Why can't you get more than 1 month's refill?

[ULTRAGOTHA]

Assuming this isn't a controlled substance, which it probably isn't if your Dr is writing for 90 days, speak to your pharmacy insurance carrier. Some allow 90 day supplies if ordered from a mail order pharmacy. In general, if you're getting refills from a walk-in pharmacy 30 days is the norm; but that can vary from insurance policy to insurance policy.

[Latiam]

Originally Posted by snopes

Part of it is that they want to prevent people from stockpiling and selling off prescription drugs.

Originally Posted by jimmy101_again

Is there any evidence that that is the reason? Do people routine sell drugs like statins? Why would you given that generic versions are either very cheap or even free? I can see narcotics and perhaps some psychiatry medications being resold but a lot of prescription drugs don't really have a secondary market.

I'm on two benzodiazepenes (one for occasional insomnia) and another controlled drug (I forget which, I just know I has the RMS or whatever on the top), and I have never had any problem filling them for 90 days. If the doctor writes 90 days that's what I get. The only issue I have right now is them switching me back and forth frequently on brands of generics when I do fill the prescription which I am a little concerned about.

As far as reselling I would suspect that after the aforementioned it might be something like Nexium. That stuff is crazy expensive - not as bad now that the generic is out, but the brand name? Wow.

Originally Posted by erwins

Are there really a lot of free drugs out there? I've gotten a free prescription drug exactly once--some samples of a migraine medicine when I was in college. I have very good insurance now, with good prescription coverage, and sometimes I don't have a co-pay, but that doesn't mean the drug was free--sometimes very far from it.

When I was between drug plans, I participated in a study for an antidepressant. It worked but when it was put on the market shortly after I couldn't afford it. My doctor wrote the drug company a letter. She told them a little about me (finishing high school, planning for university to be a teacher etc.) and that I had just participated in the study but couldn't afford the medication. The rep dropped extra samples by the office to be given to me for more than a year until I got into university, which had a drug plan. Also when my parents flipped out about me going on the pill - which I needed to do because I had severe cramps and iron-deficiency anemia - she gave me sample packs for something like three years, again until I got into university.

Even before the programs they have today, in special circumstances, there were ways to get "free" drugs.

Also it was (is?) fairly common to give patients trial packs of migraine meds, acid controllers, birth control pills, or anything else that might not be a good fit before giving you a whole prescription of it. I even got antibiotics that way twice - once when I had no plan and amoxicillin didn't work and once when they were trying to get doctors to start using z-packs. The doctor called me 10 days later for my opinion.

I know for a fact that the sample shelves in my doctor's office are much leaner but they're still there. I know because I notice my migraine med on it when I'm waiting for her to sign the script. In fact, once or twice she's said, "Oh wait! I have a sample of that!" but it's much less often.
This sounds kind of druggie but some of these experiences go back to late high school , which was mid 90's, so take into account the fact that we;re talking about 20 years.

20 years. Wow.