How to transfer hCG 10ml syringe to insulin syringe?

[Re-Ride]

pharmacist: "You are to reconstitute the hCG inside the 10 ml syringe and inject from there"

me: "please send insulin syringe 31G"

pharmacist: "get from the the pharmacy that supplies your insulin"

me: "31G is for hCG"

pharmacist: "No way can you get it in the insulin syringe after reconstituting it inside the 10ml syringe"

Oh my!
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Yes, I know I can order supplies on line. I don't want to. As of January 1, 2015, in a hard fought and major health policy shift born out of the HIV AIDS crisis, California now allows over-the-counter purchase of:

- syringes of any type
- needles
- no limit on quantity


Business and Professions Code - BPC,
DIVISION 2. HEALING ARTS [500 - 4999.129]

CHAPTER 9. Pharmacy [4000 - 4426]

ARTICLE 9. Hypodermic Needles and Syringes [4141 - 4149]

( Article 9 added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 890, Sec. 3. )


4145.5.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and until January 1, 2021, as a public health measure intended to prevent the transmission of HIV, viral hepatitis, and other bloodborne diseases among persons who use syringes and hypodermic needles, and to prevent subsequent infection of sexual partners, newborn children, or other persons, a physician or pharmacist may, without a prescription or a permit, furnish hypodermic needles and syringes for human use to a person 18 years of age or older, and a person 18 years of age or older may, without a prescription or license, obtain hypodermic needles and syringes solely for personal use from a physician or pharmacist.


Nice try governor. Change may to must like you did with my auto registration.

I wouldn't mind if creepy corporate pharma admitted they could but won't because as strict adherents to the Falun Gong they are morally compelled to help non-believers "cross over". Or, "Hey we just dig being mean". Nope. Let's fabricate non-existent legal constraints instead.

A few will sell packages of 10 at 50 cents each but only on Tuesday mornings between 7 and 9 am. Those rare pharmacists who seem sympathetic claim to have "their hands tied by corporate policy". That's O.K. with me. I like rope. Especially how it was used in the old west.

In theory I could just get an Rx. That hasn't work either. Unless the pharmacy has exactly what is prescribed you're out of luck. No furnishing reasonable facsimiles such as 5/8" instead of 1/2". In fairness the pharmacist IS obliged to fill an Rx exactly as written. He can't legally dispense common 5 grain aspirin if the script calls for 1.75 grain. Nothing stops him from selling it to you over the counter though.

Why is every little thing trending toward over-complexity or obstructionism? Perhaps there's an agenda here. Patients using prescribed medicine might be desperate enough to scour the playgrounds to recover the needles and syringes dumped there by addicts who got theirs free.

ADVOCACY
It's little annoyances like this that a TRt patient advocacy can fix. change the dam wording from "may sell" to pharmacies are "required to sell". The policy of supposed ready access is after all born out of a public health crisis. Guess it's all Smoke and Mirrors.

Corporations will never do the right thing until they are faced with paying fines. Who doesn't understand that? The legislators? Of course they do. Lawyers everyone of them. They never write may by accident.

Public Humliation
Imagine 10 TRT patients holding signs emblazoned with:

"THIS PHARMACY DEFIES THE LEGISLATURE! ENDANGERING PUBLIC FOR PROFIT!
Might make it on the six o'clock news. Who knows?

 

[Re-Ride]

California pharmacists should not ask for or record the purchaser's ID. The logbook requirement was eliminated in 2005.

Easy read summaries for pharmacists available at CA Dept Public health website: Search for "new ca syringe law" or use the links below.

FAQ PDF: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/Documents/FAQ_May 2015.pdf

CADPH Links for pharmacies and patients:
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/aids/Pages/OASAMaterials.aspx

Other links including Power Point slides for pharmacists:
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/aids/Pages/OASyringeAccess.aspx

Central CA prices quoted today:
Walgreens $18 per 100ct 31G insulin syringes ( store policy still requires Rx but will sell 10 syringes )

CVS: 30 to 40 cents per syringe

on line: https://www.easytouchstore.com/easy-touch-insulin-syringes?pagenumber=4
EasyTouch pricing is 12 1/2 cents each in boxes of 100 for various insulin syringes with free shipping.

What can I do if the pharmacist at my local chain cites non-existent legal prohibition including limits or "corporate policy" ?

CALL CORPORATE
CVS: 888-607-4287
I was connected to a pharmacist fairly quickly to speak about my "store experience". He denied that there was a corporate policy against counter sales. He said he would contact corporate management who could choose to memo their CA pharmacies statewide to update them on the law.

COSTCO: A complaint led to new policies being implemented at a local Costco who will now sell boxes of 100 but not at a competitive price.

 

[Re-Ride]

Update.
The refusal of local pharmacists to even look at the presentation on the state's DPH website, well done and easy enough for a third grader to understand, caused me to write the public official charged with publicizing the d-regulation of syringes and needles.

Alessandra Ross of the CADPH ( [email protected] ) replied within eight hours:

[ "Thank you for this field research. This is a very dismal result, and it does look as if the statewide campaign to increase pharmacist knowledge of the (deregulation) hasn't been a success in (your) county.

I'm cc'ing ---- on this email – she works with the county health department. Although this wouldn't address the need for all pharmacists in the county to be aware of the law...
Have you contacted county Health Officer Dr. Lisa --------? She has been working on syringe exchange issues in (your) county in the face of what I would characterize as strong community opposition, and she may have ideas on next steps. It might be worthwhile also to contact the Board of Pharmacy http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/.

At the State level we have experimented with calling pharmacies directly in Riverside, San Diego and Orange County and found that it was not effective. Our next steps are to incentivize (them). We will also make training for pharmacists more directly available by this summer.

I appreciate you reaching out. I'll keep you apprised of our progress." ]
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SEE! I was right!! There IS an agenda: Deny pharmaceutical patients their supplies and they'll be forced to head out to the playgrounds, parks and beaches to pick up after the junkies! What a clever way to cut the public works budget!

Off to plan B. Who wants to picket? Exposed for bucking state policy, endangering the public health while also cheating shareholders out of additional sales should shake things up nicely in the boardrooms back east.