How to Help Your Patients Find Prolate in Stock: A Provider's Guide

One of the more time-consuming — and underappreciated — burdens on modern pain management practices is pharmacy callback volume. Patients prescribed Schedule II opioids like Prolate (oxycodone hydrochloride and acetaminophen, CII) regularly call their provider's office after failing to fill their prescription because multiple pharmacies are out of stock. This guide provides a systematic approach to help your patients navigate this problem while protecting your practice's efficiency and compliance posture.

Why Prolate Is Frequently Out of Stock at Pharmacies

Prolate is a brand-name oxycodone/acetaminophen formulation from Forte Bio-Pharma LLC. It is differentiated by its lower acetaminophen content — 300mg per tablet versus the standard 325mg in most generics and Percocet. As a brand product from a smaller manufacturer, it is not consistently stocked at most chain pharmacies, which typically carry only generic oxycodone/acetaminophen.

Broader availability issues stem from DEA aggregate production quotas for oxycodone (which have been progressively reduced since 2017), distributor-level ordering thresholds for Schedule II products, and pharmacy-level internal policies limiting CII inventory. Together, these create an environment where even the generic oxycodone/acetaminophen can be intermittently out of stock at individual locations.

Build a Practice Protocol for Prolate Unavailability

Having a documented, repeatable protocol for when patients can't fill Prolate reduces staff burden and improves patient safety. Consider the following framework:

Step 1: Set Patient Expectations at the Point of Prescribing

When prescribing Prolate, advise patients proactively that:

Prolate brand may not be stocked at all pharmacies and they should start looking 3–5 days before running out

Independent pharmacies are often better sources for specialty brand products

If they cannot find Prolate, they should call the office — not wait until they have completely run out

Step 2: Give Patients a Pre-Authorization for Generic Substitution

If the 25mg APAP difference (300mg in Prolate vs. 325mg in generics) is not clinically significant for your patient, consider writing the original prescription without "Dispense As Written" restrictions. This allows the pharmacist to substitute the readily available generic, dramatically reducing the chance of a fill failure.

For patients where the lower APAP dose is clinically important (e.g., near the maximum safe daily APAP threshold), note this in the chart and write "Dispense As Written" — but also provide patients with a contingency plan.

38,743+ patients found their medications in stock

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Step 3: Recommend a Pharmacy Locator Service

Recommend that patients use medfinder when they cannot locate their prescription. medfinder is a paid service that contacts pharmacies in the patient's area to identify which ones can fill the prescription. This saves patients from making calls themselves — and saves your staff from taking those calls. Patients simply provide their medication name, dose, and zip code, and medfinder texts them results.

Step 4: Have a Clear Callback Protocol

When patients do call the office because they cannot fill Prolate, train your staff with a clear decision tree:

Has the patient searched at least 3 pharmacies? If not, direct to medfinder or encourage more searches.

Is generic oxycodone/acetaminophen acceptable? If yes, write a new script or authorize substitution.

Does the patient need a bridging alternative? Escalate to the provider for clinical decision.

Is the patient in withdrawal or distress? Triage immediately to the provider and document.

Skip the calls, skip the stress.

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50K+

Medications
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99%

Success
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6+

Hours saved
on average

Documentation Best Practices

When writing any alternative prescription due to a shortage situation, document:

The reason for the change (patient unable to locate Prolate brand at local pharmacies)

The alternative prescribed and the dose equivalence rationale

PDMP check date and result

Patient understanding of the change confirmed

Proactive Pharmacy Relationships

Consider developing relationships with 2–3 local independent pharmacies that are willing to stock specialty brand products like Prolate. Giving patients a preferred pharmacy list as part of their discharge paperwork can dramatically reduce fill failures. Independent pharmacies often have more flexibility to order brand-name products on demand compared to chains with centralized formulary management.

For a broader clinical overview of the Prolate availability situation, see our post on what providers need to know about the Prolate shortage in 2026.