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Comment by dangrossman | Hacker News Reader

> Until that happens, I don't even know what to /do/ with that kind of "advice."

My wife asked once, and was told that 3 month supply prescriptions are common for people that use mail order pharmacies, and was happy to write one. Insurance covered it too, since the refill schedule was every 3 months -- it comes out to the same cost in the end.

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Again, that depends on the med. Your monthly allergy prescription? Sure! Your oxy Rx? No way. My spouse and I are on some meds (not oxy) that they absolutely would not refill for 3 months at a time. My other meds do come in 3 month prescriptions from a mail order pharmacy.

Yep, I'm on a medication that is commonly abused so they only allow 30 day prescriptions, and you can't pay with cash, it has to go through insurance.

I imagine such medications must be very important to take as prescribed, but the only other option I can think of is one day out of every two/three/four weeks, take less of it so that you can save it and slowly stockpile it.

It's an ADHD medication, so there's no health risk associated with not taking it, they're just really strict about the amount given out at once because they don't want people getting a 90 day supply and selling it. Sometimes I won't take it on weekends to keep some extra just in case I might not be able to get a prescription filled on time due to no doctor appointments being available, or the pharmacies being out of stock for a few days.

Whats to stop you stockpiling them at home for a year, and then taking them all at once and getting hooked?

Nothing. To be more clear about the potential for abuse, it's an ADHD medication, so they don't want you selling it to other people to abuse. It's not physically addictive, so you can only really get hooked on the benefits, there aren't any withdrawals or anything if you don't take it.

There's a medication that's not available to people who don't have insurance? That sounds terrible.

Sure, It really depends on the potential for abuse and the doctor's decision. There are a lot of critical medications that aren't likely to be abused. If you check with your doctor they may very well write you the prescriptions you need if you ask and explain why.

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