First it is was WAGS and their “good faith filling policy”… now it is Costco that is starting a similar program… I am told that Costco’s RPH has to run a PMP report every time that they fill a control Rx… get ICD9’s and apparently the same/similar crap that WAGS also believes that will help them isolate the legit patients from the bogus ones…
Here is a article from last fall
From the article :
John Tropea, 59, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court to 76 charges of identity fraud, 76 charges of obtaining drugs by fraud, 40 counts of making false health care claims, and conspiracy
Guess what.. with a little internet searching you can find a ICD9 code ICD9 780.96 which is generic pain – NOS… you don’t think that someone smart enough to forge a RX.. isn’t smart enough to figure out what ICD9’s to use…
What they are missing is that legit pts with subjective diseases… have a lot of Rxs and spend a lot of money… someone is going to cultivate this section of market… you don’t have to give away free antibiotics and/or have $4 Rxs… they will patronize the Pharmacy/Pharmacist that gives them a emphatic ear and doesn’t treat them like they are a “junkie/abuser”
These people will spend $10 K – $20 K per year.. just in the Rx dept.. and they tend to be EXTREMELY LOYAL.. to anyone that treats them just like any other patient that has needs for medication..
But they are the BIG BOYS… they are so F-ing bright.. just ask them…
After they chase off most of these legit pts… they will then try to figure out what they did wrong and how they can get them back… and.. don’t forget that these legit pts also have family that get Rxs filled as well and will probably follow these pts to the same pharmacy that treats their relative properly.
The solution is much simpler than they are trying to make it… “.. if they only had a brain …”
Filed under: General Problems
You have mentioned how IN BOP couldn’t get IN BMV to allow cross check of driver’s licenses for verification due to privacy issues. My former sister in law works for IN ABC and she sees the same when someone comes in to apply for bartenders license. Many of time she puts in the SS# and DL’s and many names pop up under that one number. Unfortunately, even the ABC can’t seem to get the state to go after the ID thieves either. I always ran the INSPECT even on my legit patients just to make sure. INSPECT should be mandatory by anyone who prescribes controls. Even legit patients can’t seem to say no to the dentists who write for the pain meds after dental work, when the patient just got their pain meds filled from the doc. I’ve had them tell me, well, I take my regular pain pills and yes I’m also taking the ones from the dentist at the same time for my dental pain. Put the onus on the prescription writers to check this stuff. By the time it gets to us and we run it, now we have to do the police work and try and determine legitimacy when we don’t have the entire picture in front of us. I reported several suspicious docs many times and it fell on deaf ears as far as I was concerned. I got a ‘talking to’ once about doing this because a particular doc found out we reported him and he called the owner and threatened a defamation compliant. IMHO, this stuff is like gun control, it’s not going to stop anything. The bad ones are always going to continue to get their stuff regardless of what laws and store policies are put into place. and the legit patients and the legit docs are the ones who are going to get screwed. So I do the very best I can to screen and just make sure I document everything bit of conversation in case to CMA.