say...they keep telling us its back-ordered. I'll give you a call"
> >
> > Based on your note plus this episode, I'm starting to get a little antsy. And note that I am using the nation's largest drugstore chain, and in its corporate hometown where it has a good 100 locations!
> >
> > Where do you live (if you don't mind saying...the state is OK if it's not a major urban area). Are you obtaining the Klonopin through a major chain? If so, which one?
> >
> > AS my pdoc would say, Oy!
> >
> > On a separate note, I'm going to start a thread seeking comment on whether the generic really IS inferior.
> >
> > Rick
> > -------
> > > It's just the .5mg at this point but I am afraid that soon the other sizes will be discontinued.
> > >
> > > Right now they are saying it is just backordered but I am afraid it is a plot to get us to go to the generics.
> > >
> > > Thanks.
poster:Rick
thread:9769
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990726/msgs/9938.html