Hi everyone,
After reading stories like this, my heart literally hurts. How many others are there, but they just don't know? By sharing this information, you could raise awareness while supporting change!
Mail order pharmacy should only be an option, not forced. Mail order pharmacy has many risks.
In this article by Joe and Teresa Graedon from the People's Pharmacy, the patient's cancer treatment medication was shipped in the back of a hot non-temperature controlled UPS truck without protection from the heat (Graedon, 2018). Trucks can soar up to 170 to 180 degrees in the hot sun as they are just like your hot vehicle sitting in the sun. Every year, delivery driver's lives are threatened or lost by heat strokes because of the temperatures. No protection from freezing either.
This patient went with the gut instinct that something didn't feel right. Many just think they wouldn't do it if it wasn't safe.
It's usually only upon calling the manufacturer of the medication, not the pharmacy, that they find out the truth about the safe temperatures for their medications. If you are getting medications in bags year round, please email me and let me know (email below).
Being a room temperature medication, the medication most likely shouldn't sit next to an ice pack. If many room temperature medications get too cold, this could lower the potency of the medication. Most likely the medication was shipped in a plastic bag or a bubble mailer like most room temperature medications. When a patients life or their child's life depends on a medication, the way the medication is shipped and delivered is important.
It's time to save independent and community pharmacies and give our pharmacist a level playing field because they have done the hard work to earn it! WE ARE going to change the law not only to protect our precious medications but to gain back the access to OUR PHARMACY that has earned our trust & business.
No one asked us, the patients, if we wanted to have the coverage for our face to face relationship with our pharmacist that we've known for years to be replaced with mail order pharmacy. No one asked us what we thought about increased copays to access our pharmacist who handles our medications ethically and with care. They just made the decision for us by telling many of us we would have to either use their mail-order pharmacy or pay 100% out of pocket or a much higher rate of copay vs mail order. This isn't OK.
Please continue to share and sign the petition. Encourage others as well.
Forced mail order pharmacy isn't being forced because it's in the best interest of patients. All plans should include access to our pharmacy. After deep thought, mail order shouldn't even be incentivized as a lower copay, or else patients like our elderly and chronically ill may be forced to use mail order and take additional risk.
You can click the picture or click here for the full article:
Thank you for the support,
Loretta Boesing
Please share your concerns, issues, or complaint:
Email: stopmandatorymailorder@yahoo.com
Twitter @BoesingLoretta
Facebook: Issues With Mail Order Pharmacy Page @justamomwholovesherson
The original petition: https://www.change.org/p/attn-all-legistlatures-state-board-of-pharmacies-ban-mail-order-drug-mandates-from-all-health-insurance-plans-monitor
Graedon, Joe, and Teresa Graedon. “People's Pharmacy: Will Breast Cancer Drug Work If Shipped Incorrectly?” Athens Banner, Athens Banner-Herald, 26 Nov. 2018, www.onlineathens.com/news/20181126/peoples-pharmacy-will-breast-cancer-drug-work-if-shipped-incorrectly