Prescription Limits: What You Can and Can't Get from Your Doctor

When your doctor says prescription limits, rules that control how much or how often you can get certain medications. Also known as medication restrictions, these aren't about denying care—they're about keeping you safe from addiction, overdose, or harmful interactions. Think of them like speed limits: not meant to stop you, but to keep you from crashing.

These limits show up most often with controlled substances, drugs like opioids, benzodiazepines, and stimulants that carry high risks of misuse. For example, a doctor might give you only a 30-day supply of oxycodone, even if you’re in pain, because federal rules require it. Same goes for Ozempic, a GLP-1 agonist used for diabetes and weight loss—some insurers cap how many pens you can get per month, or demand proof you’ve tried cheaper options first. It’s not personal. It’s paperwork.

Then there’s the pharmacy rules, local or state-level policies that affect how prescriptions are filled. Some states require electronic prescriptions for controlled drugs. Others ban refills without a new visit. And if you’re trying to get semaglutide, a generic version of Wegovy or Ozempic at Walmart, you might hit a limit because pharmacies only stock so much at a time. It’s not that they won’t help you—it’s that the system is built to slow things down, not speed them up.

Insurance plays a huge role too. Many plans won’t cover a drug unless you’ve tried something else first. That’s called prior authorization, a step where your doctor has to prove to the insurer that your case justifies the cost. It can take days. Sometimes weeks. And if your doctor doesn’t fight for you, you might end up paying full price—or going without.

These rules aren’t perfect. They can delay care. They can frustrate patients who’ve done everything right. But they exist because people have been hurt—too many opioids prescribed, too many overdoses, too many people spending thousands on drugs that aren’t covered. The system is trying to balance access with safety.

What you’ll find in the posts below are real stories and facts about how these limits play out in practice. You’ll see how open-heart surgery patients manage pain meds after discharge. How people fight insurance denials for weight loss drugs like Wegovy. Why some can’t get metformin refills without a new blood test. How medication passports help when traveling abroad with prescriptions. And why, even with all the rules, the right doctor can still find a way—when they know the system inside out.