Private Pharmacies
by Fly Girl
On my online community list, someone announced that she is setting up a
virtual community messageboard environment for the Republican
Convention. I laughed hysterically, but then she asked me to post. I said,
"Do you REALLY want me to post?" ;-) Well, this is what I wrote. :-)
----------------------------------------------------- I help out a friend with bipolar disorder, a mental illness. He is on
disability and Medicare. Medicare is great. The main favor I do for him is
go and pick up his medicine and make sure he takes it every day. The county where he lives pays for this medication. I thank them with all
my heart. So what does this have to do with the Republican stance on
health care? The Republicans would want to force all mental health patients to get
their medications from private pharmacies. I get my friend's medication
from a private pharmacy. Even though the folks at the pharmacy are wonderful... There is an unspoken dress code.
There is an unspoken emotional-control code.
One of the main characteristics of someone with a mental illness is that
they can't put on a social face on cue. So they will always come in and
embarrass themselves, which means they won't be able to get their message
across when a change in dosage needs to be made, for instance. They will
then get frustrated and won't come in. My friend had an increase in dosage on one of his medications. It took me
a month and a doctor's letter to get the pharmacy to change the dosage in
their computer. The state computer system showed me renewing one
prescription too early, until the raised dosage was recorded. I am capable
of the paperwork necessary to do this. Many mentally ill patients are
not. They get frustrated. They don't follow up. They forget. They won't
get the medication. Once I made a mistake and was 9 days short of a medication. I don't know
why. It happened. So, fine. I paid for 9 days. When it came time to renew
the prescription, the state would pay for 60 pills, but the pharmacy only
gave me 18 because their computer system automatically renews according to
the last pickup, and that was 18. So I had to speak to the pharmacist
again, who was wonderful and arranged for me to come back next week for
the rest of the prescription. Therefore, sometimes the state computer system and the pharmacy computer
system collide. It's no one's fault. But in a world where the computer
reality returned by a database supersedes all known prayer, you're
helpless. I got through it. My friend would have exploded in frustration, improperly
dressed, too loud for the code of emotional control in that lovely private
pharmacy, and I am not sure he would have gotten through it. He is lucky
to have me. But I just think of all the patients who, God forbid, are
alone in life. They would have no credibility. They would feel
embarrassed. They wouldn't come to get their medicine. Of course the state would save money, and Republicans would celebrate, as
usual... until one of the unmedicated patients killed someone. But chances
are in Republican gated communities, that patient wouldn't get to their
children, so perhaps it's worth the risk to save the state money. Of
course, so much more money would have to be spent imprisoning this person,
except of course in Texas, where he could be killed quickly. I think forcing patients with mental illness to go to a private pharmacy,
if they have no one to help them pick up medication, is cruel,
thoughtless, and sorry to say... typically Republican.
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