Residents in southern Colorado struggle to find the pain reliever medication Hydromorphone
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)-- A painkiller backlog in El Paso County is causing some issues for residents in southern Colorado.
KRDO 13 found the medication, Hydromorphone is in short supply along with other painkiller medications.
Russell Carnes lives in Falcon, Colorado, and said he's been trying to fill up his prescription for at least a month and has had no luck.
"I'm having more pain and not as mobile as I was and, yeah, it's just, it's not good," added Carnes.
Carnes suffers from severe nerve pain in his neck and his back and said since March of 2024, he has not been able to get Hydromorphone pills.
Carnes is just one of thousands of people across the country waiting for a refill on his Hydromorphone prescription. Ivywild Pharmacy located in Colorado Springs said they only have two bottles of the pills left and their last drop off of Hydromorphone was in mid-February.
"When there are no substitutions left, there's literally nothing we can do for the patients, which is absolutely heartbreaking when we can't help people. And that's the entire point of being a pharmacy," said Tracy Thompson at Ivywild Pharmacy.
KRDO 13 reached out to Walgreens and Safeway in El Paso County to confirm if the shortage was also affecting them. They confirmed it was.
The drug's distributor, Rhodes Pharmaceuticals said the supply issues could be due to an increase in demand and shipment delays.
"A lot of them have been on this medication fairly long term. They've moved up from lesser pain medications, we'll say and had to find something a little bit stronger as the pain evolves and continues. So they reach a point where this is kind of the only thing that really works well for them," said Thompson.
People in El Paso County are hopeful supply will increase again soon.
"I just hope that they can get it done soon because all these people are suffering just like I am," said Carnes.
Rhodes Pharmaceuticals said they expect the shipments of the pain medication to pick back up by mid-April.
