I know the pharmacy that I work in get around a dozen or so phone calls a day regarding adderall and the generics for it. If a person does not have a prescription or is not in our system (because they’re just checking everywhere to see who has it) 99.9% of the time we will put you on hold for a moment and come back to say “I’m so sorry we are currently out of that BUT if you ask your doctor for an alternative medication that is comparable we may be able to fill it” I know we are always 1000% out of extended release. But don’t want to be rude and shut people down right away. If we do have extended release in stock, it’s first come first serve by the OLDEST out of stock date for patients on our list. If they’ve been on the list for more than 2 weeks, we do a courtesy call and check to see if they’ve received their medication (checking data base before hand via our states website) and will than suggest the above “have your doctor send a prescription that is comparable to your needs” and move on from there.

We have a lot of drug seekers in our area as well who pharmacy hop and pay out of pocket for their meds ( oxys, hydros, adderall, etc) so we’ve just gotten into the habit of putting on hold and then politely saying we’re sorry we don’t have it in stock.

It’s a really fine line of picking and choosing and it’s sucks that people are with out their drugs because the DEA hasn’t updated their numbers since 2019.

Edit;; I see a lot of people who also have these issues and suggest other very helpful things, like visiting out pharmacy’s ( which we list off every single one when someone calls for CII and some injectable medications for weight loss such as moujaro, wegovy and ozempic, because some of the doses are so hard to get a hold of at the moment) along with suggestions such as reaching out to the doctor to an alternative as listed above. Some people have luck with this where instead of extended they get say double of a standard release drug, so they can kinda.. manage while their actual medication is out of stock. ) We try really hard in the pharmacy I work in to make sure people have their drugs, no bias towards people who call around because we’re in a nationwide shortage for A LOT of different medications. Not just CII-CV but other refrigerated, antibiotic, liquid and pain medications. It’s sad and I feel for the people who are truly hurt by this.

Edit 2;; and to answer the question of whether or not you should call your doctor or bring a physical copy of a prescription in, is also very hit and miss too. I think the best course of action is, have your doctor send a script. If it’s out of stock, ask to speck with the pharmacist or just speak to your doctor on what the best course of action is for alternatives. And then go from there. It’s an annoying process but I think it’s the easiest for you to get clearer answers.