Yesterday, I shared the story of General Allen who was a wartime hero who lost his life after a mail order pharmacy delay. He wasn't alone in his suffering. Sadly, many veterans suffer due to mail order pharmacy delays. I come across many daily.

Here are a few of the thousands of stories and comments that I've shared of veterans suffering since the start of this petition:

1. Robert Proctor, a disabled veteran, says he's not received his medication in nearly two months.

2. A daughter cries for help for her elderly veteran father due to mail order delays. “Unfortunately, it never arrived, and he ran out of medication and it's a medication that you just can't stop abruptly,” Schie said. “Elderly people are sometimes on medication and - as well as other people - you're on medicine that you just can't stop.”

To make sure Schie’s father wouldn’t miss a dose, his doctor wrote another prescription for him, but because it had already been filled, TRICARE wouldn’t pay for it, meaning Schie had to cover the cost. 

3. Another veteran shares his story directly to a reporter, and his story is shared by legislators. "The government makes a promise, the government ought to stick to what they say, not, 'We got a problem with this, we got a problem with that.' I got a problem, too -- my health," 20-year-veteran Thomas Kimsey said.

Kimsey gave 20 years of service to his country working in aviation in the U.S. Navy.
He says when he finally got out, one of the things promised to him was health care, but recently, his health has taken a turn.

"I have leukemia which I just was diagnosed with a little over a year ago and I've been on chemo drugs for that,” he said about his recent diagnosis.

As a veteran, Tricare pays for his medicine.

He says 60 pills would cost $18,000 without it, but through Tricare, it costs him $38. However, a switch in contracts between the company and the department of defense means that he and thousands of others will have to get medicine by mail instead of at their local pharmacy.

That's when he reached out for help.

"He called my office after trying to fill his prescriptions and only had 5 pills left of this critical drugs. The new DOD pharmacy said they could fill his prescription in 10 days, but he couldn't wait 10 days," U.S. Representative Austin Scott said on the House floor.

U.S. Representative Austin Scott told Kimsey's story on the house floor and pleaded for him and other veterans across the U.S.

"What people don't know is Express Scripts actually owns the mail-order pharmacies that they're trying to shift our business to,” he explained.

4. The issue of delays and veterans having issues filling medications at local pharmacies due to the removal of pharmacies from the network and below-cost reimbursements are mentioned in this Washington DC hearing which mentions the party unity in wanting to stop these abuses. Yet, DC has been slow to do anything to help these veterans and patients across America. 

Social media has many veterans and patients outcrying for help. Many more are struggling. Consumer reports pages are filled with horror stories of patients forced to mail order pharmacy. I urge you to search Express Scripts and consumer reviews. 

We need justice & protection for all patients. Together, we can and will achieve it.  

*I was notified that the link to the original story that I shared yesterday was broken. Here is the updated link.

Thank you for your support, 

Loretta Boesing, Patient Advocate

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Share your comments or story: Loretta@uniteforsafemeds.com