A Nevada doctor plans to sue Walmart after the big-box company told its patients it will no longer fill their prescriptions.
Dr. Gary Ridenour has been a Fallon doctor for more than 30 years. He’s a country doctor who still makes house calls.
“I like the smallness of the town. I like the people of the town. The simplicity of the town,” Ridenour said.
One day last summer he said the billion dollar company stomped on his small-town practice. Walmart sent Dr. Ridenour a letter that said, “In our efforts to meet our compliance obligations… and to help combat prescription drug abuse and diversion, we routinely review the prescribing patterns and practices of the prescribers whose prescriptions are presented to us for filling… we will not be able to continue filling your controlled substance prescriptions.”
Dr. Ridenour was surprised and upset.
“They said you can’t write prescriptions, controlled substances for any Walmart in the United States. Oh, that’s nice,” he said. “I got no phone call. I got no letter from these people, what are they doing? “
Walmart will no longer fill his controlled substances prescriptions like Fentanyl, Oxycodone and Hydrocodone. But it also won’t fill scripts for Valium, Xanax and cough medicine with Codeine.
Dr. Ridenour’s patients said they didn’t get any notice that Walmart wouldn’t fill their pain meds anymore.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Susan Harrison, a Fernley resident said.
Harrison said she was on a deck when it collapsed and crushed her leg and ankle. She said a surgeon had to put 12 pieces of steal in her body. Harrison said her orthopedic specialist asked Dr. Ridenour, her primary care physician, to continue her pain medication. Harris said she takes a half a pill in the morning and a half in the evening.
“If I didn’t have any pain pills I wouldn’t be able to get out of my bed in the morning. I wouldn’t be able to walk anywhere,” she said.
For nearly two months, News 4 has e-mailed, called and left messages with Walmart several times for an explanation as to why it won’t fill Dr. Ridenour’s prescriptions. The company has not commented. But a news release on Walmart’s website announced a new company policy that would restrict initial acute opioid prescriptions to no more than a seven-day supply. Dr. Gary Ridenour does prescribe beyond a seven-day supply.
Walmart is a private company and is not required to fill all prescriptions. But Dr. Ridenour’s patients say this is unfair.
“For Walmart to not understand what medical conditions people are coming in for and for just making assumptions without calling the physician and finding out that these people have real issues,” Harrison said.
Walmart is following the crack-down on opioids across the country. Nevada passed AB 474 that went into effect this year. The law requires prescribers do a risk assessment of the patient, run them through a state-wide database and justify the quantity written.
The Board of Pharmacy and The Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners are primarily responsible for enforcing the new law. Dr. Ridenour says neither state agency has ever investigated him for wrong doing. He says he’s planning on filing a lawsuit against Walmart.
“I’ve never overprescribed. In fact, this year we kicked out 12 patients because we drugged screened them and they had,” he said.
Doctors complain the new law makes more work for them. And in Dr. Ridenour’s case, he believes the law scared Walmart into no longer filling his patients’ prescriptions.
“It’s not fair to my patients,” he said.
It also limits where his patients can fill prescriptions.
“Most of us in small towns don’t have a lot of options,” Harrison said.
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Filed under: General Problems
I’m so happy to see a doctor willing to stand up for his and his patient’s rights. Walmart May have shoved a small pharmacy out of business in that small town. If so, where are his patients supposed to go to fill their needed prescriptions?
Unfortunately my prescription coverage forces me to either use express scripts mail order pharmacy, or CVS for my “maintenance medications”.
Thankfully I do get to use an independent pharmacy for my pain meds. PMC pharmacy is licensed to operate in PA, NJ, and DE. They work in conjunction with your pain management doctor. I don’t have to worry about physically picking up my prescriptions from my doctor every 30-90 days. My pain management doctor sends my prescriptions right to PMC. PMC fills my prescriptions and lets me know when they need new ones. They call me before delivery to ensure they send me the correct prescriptions. They even fill my Vit D3 supplement for me. They call to tell me date, and a two to three hour window of delivery time. Someone over the age of 18 has to be here to sign for my prescription. I have the option of them delivering to me, or FedEx, or UPS. I prefer their driver since it’s a monthly delivery, and they deliver in an unmarked vehicle. For anyone watching it could just be a friend visiting me. No one knows that I’ve just received a prescription besides them and me. I don’t know how far out from their facility they provide that option.
They started as a pain medication only pharmacy and have branched out. I wish I could have them fill all of my prescriptions. I’ve never had a problem with them. I’ve heard stories of patients being shorted meds at other pharmacies. They now stand with a pharmacist and count out pills when they pick up their prescriptions for their pain meds. I don’t have to do that.
If their delivery time doesn’t work for me, they are flexible, we have been able to work it out so I have always received my meds on time.
If you are in any of the states they are licensed in, look into them on the web. As I said, they now fill all prescriptions. I just wish my prescription plan let me.
On a side note….they helped me advertise the September Don’t Punish Pain Rally for Philadelphia. They printed and distributed flyers at their own cost. I will be working with them again for the January 29th Rally.
I’m not an employee, family member of one, or being paid to encourage the use of this pharmacy. I’m just a very happy customer.
[…] Walmart Pharmacy won't fill Nevada Doctor's patients' prescriptions […]
I look forward to Dr. Ridenour filing a lawsuit against Walmart in Nevada. I personally have had one of the Henderson NV Walmart locations refuse to fill my pain medication. I lived in NV for ten years and only ever saw one pain mngt clinic. Walmart told me they would only fill seven days of a thirty day prescription. I wanted to use Walmart because they are the preferred pharmacy for Humana. After that experience I rarely shop at Walmart for anything. Maybe Walmart will learn there are people like me who have serious diseases and intractable pain. Prior to this my family and I shopped only at Walmart but not anymore. Walmart please stop treating true pain patients like addicts or criminals. All it would have taken to verify my script was to have called the doctor but that never happened
Sincerely
Scott S.
Intractable pain patient on Palliative Care
Obviously this dr. Was a pcp and not a pain. Specialist. Which is a red flag for any pharmacy!! Understand acute pain but that patient should only need 28 tablets as a 7 day supply not 60-270 as most drs. Prescribe. He was continuing at a rate of a pain. Expert which prompted walmart to stop and investigate. The dr should have started referring his patients to specialist, then he wouldn’t be having this issue right now. As for the patients not being aware… the dr should have informed them that he was currently being blocked as shown above he did get a notification. He really has no right to file a lawsuit.
Sherry Goldberg,
Evidently, you didn’t read the article.There’s several reasons why he’s every right to file a suit and being a PCP has nothing to do with it.
1. Pain management doctors are few and far if at all not only in NV, but everywhere. The DEA is shutting them down because they can without proof of wrong doing.
2. Hospice & palliative care doctors are being shut down again for no reason other than amount prescribed. Forget the fact people are dying with cancer & palliative care is to provide relief from death or many with an intractable pain disease/condition without cures.
3. PCP’s or pain management doctors who still prescribe deserve all the credit in the world. Many have abandoned their oath and patient’s out of fear from the DEA.
4. Jeff Sessions said “take an aspirin or Tylenol and tough it out.” Clearly, he’s no idea what pain is and how we’re left suffering while those who abuse our medication get the attention.
5. Again, the CDC and our Alphabet soup know it’s not or never has been the fault of the CPP or chronic pain patient. Millions took their medicine as prescribed, didn’t get high, didn’t increase, had productive lives, jobs, took care of family, children etc., but are committing suicide. Including veterans who served our country only to be denied for no reason.
6. How would you like it if you, a family member, or friend had an accident, medical error or a disease without a cure and was left in agony? Medical errors are 3rd leading cause of death in the USA, and if you survive your left in agony without pain control.
7. All deserve compassion, but it’s those like myself with new deadly cancer and multiple incurable diseases who are suffering and treated like an addict.
8. The doctor was NOT notified until Walmart decided to deny his scripts and NOT been sanctioned by the state board. It’s them who decide and NOT the pharmacist, PBM, or government who doesn’t see the patient’s.
I need to go to my oncologist appointment or I’d have a lot more to say. I’m sure others will pick up for me.
Take care and I pray you’re never in the position to need pain medication because you’ll NOT get it.
Sincerely,
Sherrry Sherman, MSN, BSN, RN
Intractable pain patient on palliative care
Ms. Goldberg, did you even READ the article you are throwing misinformed opinions out about? And, just WHERE did you complete your medical training? I would LOVE to know WHERE you are plucking your erroneous infomation from. Which patient are you referring to who should “only need 28 tablets as a 7 day supply”? The only specific patient referenced in the article was Ms. Harrison. Walmart refused her script for 30 tablets (“I take 1/2 a tablet in the morning and 1/2 a tablet in the evening”) = 30 tablets NOT THE 60 -270 tablets you seem to imply Dr. Ridenhour prescribed! And, just WHERE do you get this number? You must have pulled it out of thin air, because I have NEVER heard or seen ANY DOCTOR who would prescribe 60 to 270 tablets as a 7 day supply for ANY pain med, acute OR chronic! I think you also missed the fact that Ms. Harrison’s ORTHOPEDIC SPECIALIST called Dr. Ridenhour and requested that he CONTINUE Ms. Harrison’s pain medications. Ms. Harrison’s case is NOT even governed by the 7 day supply regulation. She WAS being treated by a PAIN SPECIALIST! The article also fails to mention the MME of the dosage of Ms. Harrison’s medications, and whether she was being treated for ACUTE or CHRONIC pain. This is an important distinction because: 1) the 7 day supply rule is ONLY supposed to apply to INITIAL PRESCRIPTIONS for ACUTE pain; 2) primary care Doctors ARE permitted to prescribe up to 90 MME per day before being “encouraged” to refer patients to Pain Management Clinics or Specialists; 3) if Ms. Harrison was being treated for a CHRONIC pain condition, her medication was BELOW 90 MME, and she was NOT opiod-naive, there is absolutey NO REASON why it would be “inappropriate” for her PCP to prescribe her medication.
The original CDC Guidelines are VOLUNTARY! They were intended as guidance to Primary Care physicians ONLY, and also were intended for opiod-naive patients and INITAL prescriptions for ACUTE pain. The CDC authors of these Guidelines have spoken out about the widespread misinterpretation of their intent, repeatedly, to no avail. This article illuminates the collateral damage that is occuring as a direct result of non-medical personnel cherry picking recommendations, completely misinterpreting what they actually mean, and completely disregarding the CDC’S mandate to treat patients BASED ON THEIR INDIVIDUAL NEEDS AND DIAGNOSIS.
No one, especially uneducated non-medical personnel, should be looking at the number of tablets, Morphine-Equivalent dosage caps imposed across the board for everyone, or number of prescriptions written by a physician in a month, as the sole determining factor of whether or not a physician is “overprescribing”. It is absolutely INSANE, and I argue ILLEGAL, for ANYONE without a medical license, to look solely at these numbers, to make medical decisions THAT ARE KILLING PATIENTS! This is nothing short of practicing medicine without a license and KILLING THE PATIENT!!
If you have one physician who writes 100 prescriptions per month, and another who writes 200 prescriptions per month, you CAN NOT assume the latter is overprescribing based solely on this information. What if the doctor who writes 200/per month sees 400 patients with cancer? That would mean 1 out of 2 of his patients receive a prescription for Cancer. Now, imagine that doctor who writes 100/per month, sees 50 patients. The TYPE of patients he sees suddenly becomes VERY important in this comparion doesn’t it? If this doc is treating cancer patients, then our comparison is apples to apples. But, if the 100/per month doctor is treating people with strains and sprains, then you are comparing apples to oranges, and we have a problem. This hypothetical comparison is exactly what is happening right now. If you throw in a more nuanced patient mix, with more complicated patient diagnosis patterns, the comparison of these two doctor’s prescribing habits becomes much, much more complicated.
Read the article again. Dr. Ridenhour was NOT being investigated by the State Pharmacy Board, or the State Medical Board. The medically trained regulatory boards had NO problem with his prescribing practices. Walmart did NOT notify him of any specific problems BEFORE they decided, with absolutely NO OTHER INFORMATION BESIDES THE NUMBER OF PRESCRIPTIONS HE WROTE, to unilaterally bar all his prescriptions. Walmart had no idea how many patients he sees, what his patient’s diagnosis were and failed to take into account the lack of Pain Mgmt. physicians available in this remote rural area. Walmart never called him to question any specific prescriptions, which would have given him the opportunity to provide justification for the prescription in question. During the time Walmart was supposedly “investigating” him, they obviously never requested any additional information from Dr. Ridenhour. Walmart simply looked at ONLY the NUMBER of prescriptions, with absolutely no other information about the number or type of patients he treated, and gave him NO possibility of defending his decisions or patients!
I would like to know, and I think it will be pivotal for Dr. Ridenhour’s case, what are the medical qualifications of the Walmart employee who conducted this “investigation”? Were they a Pain Mgmt. Specialist with access to Dr. Ridenhour’s patients’ medical records? Or, more likely, were they a clerk in the “Compliance Department” with nothing more than a print out from the Prescription Monitoring Database? I would lay money on the latter.
It’s a bad day in the USA, but I’m glad to see a doctor file a lawsuit. It’s unfair not only to his patients, but his practice. He’s every right to be angry if the medical board hasn’t called or mailed him a letter saying he’s issues with his prescribing. He’s correct they’ve no idea why his patients need the medication. Our alphabet soup and the anti-opiate crusaders created the ‘so – called’ opioid epidemic. The CDC knows it’s not legally written prescriptions causing the deaths and promised to fix it, but have no intentions on it. Pain patients or doctors didn’t start the problem it’s illicit fentanyl. It’s been proven as prescriptions have dropped since 2010 and deaths continue to rise, but it gets lost in all the noise. Illicit fentanyl is being mixed into cocaine, meth, fake pills and marijuana. A hospice and palliative care doctor was just shut down over the amount of narcotic medication written. The DEA doesn’t care why it was needed by patient’s they look at the PDMP’s. Cancer patient’s and all with chronic painful diseases/conditions took as prescribed for years without increasing, but are left to suffer. The AMA just met in DC and said the pendulum has swung too far. An oncologist increased her patient from 2 to 3 tablets a day for bone cancer. She called the PCP who agreed to take over the patient’s care as it was closer. But, the pharmacist checked the PDMP and saw that other RX’s were written (by oncologist) and denied it. They didn’t call either doctor and after 3 days the patient attempted suicide. Luckily a family member came home in time to get their loved one to the hospital. After a week in the hospital they were given the regimen the doctor ordered. All it did was almost claim another life and cost the insurance company more money than allowing them to have what was required to be some what pain free. I’ve cancer and my PBM required a pre-auth for all pain medication over 200 MMED’s since June 2018, but didn’t tell me or my doctor. I took generic Opana ER 40 mg’s 2 x’s a day since reduced in May 2016. The FDA took the brand off the market due to abuse in July 2017. My doctor did a pre-auth the same day and was good until June 2019. My small pharmacy couldn’t get it in September, and found one near me who did, but by the time I got there they were out. I didn’t have any medicine for 11 days. In September my doctor sent over an equivalent electronically to my pharmacy and it was denied. It wasn’t approved until October after he filled out papers for a pre-auth. The PBM sent him a 2nd on a Friday afternoon and he called me at 1:33pm to let me know. It was approved over the phone at 6:38pm that night. My wonderful hubsband called our pharmacy at 10am Saturday to let them it was approved over the phone. He waited 30 minutes to call back to see if it went through. Thank God it did because they closed at 2pm. They’re open M – F 9am to 5pm, Sat 10 – 2pm and closed on Sunday’s and Holidays. WTH did the PBM think I was going to get both? I dedicated 35 years as an RN and advocated for all for 8 years, but can’t do a lot anymore. I refuse to roll over and die before God says it’s time to go. I can barely take care of myself, but won’t give up and commit suicide because it’s what they want. I’ll fight with every breath I have to end this madness. Forgive my rambling, but it’s been a long time since I posted a comment and I had to get it out. Take care and God bless us all in the United States of America Hitler style.
Sincerely,
Sherry L. Sherman, MSN, BSN, RN
People, QUIT filling your prescriptions at Walmart. All prescriptions!! Find a smaller pharmacy. Also quit filling them at CVS and Walgreen’s. After a while they will get the message..
We all just need to stop shopping at Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens. If just 20% of the pain patients would do this maybe just maybe they would take us seriously.
With the addition of Pharmacists, Medical Board staff, Pharmacy Board staff, Med techs, Pain Psychologists, Addiction Specialists, the CDC, DEA undercover operatives, insurance claims adjusters, State Legislators, the doctor….and, finally, the patient…..THE EXAM ROOM SURE HAS BECOME OVERCROWDED!!!
WHEN will this insanity end??
When they get formally charged w/torture for denying us access to effective dosages of medicine,,Torture carries ,if convicted,,life in prison,,,,,maryw