Father says CVS drugstore could have done more for son
From the article:
A San Diego man is dead and his family believes the drugstore CVS could have done more to help him.
Marcus said his son was at the CVS in Escondido in January. He was out of medication and had to pick up his refill. Joshua had signed up for Medi-Cal but had not received his card.
The clerk said the medication would be $700. Joshua called his father, who lived in Nevada. Marcus said he would pay for it.
“He said, ‘My dad is going to pay for this over the phone with his card … They said, ‘No, I’m sorry, we don’t do that. That’s not our policy,'” said Marcus.
Marcus said he had put funds in his son’s account. The money would clear a few days later.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry about it, dad,'” said Marcus.
His father got a phone call the next morning saying that that Joshua had a seizure and died. The Medical Examiner’s Office ruled it asphyxiation due to epileptic seizure.
There was a very long thread discussing this on a “Pharmacist ” Face Book page.. and not everyone believed that something different should have been done.
Since this was January, was this another transition to ACA/Obamacare failure ?
I just wonder how all the pts that use Caremark mail order service paid for their Rxs…. CREDIT CARDS over the phone ?
But then what can we expect… I talk/email to pts across the country and Pharmacists are routinely turning down pts with legit chronic pain meds Rxs.. just because they are “not comfortable” filling their Rxs… And we wonder why we are being treated like “fast food workers ?” maybe because all too many of us are acting like fast food workers …
Filed under: General Problems
A patient’s Medi-cal eligibility can be looked up on the Medi-Cal website using the pts social sec. number. This will also provide their Medi-Cal ID number. I have done this dozens of times. There was also a protocol that was in place during January and February that could be followed for folks who had “Obamacare” and did not have their cards. How old was the patient? Did he not know that he could purchase a few days’ worth and then get reimbursed? Or even get a day or two of loaners until the situation was worked out? I think we should not pass judgement without hearing all sides of the story.
I get more respect at McDonald’s than in the last 6 pharmacies I have entered. So sorry this man had to die. Hoping his family owns the chain that caused this senseless death. Time was pharmacists use to act as professionals. How can you develop a relationship with one that discriminates and is rude to begin with?