Be aware of the school medication rule

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The doctor put all the info on the form. The med, the dose, the diagnosis. So now I bring in a cardboard box. But there is still no way to really prove the item in the box actually came in said box.

I am in a healthcare setting and without this information it’s too dangerous. You want to rely on a school nurse, who is probably overseeing medications for dozens if not more kids, to just *know* the loose inhaler that came to her is for your kid and is the exact same one the doc prescribed AND matches the medication auth form you signed? You are awfully trusting or self absorbed. This is part of a triple check process, for safety. Not just your kids safety but everyone else’s kids too.

No, sorry I wasn't clear. They want to see the box in order to approve my child carrying her own inhaler in her purse. Otherwise it's an unapproved med on school property. Because my kid took her completed form to the clinic, they confiscated her inhaler.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But you're a hell of a lot less likely to go through the trouble of having the original packaging with your kid's name and correct dosage and stick some other random med in it, right? Why would you even do that?

What they're attempting to do is make sure your child is taking medication that is properly prescribed and not expired. You sound like a lovely and responsible parent, but let's get real these regulations exist for the lowest common denominator, which exists.

Many schools have communal epipens at this point. I know my school in APS does.

My kid is supposed to carry her inhaler in her purse. In fact the nurse told me to just have her secretly carry one and she probably won't get caught. So no I don't buy that the concern is she's going to use someone else's inhaler.

They want to see the box, hold it in their hand, and then allow my kid to carry her inhaler in her purse anyway.

I do understand a need for rules but I also understand a need for common sense.

Apparently not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The doctor put all the info on the form. The med, the dose, the diagnosis. So now I bring in a cardboard box. But there is still no way to really prove the item in the box actually came in said box.

I am in a healthcare setting and without this information it’s too dangerous. You want to rely on a school nurse, who is probably overseeing medications for dozens if not more kids, to just *know* the loose inhaler that came to her is for your kid and is the exact same one the doc prescribed AND matches the medication auth form you signed? You are awfully trusting or self absorbed. This is part of a triple check process, for safety. Not just your kids safety but everyone else’s kids too.

No, sorry I wasn't clear. They want to see the box in order to approve my child carrying her own inhaler in her purse. Otherwise it's an unapproved med on school property. Because my kid took her completed form to the clinic, they confiscated her inhaler.

now this sounds weird. sorry OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The doctor put all the info on the form. The med, the dose, the diagnosis. So now I bring in a cardboard box. But there is still no way to really prove the item in the box actually came in said box.

I am in a healthcare setting and without this information it’s too dangerous. You want to rely on a school nurse, who is probably overseeing medications for dozens if not more kids, to just *know* the loose inhaler that came to her is for your kid and is the exact same one the doc prescribed AND matches the medication auth form you signed? You are awfully trusting or self absorbed. This is part of a triple check process, for safety. Not just your kids safety but everyone else’s kids too.

No, sorry I wasn't clear. They want to see the box in order to approve my child carrying her own inhaler in her purse. Otherwise it's an unapproved med on school property. Because my kid took her completed form to the clinic, they confiscated her inhaler.

now this sounds weird. sorry OP

It sounds weird because we're talking about an inhaler. It sounds weird when we're talking about insulin. It doesn't sound weird when we're talking about something like the adderall example posted earlier. Schools can't have different policies for different types of medications, though, they need one policy for all of them so sometimes people have to comply with rules that seem unnecessary for their particular situation but are necessary when you're talking about a school full of kids with varying medical needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you know that for things like inhalers and even diabetic insulin shots, if you don't have the cardboard box the scrip came in, the nurse's office confiscates the med? Apparently even though the doctor's form provides the details of the med, the dose, the child's name, etc, this info also has to appear on the label (box) and since inhalers don't have labels, the nurse took it from my child.

So calling in yet another scrip from the doc and picking up at the pharmacy so we can have a cardboard box. Yay.

Doesn't your nurse tell you this as you drop off the meds? We always bring the meds in the box, and our nurse visually and orally confirms that it is in the original box with the correct label, in a similar way that a shoe salesperson will obviously check the size in both shoes against the box.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You also have to hand carry Adderall as a parent (kid needs an early afternoon booster). Which is a PITA because it is so tightly regulated, you never have extras. So you pick it up from the pharmacy, and have to go to the school the next day to drop off. Every month. Rather than sending it in with your HS kid. I get that these are abused drugs, but I don’t always have an hour in the day to take it the next day for a kid who self administers because college next year. The crazy thing is he turns 18 soon, and I will still have to take it myself.

This makes perfect sense as Adderall is abused and sold by high school kids.

Your kid can hand carry their epipen and inhaler in high school with a doctors note.

I think they can also hand carry some diabetes meds (but do not quote me on this).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You also have to hand carry Adderall as a parent (kid needs an early afternoon booster). Which is a PITA because it is so tightly regulated, you never have extras. So you pick it up from the pharmacy, and have to go to the school the next day to drop off. Every month. Rather than sending it in with your HS kid. I get that these are abused drugs, but I don’t always have an hour in the day to take it the next day for a kid who self administers because college next year. The crazy thing is he turns 18 soon, and I will still have to take it myself.

Adderall is not an emergency med so there is no reason for the kid to hand carry it at school, especially since it is so easily abused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The doctor put all the info on the form. The med, the dose, the diagnosis. So now I bring in a cardboard box. But there is still no way to really prove the item in the box actually came in said box.

Yes, bring in the box.

It's better for the school to be too cautious about medicine than not cautious enough, right?

No. Everyone knows what an Epipen looks like. And getting a new one in a box from the pharmacy is expensive. Parents without good insurance can’t afford it, and their kid goes without.

But I also think parents should be able to contribute to a fund for a few communal school epipens. It is crazy wasteful and costly, and who has time in a real emergency to sort through 50 epipens and get the one Larla brought in. You need to be able to get it fast. Not sort through 50 for the box with the right name.

Virginia schools carry stock epipens to be administered in an emergency.

This is state law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But you're a hell of a lot less likely to go through the trouble of having the original packaging with your kid's name and correct dosage and stick some other random med in it, right? Why would you even do that?

What they're attempting to do is make sure your child is taking medication that is properly prescribed and not expired. You sound like a lovely and responsible parent, but let's get real these regulations exist for the lowest common denominator, which exists.

Many schools have communal epipens at this point. I know my school in APS does.

My kid is supposed to carry her inhaler in her purse. In fact the nurse told me to just have her secretly carry one and she probably won't get caught. So no I don't buy that the concern is she's going to use someone else's inhaler.

They want to see the box, hold it in their hand, and then allow my kid to carry her inhaler in her purse anyway.

I do understand a need for rules but I also understand a need for common sense.

Why on earth would the nurse tell you that?

Fcps has a carry form where your doctor can authorize your child carry their emergency meds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you know that for things like inhalers and even diabetic insulin shots, if you don't have the cardboard box the scrip came in, the nurse's office confiscates the med? Apparently even though the doctor's form provides the details of the med, the dose, the child's name, etc, this info also has to appear on the label (box) and since inhalers don't have labels, the nurse took it from my child.

So calling in yet another scrip from the doc and picking up at the pharmacy so we can have a cardboard box. Yay.

Doesn't your nurse tell you this as you drop off the meds? We always bring the meds in the box, and our nurse visually and orally confirms that it is in the original box with the correct label, in a similar way that a shoe salesperson will obviously check the size in both shoes against the box.

Nope. Kid had an inhaler approved all last year. First time I've been asked for the box.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you know that for things like inhalers and even diabetic insulin shots, if you don't have the cardboard box the scrip came in, the nurse's office confiscates the med? Apparently even though the doctor's form provides the details of the med, the dose, the child's name, etc, this info also has to appear on the label (box) and since inhalers don't have labels, the nurse took it from my child.

So calling in yet another scrip from the doc and picking up at the pharmacy so we can have a cardboard box. Yay.

Doesn't your nurse tell you this as you drop off the meds? We always bring the meds in the box, and our nurse visually and orally confirms that it is in the original box with the correct label, in a similar way that a shoe salesperson will obviously check the size in both shoes against the box.

Nope. Kid had an inhaler approved all last year. First time I've been asked for the box.

That is strange

They have always checked the box for my kid (elementary, middle and high school)

My kid carries his own epipen now, but we still have one in the nurses office and they still check the box.

Maybe your nurse last year was a slacker. Be grateful the nurse is more thorough this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You also have to hand carry Adderall as a parent (kid needs an early afternoon booster). Which is a PITA because it is so tightly regulated, you never have extras. So you pick it up from the pharmacy, and have to go to the school the next day to drop off. Every month. Rather than sending it in with your HS kid. I get that these are abused drugs, but I don’t always have an hour in the day to take it the next day for a kid who self administers because college next year. The crazy thing is he turns 18 soon, and I will still have to take it myself.

Adderall is not an emergency med so there is no reason for the kid to hand carry it at school, especially since it is so easily abused.

DP. Except that taking it at school means interrupting a class every single day (often the same class, since you take it at the same time every day) to go to the clinic and get the dose, and it relies upon the kid to remember every day to go to the clinic and take the dose, which is counterproductive given the nature of ADHD. I can absolutely see not letting a kid hand-carry multiple doses to school on a single day (unless he was delivering a refill to the clinic upon arrival because he does take it there, and then it could be done with an email in advance from a parent to the clinic letting them know it's coming for accountability purposes), but the current system doesn't work very well either.

This is part of the reason we've kept out kid on an extended release medication even though there's a shorter-acting one that works better for him with a booster. There was too much breakdown in the system of him going to the clinic to take the booster every day, whether it was him forgetting, or him being late to a particular class too often because there's a back-up at the clinic, or the class has a test that day and he doesn't want to risk being late so he skips the booster etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But you're a hell of a lot less likely to go through the trouble of having the original packaging with your kid's name and correct dosage and stick some other random med in it, right? Why would you even do that?

What they're attempting to do is make sure your child is taking medication that is properly prescribed and not expired. You sound like a lovely and responsible parent, but let's get real these regulations exist for the lowest common denominator, which exists.

Many schools have communal epipens at this point. I know my school in APS does.

My kid is supposed to carry her inhaler in her purse. In fact the nurse told me to just have her secretly carry one and she probably won't get caught. So no I don't buy that the concern is she's going to use someone else's inhaler.

They want to see the box, hold it in their hand, and then allow my kid to carry her inhaler in her purse anyway.

I do understand a need for rules but I also understand a need for common sense.

Why on earth would the nurse tell you that?

Fcps has a carry form where your doctor can authorize your child carry their emergency meds.

I don't know what to say. My kid texted me that she took the form to the nurse and her inhaler got confiscated. So I called the nurse and she told me that without the box, my kid can't have her inhaler approved. So I called the doctor, got another inhaler called in, will pick it up today, and turn the whole thing into the nurse tomorrow, so she can look at it and then let my kid carry it in her purse officially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You also have to hand carry Adderall as a parent (kid needs an early afternoon booster). Which is a PITA because it is so tightly regulated, you never have extras. So you pick it up from the pharmacy, and have to go to the school the next day to drop off. Every month. Rather than sending it in with your HS kid. I get that these are abused drugs, but I don’t always have an hour in the day to take it the next day for a kid who self administers because college next year. The crazy thing is he turns 18 soon, and I will still have to take it myself.

Adderall is not an emergency med so there is no reason for the kid to hand carry it at school, especially since it is so easily abused.

DP. Except that taking it at school means interrupting a class every single day (often the same class, since you take it at the same time every day) to go to the clinic and get the dose, and it relies upon the kid to remember every day to go to the clinic and take the dose, which is counterproductive given the nature of ADHD. I can absolutely see not letting a kid hand-carry multiple doses to school on a single day (unless he was delivering a refill to the clinic upon arrival because he does take it there, and then it could be done with an email in advance from a parent to the clinic letting them know it's coming for accountability purposes), but the current system doesn't work very well either.

This is part of the reason we've kept out kid on an extended release medication even though there's a shorter-acting one that works better for him with a booster. There was too much breakdown in the system of him going to the clinic to take the booster every day, whether it was him forgetting, or him being late to a particular class too often because there's a back-up at the clinic, or the class has a test that day and he doesn't want to risk being late so he skips the booster etc.

But still...

Fcps high schools have around 500 students per grade in the smaller high schools and close to 700-800 per grade in the larger high schools.

There is no way for them to keep track of which kids are trustworthy, which kids might forget their dosage, which kids are careless and might leave the pill sitting on the table in the library, which kids might be selling Adderall and coincidentally just have one left after selling a dozen between classes, and which kids remembered to take their meds.

Something like Adderall should not be a carry medicine at school.

It has no emergency, life saving purpose where seconds can mean the difference between life and death, like an epipen, inhaler or diabetes meds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The doctor put all the info on the form. The med, the dose, the diagnosis. So now I bring in a cardboard box. But there is still no way to really prove the item in the box actually came in said box.

Yes, bring in the box.

It's better for the school to be too cautious about medicine than not cautious enough, right?

No. Everyone knows what an Epipen looks like. And getting a new one in a box from the pharmacy is expensive. Parents without good insurance can’t afford it, and their kid goes without.

But I also think parents should be able to contribute to a fund for a few communal school epipens. It is crazy wasteful and costly, and who has time in a real emergency to sort through 50 epipens and get the one Larla brought in. You need to be able to get it fast. Not sort through 50 for the box with the right name.

You do know that epinephrine devices come in different dosages depending on weight, right? Hopefully someone's child who needs an adult dose doesn't get the junior dose (read: not enough) because the nurse got confused as he or she is rushing.