I've spoken at Missouri's Board of Pharmacy in the past and asked them to protect patients like my son from harm, but nothing happened. Will this Thursday, April 13th be different? We hope.
Medications shipped by mail today are often exposed to two times room temperature. Temperatures in mailboxes and trucks reach 120-170 degrees without warning patients that this could put their lives at risk as most medications are shipped in only bags. This is true for even most room-temperature liver transplant liquid oral children's medications like those my son was prescribed.
Many patients are forced to mail order pharmacies owned by insurance companies as the only option for coverage.
The First Mail Order Pharmacy Temperature Regulation In The US
The Oklahoma Board of Pharmacy recently passed the first regulation of temperatures of mail order pharmacies. That still will need to be approved and signed off by legislators and the Governor in Oklahoma.
The supporters of this petition taught me that delays are also a significant issue when forced to insurance-owned mail order pharmacies. When delays are combined with the issue of temperatures not being regulated the risk of harm to patients is even greater.
Other states may regulate the temperatures of mail order pharmacy. We have a patient interested in bringing the temperature issue to the Arizona and Washington Boards of Pharmacy. Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri are other states discussing mail order pharmacy temperatures. If you want to become a leader in your state to get this topic on the agenda or help those fighting in the states mentioned above, please email me loretta@uniteforsafemeds.com
It's still hard to believe that patients and parents whose children's lives rely on medications can be forced to put their medicines in unsafe conditions in America.
The Conflicts of Interest
Sadly, the only way we will change the future of medication storage will be by people caring enough to fight against the wealthiest corporations in our nation. When I speak at the Board of Pharmacy in Missouri, the board members will be heavily made-up of affiliates of pharmacy benefit managers and mail order pharmacies such as Optum RX/AARP, CVS Caremark, and Express Scripts.
The corporations that keep speaking against this type of regulation or patient choice of pharmacy legislation need to be exposed. Their main reason for not taking action comes down to one thing. Greed.
For the corporations to claim that forcing patients to one-star rated mail order pharmacies will help save money is ridiculous and destroying America's safe pharmacy and medication access. It's almost like a bad horror movie hearing our legislators continue to believe the lies of these large corporations, pharmacy benefit managers, and their associations, such as the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association or PCMA. It’s foolish and irresponsible to allow this to continue.
The discussion about the many harms of mail order pharmacy and pharmacy benefit managers is increasing. We are gaining momentum.
Please continue to support us and share your story loretta@uniteforsafemeds.com
Thank you,
Loretta Boesing, Patient Advocate
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