title: Navigating the waters of pharmacy regulations in hospice care. Facing a common scenario: why can it be so difficult to obtain emergency medications?
abstract: Imagine a common scenario that faces many hospice clinicians: It is 1 a.m., and the sister of your newest patient just called the on-call service to alert your hospice that the patient is in excruciating pain. In fact, the patient's pain is so bad that she is asking whether she should take her to the nearest hospital emergency room. You anticipated this pain, of course, but the patient did not have moderate or severe pain to this point, and the physician wouldn't agree to provide a small supply of morphine to have on hand.
authors.affiliation: ExcelleRX, USA. rgreene@excellerx.com
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Greene
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000145:classification / Q000600:supply & distribution* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000592:standards*; D004335:Drug and Narcotic Control / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004630:Emergencies; D035082:Federal Government; D033161:Government Regulation; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007885:Legislation, Pharmacy; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010348:Patient Care Team; D013219:State Government; D014481:United States; D014956:Writing
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid