Asking the Pharmacy

[Pain Hater]

I just moved recently, and the pharmacy I started going to carries a different generic of my medicine than my old pharmacy. The new generic does not agree with me at all, and seems to be a lot less efficient than the one I was taking before. I would like to find a local pharmacy that carries the same generic I was taking before I moved, but dont want to have the prescription filled just to find out. Can pharmacies tell you which brand they use before having a presription filled? I heard a story where one person was black-listed from a pharmacy for asking them, and I don't want the same thing to happen to me.

[AgentNasty411]

They cant do that, the patient has every right to know. Sounds like your buddy and the SP didnt see eye to eyeover something. Generics come from suppliers, and most places just order a specific dosage and buy the cheapest stock. If your prescriber checks off DAW, or dispense as written, they cant stick you with a substitute. Assuming the manufacturer practices QA, I would assume your pills have gone bad.

[Cats Meow]

They can tell you, but a lot of the time the super busy chain pharms won't take the time, you may be better off checking at the Ma and Pa pharms and the supermarket pharmacies. If you're asking about a schedule 2 like OC, many of them don't like to give out that info via telephone, so you may have to go inside and ask. The smaller pharms want your business, and may go out of their way to order from the mfr of your choice, but there's other factors, such as, will your insurance pay for that name, is it cost effective for them to stock that brand? You know they're in business to make a profit, and that's the bottom line.
Another option is to have your doctor check the "do not substitute box" on the script. Sometimes good meds are worth paying extra for, and I firmly believe all generics are not created equally, they can vary up to 40% in strength, and they don't like to admit it, but it's true.

[pharmd06]

just call and simply ask what generic brand they stock. it takes 2 seconds once you get a pharmacist on the phone. but it usually does throw up a red flag if people call looking for specific pain meds...certain pattern pills have higher street value and pharmacists assume that is why you wanna know. so you need to tell them why you are asking...