Differences between US and Scandinavian opiate RX access

May 25, 2008 2:02 PM

Compared to the United States, how difficult is it for patients in Scandinavian countries (or Europe in general) to obtain their legally prescribed opiates? (i.e. are there the same, more or fewer hurdles?)

My partner is prescribed opiates, and she had a set of 3 Rx's (you can get the prescriptions for 3 months at a time). On the final month, she went to fill her final script, but the date was over a week old. This led to the refill being denied, because there is only a 2 day window from the date on the script. Obviously, dealing with our draconian laws regarding patients access to drugs can be infuriating. But this question is asked more out of curiosity. It's my understanding that Scandinavian countries generally are more "enlightened" in this regards, but I don't know for sure. I'm curious if anyone knows what sorts of differences there are in the two cultures/political systems. Apologies if this comes across as "axe-grindy" as it's not meant to be, just wondering...

posted by symbioid to law & government (3 comments total)

In Sweden you have to have a special (I guess harder to forge) prescription note and you must show your id at the pharmacy. You can not iterate over your note for the heavier stuff. Other than that I think there is no difference between opiates and other drugs.
posted by uandt at 2:50 PM on May 25, 2008

In Norway, according to this, prescriptions of all kinds are only "good for" 1 year. I had a prescription for nose spray that was a little over a year old, and I couldn't fill it, for example. I think after that one year is up, you're out of luck filling that prescription. And narcotics/opiates/ Class A medications cannot be filled more than once. (No refills, that is, on the same prescription.) Also, for Class A they take the prescription away from you and file it there at the pharmacy for 3 years. For Class B (benzodiazepines, tylenol with codeine, etc) medications they take the prescription and file it for 1 year. So physicians are reminded to not write for other medications on the same script.

I - personally - have found doctors here to be somewhat less inclined to prescribe opiates than in the US ... I've worked as a nurse in both the US and Norway.

On a side note, they're MUCH less inclined to write prescriptions for antibiotics here in Norway than in the US without proof of a bacterial infection. Which is a Very Good Thing.
posted by Theresa at 5:09 AM on May 26, 2008

I find it interesting that Norway would be less inclined. On the one hand I can see why that's so (i.e. it should be a last resort), on the other hand, it seems to me that the drug war fueled paranoia in the US has caused a lot of very strong restrictions.

I can definitely understand keeping the scripts on hand for 2 years. I can also see a special prescription note and showing ID at the pharmacy.

I suppose it's just really hard to balance the needs of people who need access to such powerful medications and making sure diversion issues don't happen (amongst other concerns). I've known a few people who've had difficulties getting access to the meds they need due to these concerns, and thought perhaps Nordic countries (or other European countries) might have a more sympathetic approach. But I suppose it really comes down to balance, and different systems attempt balance in different ways.
posted by symbioid at 9:19 AM on May 26, 2008