By Pat Anson

If you have a prescription for oxycodone, Adderall, Wegovy or Ozempic, there’s a good chance you’ve had trouble getting it filled. That’s because many pharmacies are experiencing shortages of opioids, stimulants for ADHD, and diabetes drugs that have become popular weight-loss medications.  

The shortages are so acute that a recent PNN survey found that 90% of patients with an opioid prescription experienced delays or problems getting it filled. Many had to visit 3 or more pharmacies to find one that had their medication in stock.

“My pharmacy has been unable to order or get my medication for me for over 6 months now and they are unsure when they'll be able to order or get it for me again,” one patient told us.

“Having to call pharmacies is ridiculous,” said another. “You sit on the phone for 20 minutes just to find out they don’t have your medication.”

Peter Daggett knows all about the stress and anxiety that come with not being able to get a prescription filled. He and his friend, Parth Shah, have firsthand experience with the “pharmacy crawl.”

“We were both diagnosed with ADHD at a younger age, and as many people like us taking stimulant medication, we struggled to find pharmacies that had our medications in stock,” said Daggett. “I was banging my head against the wall. I couldn’t get my medications. I didn't have time to call pharmacies for three hours. I didn't have time to call 100 pharmacies to find one that has my medication.

“And I said to Parth, ‘I’d probably pay somebody 50 bucks if they go find this medication for me.’ And he said, ‘Maybe some other people would, too.’ So we decided to test this out and see if it was something that people wanted. And there were tons and tons of people right out of the gate that really wanted a service like this to exist.”

That’s when Dagget and Shah launched Medfinder, an online company that helps patients find local pharmacies that have their medications in stock. So far this year, they’ve helped over 6,000 patients get their prescriptions filled.  

Medfinder recently started advertising on Facebook and through Google’s advertising platform. Its pharmacy-finding service is available in all 50 states and is growing quickly.

“Our team will go and contact as many pharmacies as it takes to find a pharmacy that has the patient's medications in stock and is willing to dispense it. That will cover any geographic range that the patient wants,” Daggett explained.

“Generally, what we'll do is patients will come in, they'll put their zip code in, and then we'll start searching in the nearby radius. Once we find the pharmacy that has the patient's medication in stock, we'll text that patient (the name and location of) the pharmacy. Then we wait to hear back from the patient.”

A search for one medication costs $50, but Medfinder has sliding rate plans that can reduce the cost of each search to $30. Fees will be refunded if no pharmacy is found within five business days, but that doesn’t happen often. Daggett says the company has a 99% success rate and is usually able to find a pharmacy within 90 minutes.  

In addition to patients, Medfinder also wants to form partnerships with prescribers. That can save doctors the time and hassle of writing another prescription for the same drug when a patient’s initial search for a pharmacy doesn’t pan out. Once a pharmacy is found through Medfinder, the prescriber is prompted to send the prescription directly to them electronically.

Ozempic, Wegovy and other diabetes/weight loss drugs are Medfinder’s most widely requested medications, followed by ADHD stimulants. Opioids don’t currently make up a big part of the company’s business, but Daggett says they’ve had success finding pharmacies with opioids in stock, despite chronic nationwide shortages of oxycodone and hydrocodone.

“It's extremely rare that we're not able to find a medication for a patient,” he told PNN.