PHARMACIST STEVE

This Burger King commercial was very popular at a time when our daughter was in early grade school… you know when a parent can “easily embarrass” kids in this age group… I use to sing along with the commercial modifying the end of the commercial  “NAKED BURGERS DON’T UPSET US !” 

Every week, I get contacted by chronic pain pts … typically concerning their inability to get their pain management medication. Sometimes it is denied by their insurance/PBM company, sometimes it is the pharmacy that they have patronized for years, sometimes it is their doctor.

In this country we are use to patronizing where/whom we wish  to purchase products/services from.  When I started working in a pharmacy as a pharmacy student (1967), there was no DEA, no PBM/drug cards, bank charge cards were in their infancy. There was a Federal Narcotic Bureau that only dealt with Opiates, that were not prescribed in quanities as they are today.  Transaction at the Rx counter was CASH or STORE CHARGE   The physician that we use, when I was a kid, was paid in CASH for a office visit.

The vast majority of pts that reach out to me, want me to tell them how they can make “them” prescribe, fill, or paid for their prescription. When the Pharmacist tells the pt that “they are not comfortable”…  that is not a valid reason.. that is an EXCUSE.  When the Pharmacist tell the pt that they are “out of stock” or they have a order coming arriving in a few days and when the pt returns in a few days and is told that “supplier didn’t send the medication” ..  is most likely a LIE.

Often the best – quickest – way to get a resolution is to switch providers…. if you are on Medicare/Medicaid you can file a complaint by calling 800- MEDICARE… you may or may not get  resolution, but the more pts that complain about a vendor the more likely the dollars that they are reimbursed will be reduced and they can have their “star rating” reduced.

If you are going to file a complaint against a medical practitioner or Pharmacist/pharmacy… some states let pts file the complaint directly with the AG office and may eliminate the particular board from “filing” the complaint and no really doing anything about the pt’s complaint.  These medical boards only have “legal authority” over the practitioner’s license, everything else is handled by the state’s AG office.

Do not expect anything to be done promptly from a complaint to the medical licensing board and/or AG’s office… normally action/response takes 6 to 24 months.

Filed under: General Problems