Six-month limit on schedule III and IV refills

Question

A prescription for alprazolam 0.5 mg tablets was issued on March 3 with 5 refills authorized. The patient has received the original fill and 2 refills. On September 12 of the same year, the patient asks for another refill. Under federal law, what should the pharmacy technician do?

1. ARefer to the pharmacist so the prescriber can be contacted for a new prescription, because the 6-month refill period has ended✓ Correct

   Correct. Schedule IV refills are allowed only within 6 months of the issue date, and September 12 is past that point.

2. BProcess the refill, because 3 authorized refills remain on the prescription✗ Incorrect

   Incorrect. Unused refills expire once 6 months have passed since the prescription was issued.

3. CProcess the refill, because the 6-month period restarts from the date of the most recent refill✗ Incorrect

   Incorrect. The 6 months run from the issue date, not from the most recent refill.

4. DDispense a partial quantity, because partial fills of schedule IV drugs are allowed for up to 1 year✗ Incorrect

   Incorrect. Partial fills of schedules III to V also stop 6 months after the issue date.

Answer

A. Refer to the pharmacist so the prescriber can be contacted for a new prescription, because the 6-month refill period has ended

Rationale

Alprazolam is a schedule IV drug. A schedule III or IV prescription may be refilled no more than 5 times and only within 6 months after it was issued, and whichever limit is reached first ends the prescription. Because September 12 falls more than 6 months after March 3, the leftover refills cannot be used, and the patient needs a new prescription.