When it comes to drones and mail-order pharmacy, proceed with caution.

Since pharmacy benefits managers, PBM, (CVS Caremark, Optum RX, and Express Scripts) were able to force patients to their own mail-order pharmacy, what will keep them from forcing us to get our medications by drones?

CVS and UPS want to ship life-saving medications by drones. Walgreens has also been trying drones out in Virginia.  Currently, CVS Health owns CVS Caremark, CVS mail-order, and retail stores. CVS steers or forces patients to their life-threatening mail-order pharmacy as the only option of coverage for the most critical and life-saving medications.

Many have voiced their concerns. In this UPS tweet, there wasn't a mention of the safety of the handling of medications, but UPS did mention the revenue-generating capability. Negative comments and concerns far outweighed the positive. One comment was similar to this statement, "they drop pharmaceuticals on the lawn?!?!”

The packaged appeared to be a brown bag inside of a box and was dropped off on the patient’s front lawn.  I am almost sure that the box offered little if any, protection from weather elements or temperature extremes. Since the start of mail-order pharmacy, UPS and CVS has risked lives by not protecting medications from weather elements and temperatures. Their lack of protection is partially due to nonexistent, loose, and unenforced laws and regulations. Please know that vibrations, humidity, light, and shocks can also degrade medications.

Also, keep in mind the following:

• Most are aware that UPS workers are injured and patients harmed after medications ship unprotected in the back of the trucks that reach temperatures of over 120-170 degrees. Most medications ship without any protection from freezing temperatures.
• Patients have been harmed by simple misunderstandings that could have been prevented by the face to face relationship with a trusted pharmacist.
• Many medications are damaged, lost, delayed, and stolen.

One person commented that pharmacy benefit managers plan on using drones to deliver medications to rural areas. In third world countries, drones are used to distribute medicines, but I hope they don’t handle them as carelessly as the PBMs' mail-order pharmacies handle our medications here in the US. America doesn’t have to allow our pharmaceutical care to degrade to the level of a third world country.  We must seek to improve pharmaceutical care for all.

The truth is that pharmacy benefits managers are scrambling to come up with a solutions as they know that they are creating a public health crisis as some areas now have pharmacy deserts. Patients are left traveling many miles for simple antibiotics or emergency refills when there are issues or delays due to the mail-order pharmacy's neglect of proper patient care. CVS Caremark is CVS's pharmacy benefits manager. CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and Optum RX play a significant role in the closure of our trusted pharmacies by steering to their owned pharmacies, low reimbursements, and outrageous fees they charge our trusted pharmacies. Sometimes, our trusted pharmacists end up in the red filling our medications, and PBMs like CVS Caremark make more as a payment processor than our pharmacists do for their actual work of providing counseling and filling the prescription.

As pharmacies close, many don't have a safety net option when issues occur as PBMs have caused the closure of our trusted pharmacies. #fixDIR

CVS and UPS haven’t proven to have the integrity or worthiness to handle our life-saving medications.

Drones cannot provide the level of pharmaceutical care that communities need. Pharmacists do more than hand over medications. For example:

• In 2018, the Center for Disease and prevention indicated that pharmacists administered over 40% of flu shots.
• Pharmacists may be the only healthcare provider that patients see for many miles.
• They provide additional clarification to those with low health literacy to improve health outcomes.
• They understand a community’s unique needs, such as language or socio-economic barriers, and provide tailored services to fit those needs.
• They communicate with physicians to ensure proper pharmaceutical care and evaluate medication lists for adverse interactions.
• Pharmacists perform blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol screenings.  

The following is inspired by a tweet yesterday from a pharmacist: how are drones and mail-order performing on administering flu shots and performing health screenings?

To any legislators reading this, please don't let them risk patients' lives. If UPS wants to deliver by drone as an option, prove worthiness. Start with something other than a package of medications that will harm lives when issues occur and stop shipping medications in non-temperature controlled trucks.  Many patients have unknowingly become test subjects for PBMs, their mail-order pharmacies, and the delivery services as they store medications far outside of the manufacturers' tested and proven safe temperature ranges. Patients’ lives depend on choice and safe access. #stopPBMabuse

With over 162,000 supporters on this petition, how and why are our legislators failing to protect us? We must continue the fight.

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Twitter: @BoesingLoretta