What happens to the drugs?

Rainmom. I totally understand your feelings about the waste of your mother's meds that she had paid good money for.
As a matter of interest what did you think should have been done with them.
Hospice nurses are only required to dispose ofcontroled substances usually narcotics, but i had one patient's wit who knew how expensive a certain medication supplied by hospice was and ask if she could just give it to a friend to save her money. I told her "No" but I would not know how she disposed of it after I left the home.

In terms of doctors who say "try this drug", I would ask for samples, especially if it's clear that it's a "try" and not something that the doctor is fairly sure will work.

I'm blessed with a PCP who, before he prescribes ANYTHING, asks if we have good prescription coverage. I work for NYC and am blessed with good Union coverage for meds, but if it turns out something is not in the formulary, I call the doctor back to see if there's something else that can be prescribed. In the case that it's "this is the only drug for this problem", there is usually an appeals process that can over-ride non-coverage.

In one situation I recall, a friend's 12 year daughter had a brain tumor and her neurologist wanted to prescribe a new-ish anti-depressant, one that was "gentle on the brain", as he put it, which was not covered. A call from the doctor to the insurance company pharmacist got it approved the same day.

I guess it all makes a little more sense to me - I just couldn't reconcile hospice leaving a ton of heavy hitters while the NH is going to keep/destroy my mothers meds. I didn't know hospice had skrewed up. Seriously from the day dad was transported to a hospice center where he passed a couple days later - we never saw any of the hospice folk again.

Cap, so good to see you!

yea , army retired .
when my mother had to spend a couple months at AL , the management jumped all over an offer of her unused insulin ( she changed scripts ) . the law and what actually happens , are a ways apart .

All medications dispensed in this country must either be used or disposed of, even those never used. When my mother died, she had unused medication from her mail order pharmacy. I could not return them for a reimbursement. Payment had to be made and the medication destroyed. Such a waste for unused packaged medication.

our hospice nurse poured my mothers comfort meds into bandage material before her body was even cold , to both her and my sisters delight . id lost the greatest influence in my life and my domestic partner . i coulda used those drugs .

When medications are given into the care of a healthcare facility be it hospice or otherwise, they will not be used for the patient but destroyed. The facility does not benefit from any medications left when a patient dies because they can not be used for anyone else. There was a movement in our area of New York to collect unused medications and donate them to Hospice of the Sub Sahara. This was not allowed and many people were very sad about that because most of the African hospices do not have the money to purchase needed drugs especially pain killers for their patients.

My experience with Hospice is that they came within an hour to destroy all the meds. I'm surprised they didn't show up to do that. Nursing homes will destroy all the medications, by law, and a witness has to sign that it was done. Personal items like glasses and hearing aids, walkers, diapers etc. have to be picked up at the facility.

It's just seems off in a way. I understand it's the law - but in my mothers case she has spent quite a bit of money on Rxs with here PCP seemingly randomly starting and stoping rxs and now a Geriatric Psychitb stoping and starting things as well. I realize this makes no sense but it seems unfair - for a lack of a better word - that mom pays for all this but upon her death they are kept by the facility without any kind of reimbursement to her/her estate. I guess I am thinking of this in terms of say, her hearing aids or eye glasses, which would be of no use to anyone else either. My father passed in a hospice facility during a 5 day stay - none of his rxs had been taken with him at the time - so when dad passed there were massive amounts of morphine, oxycodone, ativan etc in the apartment that I had to round up and flush before my mother got her hands on them and added them to her arsenal for self over medicating. Not sure why this handling - both leaving the rxs behind AND confiscating them after being paid for bothers me, but it does. Anyone else know what I mean?

once dispensed you are not supposed to give Rx meds to anyone except the patient. It's the law. Rx are Supposed to be disposed of under guidelines that unused or expired meds are gotten rid of by facility or pharmacist or police.