U see I had to call Merck--tell them about the screw up and that I had anew script to send into them--
Cus if I had sent it in---they would have,no doubt, said NO---U already got 90 days worth---
A very nice pharmacist @ Merck told me to simply include letter,with the new script, using his name and registered number,to show that it has been verified--
So, no more *generics* for me--
Namaste--
Barbara
new prescription *ok'ed*
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barbaranoela
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new prescription *ok'ed*
the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control
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barbaranoela
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 5394
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- Location: New York
Barbs,
Don't be surprised if all of a sudden one order this year, you get a bottle of generic in the mail, even though the script you sent in stated "Dispense as written."
That "nice" pharmacist will then tell you that they "called the doctor" and he ok's it..they've got a contract, etc., etc.
It'll be like, "don't blame us, blame the doctor," etc.
Have heard the same scripted responses to my call several times myself, and I mean the EXACT same responses, and they didn't tell the truth to me as I discovered later.
I have seriously considered dropping my mother's supplemental insurance that she has as a benefit to my father's employment as it never seems to pay anything, and it's forcing us to use this mail order service. It used to save us lots on meds, and as long as we ordered generic, it seemed quite efficient. Now, they keep going up, and I don't like doing business with people with this standard of conduct. Would rather pay a little more, and help out a small pharmacy rather than do this.
If you've only gotten generic through the mail, you won't know what I'm talking about as it's just when dispense as written brand name is ordered that they become sneaky.
Just think how many unsuspecting elderly don't notice this or think their doc wants them to have the change, and they don't get better or get worse as a result of problems with the particular generic? They may cave in to people when they seem to be too in-the-know, but for every one of us like that, there must be hundreds if not thousands of nieve folks, and that generates LOTS of profit. Generics are almost 100 percent profit for them whereas brand names aren't all profit.
In our case, the office personnel DIDN'T authorize the substitution -- that was a lie! Even if they had, it would've been dishonest if they led the office staff to believe that it was the patient who'd requested generic for the price break.
I think this particular M.O. is pretty common with certain companies who have contracts with insurance companies that many big corporations have contracts with for their retirees and their spouses. Be alert to this if this applies to you.
What I may do is to have the doc give us enough scripts for each order of the year with "Dispense as Written" on each of them, and just mail each of them separately when we start to run low. That way, they won't be able to pull this stunt in the middle of the prescription year, in hopes that we won't notice the change.
Think you get the picture.
Yours, Luce
Don't be surprised if all of a sudden one order this year, you get a bottle of generic in the mail, even though the script you sent in stated "Dispense as written."
That "nice" pharmacist will then tell you that they "called the doctor" and he ok's it..they've got a contract, etc., etc.
It'll be like, "don't blame us, blame the doctor," etc.
Have heard the same scripted responses to my call several times myself, and I mean the EXACT same responses, and they didn't tell the truth to me as I discovered later.
I have seriously considered dropping my mother's supplemental insurance that she has as a benefit to my father's employment as it never seems to pay anything, and it's forcing us to use this mail order service. It used to save us lots on meds, and as long as we ordered generic, it seemed quite efficient. Now, they keep going up, and I don't like doing business with people with this standard of conduct. Would rather pay a little more, and help out a small pharmacy rather than do this.
If you've only gotten generic through the mail, you won't know what I'm talking about as it's just when dispense as written brand name is ordered that they become sneaky.
Just think how many unsuspecting elderly don't notice this or think their doc wants them to have the change, and they don't get better or get worse as a result of problems with the particular generic? They may cave in to people when they seem to be too in-the-know, but for every one of us like that, there must be hundreds if not thousands of nieve folks, and that generates LOTS of profit. Generics are almost 100 percent profit for them whereas brand names aren't all profit.
In our case, the office personnel DIDN'T authorize the substitution -- that was a lie! Even if they had, it would've been dishonest if they led the office staff to believe that it was the patient who'd requested generic for the price break.
I think this particular M.O. is pretty common with certain companies who have contracts with insurance companies that many big corporations have contracts with for their retirees and their spouses. Be alert to this if this applies to you.
What I may do is to have the doc give us enough scripts for each order of the year with "Dispense as Written" on each of them, and just mail each of them separately when we start to run low. That way, they won't be able to pull this stunt in the middle of the prescription year, in hopes that we won't notice the change.
Think you get the picture.
Yours, Luce
One of the drug companies got into trouble for substituting generics without authorization.. it was in the news during the past year... mail in of course...
About the only way around the generic problem is to get the doctor to prescribe something for which there is NO generic.. but then you have to hope your plan will cover it... sigh....
grannyh
About the only way around the generic problem is to get the doctor to prescribe something for which there is NO generic.. but then you have to hope your plan will cover it... sigh....
grannyh