Warning about mail order medictions

[ORMom2Four]

Medco is awful, yet our insurance co also requires we buy our meds through them.

Google Medco and you will find a lot of complaints.

 

[NotUrsula]

None of my meds is temperature-sensitive, so I've never tried it, but can you have them deliver to you at your workplace? (If your employer provides your insurance it should be easy for them to determine that the address is legitimate and not a diversion.)

Anything that I order that won't fit through my mail-slot I have sent to me at work. I know there is sometimes concern about co-workers knowing that you get meds, but I don't think that is much of an issue as long as they don't know WHAT meds, and I know that Medco's packaging is usually plain white with a small discreet label.

 

[C.Ann]

Medco is awful, yet our insurance co also requires we buy our meds through them.

Google Medco and you will find a lot of complaints.

What impact would this have on people who are forced to use Medco mail order when the Post Office eliminates one day of delivery - or worse case scenario, decides to go with delivery only 3 days a week?

Will they not cover prescriptions at the local pharmacy?

 

[Normangirls]

We offer the mail-order option through Medco as well. One of the things our insurer (Medical Mututal of Ohio) has begun offering is the opportunity to have your mail-order prescriptions sent directly to your pharmacy. You can then pick them up like a regular prescription (but still get the discount you get for utilizing the mail-order program). If this is available to you, too, it sounds like this would be something that you could consider.

 

[golfgal]

Why not just have it shipped to your work or your DH's work so it doesn't have to sit outside all day?

 

[wilderness01]

Another dissatisfied customer of Medco here. Really the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. Truly frustrating.

 

[ChrizJen]

My MIL is diabetic. She was also told she had to order her insulin mail-order. Well, one batch must have gotten too hot and therefore ineffective. She went to a severe reaction and had to be put in the hospital for a day or two to get it regulated.

She now refuses to get her insulin in the mail and pays a lot extra to get it at the pharmacy.
My company supplies ingredients to pharmaceutical manufacturers. When we ship out product that has to be kept at a certain temperature range, we have to conduct Validated Packing and Shipping Studies or the manufacturer will not buy from us.

I would hesitate to do this, but you could call the FDA and see if the pharmacy is following correct procedures.

This is why I totally agree with the OP. There are several people who are acting as if the OP is being overly sensitive.
If this were just a birth control pill or a pain med (in other words a med that's NOT being taken to control a life or death situation), it wouldn't be such a big deal. But when you're talking about meds that are used to keep a person alive, it's an entirely different story. This is a medicine that is, for all intents and purposes, needed to keep the OP's son breathing. My DD uses this exact same inhaled medicine along with Albuterol twice daily. But fortunately I get mine from a brick and mortar pharmacy. I would say that the second shipment is probably OK since it didn't get to the extreme temperature that the first one did, but it's certainly not something that I would shrug off and take a chance with!

And OP, if you live in a climate similar to mine, you'll also have to worry about the meds being delivered in the winter when they'll potentially freeze. It just seems ridiculous that they would leave you with no other option for filling that prescription. I understand it's more economical for the insurance company to do mail-order, but they need to draw the line when it comes to meds like this one.

 

[keetmommy]

We are suppose to use medco too. What our local pharacists can't understand is they have to hand us the perscription personally,(by law in the state of WI) even refills. HOW can medco mail us drugs with out any face to face interaction?

 

[Christine]

None of my meds is temperature-sensitive, so I've never tried it, but can you have them deliver to you at your workplace? (If your employer provides your insurance it should be easy for them to determine that the address is legitimate and not a diversion.)

Anything that I order that won't fit through my mail-slot I have sent to me at work. I know there is sometimes concern about co-workers knowing that you get meds, but I don't think that is much of an issue as long as they don't know WHAT meds, and I know that Medco's packaging is usually plain white with a small discreet label.

I used to do this when I worked for a private company. Now I work on a base and have to deal with a mail room. It takes us a LONG time to get mail and I just don't overly trust it going through the mailroom.

 

[bgirldeb]

I receive a refrigerated injectible medication from Accredo/Medco Specialty pharmacy every 90 days. It comes via overnight FedEx or UPS in a styrofoam cooler packed in a cardboard box. The cooler is filled with ice packs, and the medication boxes are sealed inside a ziploc bag. It keeps the medication at the right temperature without freezing it, and usually the ice packs are still rock hard even if they sit in the sun for a while.

I would check with them to see if you can get the UPS sent to your job.

 

[bevgray]

MEDCO has been pushing mail-order for several years. I've resisted for several reasons. I prefer having a face-to-face pharmacist "sanity" check my doctors (internist is fine but I've had some problems in the past with specialists who don't always take the time to discuss the concoctions they prescribe that don't always "Play nice" with my other medications). Secondly, it bothers me to think that drugs are sitting in a mailbox for several hours before I get home from work. Aside from any temperature control issues, you can't ensure that someone won't go in and just take them; either a curious child or someone with other motives. There is a lucrative black market for prescription medication. Finally, I just don't like being bullied.

I have one medication that MEDCO is always questioning. First it was because there was no generic so they were always trying to push me to take the generic of a SIMILAR medication. When the generic finally came out for mine, I thought everything would be fine but no, they still sent their annual "We have to approve your doctor's choice" letter. Sent it to my doctor and, without consulting me, his nurse set up the mail-order. I went to my pharmacy, expecting a refill and was told by my trusted pharmacist that "I can't fill this, it's already been filled via MEDCO online."

Sure enough, a few days later a three months supply appeared in my mailbox. I payed the bill, marking it as a one-time only. A week later, I get a call from MEDCO wanting to set up the 90 day automatic refill. I explained why I preferred using my own pharmacy and the customer service representative then said, "Oh, so why don't you want to use mail-order? It's more convenient and we have our own pharmacists." Pardon me, I just EXPLAINED why I don't want mail-order. I don't often get impatient with customer service reps but when they just don't listen. it can get annoying.

To me, it should not matter to MEDCO whether I get my drugs at my pharmacy or use their mail-order service. Nor should an insurance company have the right to second guess my physician but demanding I use a generic that isn't even for my medication but another company's version of it. My response to that kind of behavior is very cynical. I want to know what cut they get from the pharmaceutical company that they seem to be pushing or what profit they make from their apparently lucrative mailorder business.

I caution everyone to be careful when dealing with this firm. Most of us don't have a choice since our companies usually give us limited options for health insurance but don't forget that YOU are the consumer and THEY are still a service industry. Don't ever hesitate to contact your State Attorney General's office and/or your company HR to help you with these situations.

 

[scrapquitler]

I bet that it is shipped from the manufacturer to the distributor and then to the local pharmacy without being in a temperature controlled truck, too. So that prescription bottle coming from the B&M pharmacy has been warm too, most likely.

 

[Mkrop]

I bet that it is shipped from the manufacturer to the distributor and then to the local pharmacy without being in a temperature controlled truck, too. So that prescription bottle coming from the B&M pharmacy has been warm too, most likely.

When we got meds that had to be kept at certain temps, we received them from the distributor in a separate bin. That bin was labled accordingly and kept at the proper temp. It was separate from the rest of the order. It was usually in a red bin so we would know which one to attend to first. This was at a small independent pharmacy. The distribtutor alway handled the meds properly if it called for it.

I dont know about the OP's particular meds and what the requirements are for hers, but if it did require special handling that was done when delivered to the pharmacy. And we always informed the patient if the med had to be kept cold or whatever.

 

[golfgal]

When we got meds that had to be kept at certain temps, we received them from the distributor in a separate bin. That bin was labled accordingly and kept at the proper temp. It was separate from the rest of the order. It was usually in a red bin so we would know which one to attend to first. This was at a small independent pharmacy. The distribtutor alway handled the meds properly if it called for it.

I dont know about the OP's particular meds and what the requirements are for hers, but if it did require special handling that was done when delivered to the pharmacy. And we always informed the patient if the med had to be kept cold or whatever.

To me it would seem for these meds that have to be shipped under special conditions like this that it would be MORE expensive for the mail order places then letting people pick them up at the pharmacy

 

[bgirldeb]

To me it would seem for these meds that have to be shipped under special conditions like this that it would be MORE expensive for the mail order places then letting people pick them up at the pharmacy

It would seem that way. Mine has been mandatory 90 day supply express delivery since I was first prescribed the med in 2000. I am actually grateful I don't have to go to a 'middle man' pharmacy to pick it up. The copay has gone up over the years, but it's still
a small fraction of the drug cost which without insurance would be between 3000-4000.00
per month!

 

[disney1990]

I just had a scary experience that I think other people need to be aware of for their safety.

My son is on Pulmicort Respules (ampules) for a Nebulizer to treat his Asthma. I prefer to get their medicines from a brick and mortar pharmacy but Medco has been penalizing us for doing this so lately I've been tolerating their in-the-mail system. That is until last week when they sent me my son's Pulmicort without ice packs, even though I asked them to do so. The medicines are not sent 'signature necessary' so they just get delivered whenever and stay outside until picked up. Well, the day Pulmicort was delivered was a very hot day and they sat out in the direct sun for hours. The medicine actually felt hot to the touch, but there are no temperature reading tabs in the box to tell me how hot it actually got so I had to guess. Good thing I read the insert. So I called and complained and they gave me a song and a dance about how the temps on the insert are just 'guidelines' that the medicine doesn't REALLY need to stay at those temperatures (66-77 degrees F). They didn't say it was a mistake, they told me I was misunderstanding the instructions. I kept complaining and they got me a Pharmacist who I had to back into a corner to get a top threshold temp of 104F. I had to demand this medicine be replaced, this time packed in ice, and they did... but they acted like they were doing me a huge favor.

So just now I pulled it out of the sun and the ice is all melted and the stuff feels warm to me. So this time I called Astera-Zeneca because I wanted firm answers on what is and isn't ok for this medicine. I get a nurse reading from the same insert i have who tells me no other info is available to consumers about the upper limits of temperature tolerance, that 77 was the max and it should never ever be frozen. I asked what the temp is that this stuff freezes and she couldn't say. That I need to rely on the Pharmacy to comply with the shipping requirements they had to sign in the contract. However, the guidelines in this contract are not available to me. I could ask my Dr to call for me, as if my Dr is going to waste 1/2 hour on this. I am really upset as a consumer and parent that I am not able to make a knowledgeable decision on my child's treatment because the full info isn't available to me, it's all behind the scenes.

My head is totally swimming. I just spent $78 co-pay on a very expensive box of medicine where I have zero confidence in whether or not it's spoiled, and have the older 4 boxes waiting to be picked up by the garbage man. My kid needs this stuff to keep him breathing. How am I supposed to trust this medication, more importantly, I can't help but wonder how many other people out there are getting spoiled medications this way? I can't be the only one, this is unreal. What good does it do for the FDA to have all these specifications if they all go out the window in the final step before the medicine reaches me? What a mess.

I just thought I'd post to recommend anyone else out there getting mail order medications check the temperature limits on your meds and make sure the mail order company is keeping within the drugs requirements on the inserts. I know mine isn't, I guess I'll be paying the penalties and go back to my regular Pharmacy, this is just way too important.

I don't think any medication out there is meant to sit out in the hot sun -- and it's definitely been hot in the DC area this summer. But, all of our medications sit in the mailbox until we get home -- inhalers and pills. We have no other choice.

 

[Sparx]

How do you know that the med stayed below 77 when you get it from a brick and mortar pharmacy? It came on a truck that I am sure was not climate controlled. They can get hot in the summer. Do you live in Orlando? If so, do you rush right home with the medication to keep it below 77? Do you store this in the fridge?

It would seem to be almost impossible to guarantee it never was warmer than 77.

I doubt that, actually. A lot of medication has to be refrigerated in order to not spoil, I'm sure medical shipping trucks are climate controlled.

 

[midas]

It would seem that way. Mine has been mandatory 90 day supply express delivery since I was first prescribed the med in 2000. I am actually grateful I don't have to go to a 'middle man' pharmacy to pick it up. The copay has gone up over the years, but it's still
a small fraction of the drug cost which without insurance would be between 3000-4000.00
per month!

But you still have a "middle man" which is the mail order pharmacy. They still have to buy it from the manufacturer and ship it to you in an uncontrolled temperature environment.

Some pharmacies do have free delivery to your home or work, but the mail order companies will not allow the pharmacies to offer you prescriptions on the same terms. That's another story for another time.

 

[cm8]

But you still have a "middle man" which is the mail order pharmacy. They still have to buy it from the manufacturer and ship it to you in an uncontrolled temperature environment.

Some pharmacies do have free delivery to your home or work, but the mail order companies will not allow the pharmacies to offer you prescriptions on the same terms. That's another story for another time.

 

[Mkrop]

But you still have a "middle man" which is the mail order pharmacy. They still have to buy it from the manufacturer and ship it to you in an uncontrolled temperature environment. Some pharmacies do have free delivery to your home or work, but the mail order companies will not allow the pharmacies to offer you prescriptions on the same terms. That's another story for another time.

I think the mail orders still use the distributors, that would be a lot of manufactueres mailing directly to them. And why do you assume the manufacturers are not mailing the product in a controlled temp environment. If the product calls for that, of course they are, they dont want the product to spoil anywhere along the route more than the patient does. And they can charge more if it needs special shippping just like any product