With the holidays, our first thoughts are often the loved ones we hold dear. When personally hearing the issues with mail-order pharmacy, I often think of the stories as if it was happening to my own family. Please do the same as I tell you about Charlie as his Christmas will be different than the last due to a life-threatening issue with mail order pharmacy.

Life-threatening issues are happening every day with forced mail-order pharmacy.

A family from Nevada had their lives changed forever after a life-threatening misunderstanding & lack of communication from the mail order pharmacy. Charlie and his wife Catherine have shared a blessed life with over 47 years together and 3 sons. Charlie served his country for over 20 years. In order to get his wife’s medications, they must use Express Scripts mail order pharmacy or pay 100% of the cost of the medication.

Earlier this year, the mail order pharmacy sent his wife a prescription for a blood thinner that said on the bottle read to “take as needed.” The physician had written the medication as “take one pill per day.”

This is the error that nearly cost his wife her life was only caught after she had a stroke. Upon physicians asking Charlie if his wife had been taking her blood thinners, the error was caught. 

Charlie says, “my wife was totally self-sufficient before this unfortunate incident.” Charlie says that now his wife is dependent on him for her care, and has issues processing and speaking her thoughts.

I asked if he was forced to use mail order pharmacy. He said the instructions were borderline, "Use Express Scripts mail-order pharmacy or pay 100%."

Charlie is a resident of Nevada and has been trying to reach out to Senator Catherine Cortez Masto to explain the error and ask for help to ensure this doesn't happen to other patients. I will add her to this petition.

Many people prefer their hometown and local pharmacies, but since 3 of the largest Insurances pharmacy benefit managers, Express Scripts, Optum RX, & CVS Caremark now own their own mail order pharmacies, many are being only allowed coverage for some medications through the mail creating an unfair playing field for community pharmacist and life-threatening outcomes for patients.

Face to face communication is crucial for many reasons. Miscommunication and misinterpretation are often a consequence of other forms of communication outside of face to face communication. I believe that a face to face consultation by a trusted pharmacist may have caught and prevented this error.

Mail order miscommunication is cited by physicians and pharmacists alike. In our case, we were able to use the specialty pharmacy for my sons’ transplant medications. The other medications were filled by his usual pharmacy. Multiple pharmacies can increase risks of mistakes and errors. For example, just in the last 24 hours here are a few comments that I have received.  

• Yesterday, one physician stated her patient was taking multiple doses of the same medications as mail-order pharmacies often ship medications automatically. When patients are battling with chronic conditions or are prescribed many medications, this can lead to increased confusion. 
• A physician also stated that some mail-order pharmacies are sending patients free over the counter vitamins and medications to patients. One patient received medications that came without warnings. The patient took the medication and had a hypertensive response.
• Then, a pharmacist stated that he's had patients on two types of similar drugs due to mail-order pharmacy. After the physician ordered to stop the prior medication, the mail-order pharmacy continued to ship both.

Many of these errors could be prevented by stopping forced mail-order pharmacy.

Face to face relationships for both provider and patient are more personal, they are meaningful and build trust. When medications mean life or death, choosing the best pharmacist is just as important as choosing the best surgeon for open heart surgery. 

Patient's deserve the options of the best face to face relationships with the trusted pharmacist they choose and this relationship should be prioritized and MUST BE offered in our coverage.

As patients age and are prescribed medications, the option for the face to face relationship with their pharmacist is crucial. In addition to the face to face relationship with a pharmacist that knows us, many pharmacies now have their own temperature-controlled vehicles for pharmacy staff to transport medications to the patient's door in temperature controlled vehicles. The life-threatening risks of thefts, delays, and many other risks are often 100% eliminated when we use our community pharmacies.

The forcing of patients to mail-order pharmacy is not being done because it is in the best interest of patients. 

Charlie, we hope for your wife a full recovery. I hope one day we will get this common sense issue fixed, so we can ensure no one has to feel the pain and hard times that your family has endured. Thank you for sharing your story.

For the legislatures reading this, please help!

Thank you all for your support,

Loretta Boesing

Link to 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

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