BTW, you guys are great -- I really appreciate everyone's help with this.
What's disappointing is just how clueless my doctor and pharmacists are about a technical issue with such a straightforward explanation and solution. This reinforces just how much the patient is on his own with all this. And this would have been even more complicated if needles and syringes had not been made available without a prescription. It wouldn't be much fun to go back to my doctor and basically tell him: "you're wrong, now write me a prescription for syringes based on something I read on the internet."
What's especially kafkaesque is that this is only a big issue because of restrictions on controlled substances (ie, I can't refill my prescription 10 days early, as with everything else). The restrictions meant to protect me from intentionally abusing the medication are instead preventing me from taking the medication as prescribed. And the response of everyone involved is 'sorry, my hands are tied here.'
You know the system is screwed up when medical providors are more concerned with running afoul of the law than giving a patient proper care. I'll stop there, before this turns into a rant against the nanny state.
