This is a photo of my son on the hospital floor in 2012 after the mail order pharmacy shipped his life-saving medication in only a bag on a 102-degree day. He would pretend to give Pooh his medications, pick Pooh Bear up, kiss him on the cheek, and hug him as he told him, "Good job." 

See, this was just two and a half months after his liver transplant. We were hearing once again that his life was at risk due to rejection. The medications that he was taking were not working and were extremely low in his bloodstream. 

Notice his bruised wrist from the attempts to insert an IV or draw blood for labs. During that same stay for two hours, I had to help nurses hold my son down and hear his screams and cries as they eventually also tried to insert a pic line for harsher chemo medications. I recall that I had to tell the nurses to stop and give him a break. They agreed to wait one more day, and that next day my son's labs would slowly start improving. 

While hearing my son's cries, I thought about the hot medications. I'll never forget the warmth of the bottle, and I'll never forget questioning the medicines a couple of weeks later when my son went into rejection. 

I know now that no one was protecting my son. Today, no one is protecting patients forced to store their medications improperly as they are forced to mail order as the only coverage option. For my child and other patients, this is corporations getting away with child abuse and neglect.

After learning the hard way that most medications are shipped in only a bag exposed to extreme temperatures as the FDA and State Boards of Pharmacy fail to regulate the temperatures of mail order pharmacies, I had to do something. 

After starting the petition, the comments proved that my son wasn't the only one. 

I hope tomorrow the Missouri State Board of Pharmacy will hear me and do the right thing and put patients ahead of the profits of the insurance companies that force to their own mail order pharmacies that store most room temperature medications in only bags that reach 120-170 degrees. 2023 is the year that temperatures must be regulated. 

At the end of every time that I share his story, I end up in tears in my car on the way home, hoping that what I said was enough to save lives. 

I'll do my best. I hope they'll listen.

Please continue to support us by sharing your story, showing up at your State Boards of Pharmacies Public Meetings and demanding action, or making a donation to support our advocacy. 

Share your stories loretta@uniteforsafemeds.com 

For those who have emailed the last couple of days, I will catch up on my emails upon returning tomorrow night into Thursday. I am reading them. 

I appreciate you so much. I hope we can fix this for patients like my son and the future of safe pharmaceutical care.  

Thank you, 

Loretta Boesing, Patient Advocate