The pharmacy debacle

 On July 29th I picked up my prescription from CVS went home & opened the bottle & was immediately concerned because these pills didn’t look right, this is a medication I’ve been on for 16 years and it’s never looked different!

I called the pharmacy and they said “well this is a different manufacturer “ I said well first of all Why did Caremark allow you( local cvs) to fill this when they usually mail it to me and they have my records and know this and my medication has always looked the same so it must have always been this “Amneal" manufacturer listed on my previous bottle? He had no answers, in fact he actually said, he was unsure why they were filing it through them also. He said “you can try it and if the effectiveness is not satisfactory we can request another manufacturer for you", I said “ Are you out of your mind, are you looking at my file, do you see my allergies & sensitivities to medication, I'm not going to just try anything, I once had an allergic reaction to a medication that lasted 6 weeks, took 3 visits to the ER to reverse cause they had to try 3 different medications to stop it, don’t tell me to just try anything.! I know my body.

My next call was to my customer service at cvs Caremark and I have to explain to these people my allergy situation just as I did the pharmacist and they tell me I have to get my doctor who prescribed the medicine to write a letter saying I can only have this medicine dispensed by this particular manufacturer, cause I absolutely refused to take this stuff I had in my hand. I was also told that once they had that letter and a new prescription, they would email me a mail tag so I could send this medication to them and they would send my new meds. The medication in question is a schedule 2 type medicine, one that they monitor so they of course want to make sure I’m not just stocking up 🙄 which is offensive, but I know I'm not a liar so anyway, I email my doctor and he says okay, I will do it.

A week later, still not done, long story short, 4 more calls & 3 more emails to my doctor, its done, He even had to spend an hour on the phone with Caremark to get it straight, I get an email 8/11 saying prescription is in process. To my dismay, a week later 8/18 I get an email saying it’s too soon to fill your prescription, it will be processed 10/1. Being a nurse, I know exactly what they are doing, its because I have the current pills that I won’t take, so I decide, you know what, no more calls cause the last one went back on the mailing label and said they couldn't take it cause the mail order pharmacy is different from the local pharmacy and even though this was their mistake by letting my prescription get filled by the local cvs instead of the mail order cvs like it usually is, when its the Dr who put it in electronically they wouldn't take the meds back.

I looked up the headquarters of CVS Caremark and they are in Rhode Island and I found the name of the CEO then I looked her up on Twitter and there she was, I sent a tweet to her saying I need help my meds are preventing me from being able to attend my cardiac rehab, which is true, sent that 8/24 an answer came 8/25 for me to private message them with my name and info to the customer service cvs Twitter, I answered but also stated the reason I contacted the CEO is because I’ve spent a month dealing with my own customer service people and gotten nowhere so if this is more of same it will not help me, and I attached a screenshot of a letter with all the details of the ordeal cause I had already typed it and included it in the bag with the pills I mailed to the mail order pharmacy on 8/24 .

I received a call from a rep named Umekia the next day 8/25 and we talked about it all, she listened and said she would call back in few hours. She called back by 2pm and said my medication would be to me by Saturday 8/28 via UPS and she would follow up to make sure it arrives. She did and I asked her also about the $10 co-pay since I paid for the previous meds too which I sent back to their pharmacy to destroy, and she refunded my $10. This lady was a true professional. (3 days from call to meds in my hand)

I’ll admit a few key points that I think made the difference, my letter included to the CEO, I clearly pointed out the mistake was Not mine but theirs or my doctor, but either way, I should not suffer, then I stated how I felt my medical condition was being discriminated against due to the nature of the medication that people with adhd often are judged just because of the meds they are on and thats not right, then I pointed out how I needed my meds to counteract the side-effects of my heart medicine which makes me so tired that I couldn't wake up and go to physical therapy, which was my #1 reason & frustration. Of course because when you have to take it this far, you use everything, I even added this, I bet I wouldn't be treated this way if I had a ppo and was rich, but I'm not, I ‘m poor and have an HMO and am black.

I’m not the type to use the race card, but one thing I do know is the medical field & key words that make executives nervous and you know what, just do your job and make sure people have what they need and think about how your mistakes affect people's lives. Never accept a mistake and think there is nobody you can talk to about fixing it, when you have talked to more then a few people at a company, its time to go to the headquarters of that company.

Everybody has a boss, don't be afraid to go to them to seek a solution, but know what solution you seek.