Pharmacies, patients without Oxycodone

BRANFORD, Conn. (WTNH) - A nationwide shortage of the drug Oxycodone is leaving shelves empty and patients with nowhere to turn.

Oxycodone is a highly-regulated, very powerful, prescription medication. Many people rely on it to ease their pain. But recently, it's been hard to get a re-fill.

From the big chain pharmacies -- like Walgreens and CVS -- to the neighborhood drug store, the pain medicine Oxycodone has been hard to find.

Jack Appelbaum is the pharmacist at the Hall-Benedict Drug Company which is kind of a throw-back independent drug store on Orange Street in New Haven.

"The product for Oxycodone 5mg or 15mg or 30mg has been unavailable for at least six to seven weeks," Appelbaum said.

Appelbaum said he put in an order for a relatively small amount of the drug on February 11th. He just got it in. He's been doing this for some 40 years and this kind of thing doesn't happen too often.

"I can't seem to remember anything that's been short like this has been, in the past few years at least," Appelbaum said.

The shortage stems from a voluntary recall of Oxycodone from drug maker Ethex . That forced pharmacies to turn to other companies that weren't prepared and are already limited by the government as to how much Oxycodone they can produce.

As a result, pharmacies of all sizes have been running out of stock.

But the bigger the pharmacy, the bigger the problem because there are more customers. For example, the CVS store in Branford is having a very hard time keeping Oxycodone on the shelves because its supplier is having a hard time keeping the drug in stock. And there appears to be no end in sight to this shortage.

Appelbaum is hoping the small shipment he got this week will be enough for his customers until the shortage is eased.

"There are other pain medications you can use, maybe not so effective, but certainly, there are others," Appelbaum said.

Although, there are sometimes medical reasons why people can't switch to another drug. As for the shortage, it's hard to say how long it will last.

Drug companies are scrambling to produce enough to meet demand but by all indications, it may take another month or two to get there.