Many of my long time readers know about me taking over a friends HME/Respiratory business last June, after he suffered a incapacitating stroke and passed away a couple of months later. I walked into a company that was losing 25% of sales and financials were in total disarray. “Going Forward” was a phrase that I often used with the staff.. because .. I was having to make some serious and dramatic changes to how the company functioned. After 7 months, I had recouped all the losses since I took over the helm and was showing abt a 25% monthly profit.
This phrase has comes to mind because about one week ago.. I had a article appear on DRUG TOPICS website When valid prescriptions are refused That article elicited a number of responses from other RPH’s.. not all of them positive.. but some very enlightening..
One was from a legal counsel to a state pharmacy association.. who indicated that the premise of the article was very well taken and that this attorney would be glad to testify as a expert witness if a class action ever happened. I don’t think that this attorney’s testimony will be for the defendant(s).
I had a email exchange with a state’s BOP member.. and it was stated that the BOP was aware of patients were being denied their necessary medication.. because of actions of pharmacists and wholesalers… but.. there was nothing stated that would lead me to believe that the BOP intended to take any action in regards of protecting the public’s health and safety. I know that in the city where this particular BOP is located that there has been at least one investigative reporter doing a segment on chronic pain pts being refused/denied their medically necessary medications…and the suffering that these pts have had to endure.
I received a email from an Assoc Professor at a west coast dental school.. this particular dentist was a specialist from an AllStar Dental Academy.. that deals with oral facial pain.. they do not do routine dental procedures and he and his colleagues were have trouble with Pharmacists.. refusing their prescriptions for being “outside of their scope of practice”. He sought out my recommendations on how these specialists could get past this unnecessary hassle for him and his patients. Which I was more than happy to do and he in turn .. copied them out to all of his colleagues on a forum for these specialists and other colleagues on his email list.
I made a call to a major insurance company of Pharmacist’s professional liability insurance… and talked to an attorney/Pharmacist of the company.. Of course, attorneys only talk about hypothetical(s) … but in asking about if a Pharmacist was fined because of violating the ADA… would a Pharmacist’s personal professional liability insurance pay the fine .. NO !
Second hypothetical if a Pharmacist was fined for violating the ADA.. could the BOP take action against the Pharmacist for unprofessional conduct – definitely a possibility
Third hypothetical.. if a Pharmacist’s denial/refusal to fill a opiate for a chronic pain pt.. and the pt was thrown into withdrawal as a result.. and the patient experienced a hypertensive crisis and a resulting stroke or death .. would the Pharmacist’s liability insurance pay for damages – YES..
Of course these hypothetical(s) are based on this insurance company’s policy and presuming that the Pharmacist actually has purchased professional liability insurance.. which costs abt $200 -$300/yr.
Today on DRUG TOPICS website .. Ken Baker, a very well know Pharmacist/Attorney published this Diversion of opioids: Red flags and green flags
From this article:
Filed under: General Problems
It might be a good idea for a patient to talk to the pharmacist before they try to fill a prescription that might be seen as questionable. This is your first time at my pharmacy? hmmm… You don’t have insurance or a photo ID? hmmm… You’re not sure what part of town you’re in? hmmm… You might need to wait a day or two until I have a chance to check this out. This doctor is under indictment for medicare fraud? Well, this might take a little longer than we thought.
Its so frustrating to finally find a compassionate doctor willing to help you from suffering only to go to the pharmacy and have your script denied by the pharmacist. This has happened to me and it felt like my heart fell in to my stomach. I could not believe after all I went through, all the driving ,all the suffering only to be told we cant fill this script by a pharmacist with a snooty look on her face. I wanted to climb over the counter and strangle her. But the better part of me said don’t do that, just hold your head up and move forward to the next pharmacy. And I got the script filled , finally I got some pain relief after many years of suffering. I did all the epidural injections they wanted me to do but it did no good.
For Heavens sakes people can we get this all straightened up and stop making innocent chronic pain sufferers pay the price because of abusers who care less that we the true pain sufferers are living a life in hell. Their living a life of hell also but have the ability to just stop the life they have chosen.