The soon-to-be-infamous shooting spree I will embark upon when I finally snap is drawing nigh
Does everyone have this many problems with doctors offices and prescriptions or is it just me? I mean seriously, this is just a huge unrealistic pain in my ass. Let me bitch about the latest fiasco. I wasn't going to, I was just going to lay in bed and watch must-see TV. But no, my Chinese freak of a roommate starting eating something so loudly that I could hear every single slurp over my TV... through the closed door... from across the apartment. Are you KIDDING ME? Am I on some game show where they try to break me? Is this like a long term "boiling point" where when I finally freak out someone will hand me a hundred dollars and laugh -- cause let me tell you right now, I will not be amused.
So last night Izzy showed me the light that is DrugStore.com. If you have not checked this out, you have to. Every single prescription I have looked up is cheaper there than at the drug store (95 dollars vs $120, $21 vs $43.99, and $63 vs $79.99). I'd be crazy not to transfer all my prescriptions immediately. So I am... trying.
First, I called Walgreens to get them to transfer my Effexor prescription -- I can save almost 40 dollars a month just on that ALONE! They refused. She said that they couldn't transfer prescriptions over the internet. I told her that it's a pharmacy like any other with a real live pharmacist to call and gave her the number. She said they couldn't do it. After a lot of back and forth, she said she'd call them and look into it and I gave up.
So I called my psychiatrists office to just get them to call in a new prescription for me. Now yall know that's not gonna go well for me. But I tried it anyway. Surprisingly I actually got a nurse on the phone -- thats amazing for these people (That's Alabama Psychiatric Services, the Madison Office -- never ever consider dealing with these people. Also avoid the Decatur and Brookwood offices). She tells me that they can't call anything into that pharmacy. I then had the exact same debate as I just had with Walgreens. This one ended quicker though because she said that I still had refills on my last script and so they couldn't prescribe me anymore. Reasonable win for her.
So back to Walgreens I call. Same argument -- they wouldn't transfer it to them. Then she slipped up and said that since they had already dispensed part of the script, it couldn't be transfered so I'd have to have a new one written. BULLSHIT. I've had prescriptions transfered before -- they just don't want to do it. Walgreens is holding my prescription hostage. Evil. I got a manager on the phone after that. After explaining it to him, he finally said that I would just have to get the pharmacist for DrugStore.com to call them. Thank you, that only took 2 hours.
*NOTE: I've spoken with DrugStore.com twice on the phone today while setting up my account and trying to get everything transferred. They are surprisingly super easy to get on the phone -- they're nice helpful English-speaking people too. And they have great prices -- and free shipping on orders over 50 dollars -- and free express shipping on orders over 100 -- and they bring your prescriptions to your door. Man, I already love these people.
So remember those 500 dollar prescriptions from the allergist? Those came next. Apparently, the doctors office still hadn't called in a new one. Considering they had over half of the business day yesterday and this morning too, I decided to call and leave another message. Then at 4PM when no one had called anyone, I decided to make a third call. This time, I pretended to be making an appointment so I could get an actual person on the phone -- I'm sneaky like that. Obviously, the receptionist wasn't very happy about it. She explained that office procedure was for me to call and leave a voicemail with the nurse. I told her I had already done that and no one responded. She spilled more procedure crap and I tried to explain that I just saw the doctor yesterday morning and only needed a simple change made. After lots of back and forth, she finally put me on hold... for half an hour.
Finally a nurse picks up and I explain it all to her. She says that she had spoken to the allergist already and that since I just had gastric bypass, the doctor felt that the liquids were best for me and so they wouldn't change it. ...
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? They won't change it? So I explained to the nurse that I can crush the tablets and that I already had the pharmacist check to see that they were crushable -- they are and it's perfectly safe for me to do. I told her that there is a 300 dollar price difference and that if the prescription isn't changed, there is no way I can afford to purchase it. She says she'll talk to the doctor again tomorrow.
If they refuse to change it again, I'm going up there and I'm not leaving till I speak with the crackpot doctor herself. What the hell is wrong with all these people?
You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to write my Primary Care Physician a letter about how much I appreciate his office staff. They are always prompt and courteous, concerned and helpful. Apparently that is super rare.
So last night Izzy showed me the light that is DrugStore.com. If you have not checked this out, you have to. Every single prescription I have looked up is cheaper there than at the drug store (95 dollars vs $120, $21 vs $43.99, and $63 vs $79.99). I'd be crazy not to transfer all my prescriptions immediately. So I am... trying.
First, I called Walgreens to get them to transfer my Effexor prescription -- I can save almost 40 dollars a month just on that ALONE! They refused. She said that they couldn't transfer prescriptions over the internet. I told her that it's a pharmacy like any other with a real live pharmacist to call and gave her the number. She said they couldn't do it. After a lot of back and forth, she said she'd call them and look into it and I gave up.
So I called my psychiatrists office to just get them to call in a new prescription for me. Now yall know that's not gonna go well for me. But I tried it anyway. Surprisingly I actually got a nurse on the phone -- thats amazing for these people (That's Alabama Psychiatric Services, the Madison Office -- never ever consider dealing with these people. Also avoid the Decatur and Brookwood offices). She tells me that they can't call anything into that pharmacy. I then had the exact same debate as I just had with Walgreens. This one ended quicker though because she said that I still had refills on my last script and so they couldn't prescribe me anymore. Reasonable win for her.
So back to Walgreens I call. Same argument -- they wouldn't transfer it to them. Then she slipped up and said that since they had already dispensed part of the script, it couldn't be transfered so I'd have to have a new one written. BULLSHIT. I've had prescriptions transfered before -- they just don't want to do it. Walgreens is holding my prescription hostage. Evil. I got a manager on the phone after that. After explaining it to him, he finally said that I would just have to get the pharmacist for DrugStore.com to call them. Thank you, that only took 2 hours.
*NOTE: I've spoken with DrugStore.com twice on the phone today while setting up my account and trying to get everything transferred. They are surprisingly super easy to get on the phone -- they're nice helpful English-speaking people too. And they have great prices -- and free shipping on orders over 50 dollars -- and free express shipping on orders over 100 -- and they bring your prescriptions to your door. Man, I already love these people.
So remember those 500 dollar prescriptions from the allergist? Those came next. Apparently, the doctors office still hadn't called in a new one. Considering they had over half of the business day yesterday and this morning too, I decided to call and leave another message. Then at 4PM when no one had called anyone, I decided to make a third call. This time, I pretended to be making an appointment so I could get an actual person on the phone -- I'm sneaky like that. Obviously, the receptionist wasn't very happy about it. She explained that office procedure was for me to call and leave a voicemail with the nurse. I told her I had already done that and no one responded. She spilled more procedure crap and I tried to explain that I just saw the doctor yesterday morning and only needed a simple change made. After lots of back and forth, she finally put me on hold... for half an hour.
Finally a nurse picks up and I explain it all to her. She says that she had spoken to the allergist already and that since I just had gastric bypass, the doctor felt that the liquids were best for me and so they wouldn't change it. ...
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? They won't change it? So I explained to the nurse that I can crush the tablets and that I already had the pharmacist check to see that they were crushable -- they are and it's perfectly safe for me to do. I told her that there is a 300 dollar price difference and that if the prescription isn't changed, there is no way I can afford to purchase it. She says she'll talk to the doctor again tomorrow.
If they refuse to change it again, I'm going up there and I'm not leaving till I speak with the crackpot doctor herself. What the hell is wrong with all these people?
You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to write my Primary Care Physician a letter about how much I appreciate his office staff. They are always prompt and courteous, concerned and helpful. Apparently that is super rare.
Thursday, October 13, 2005 7:15 PM | Linky |
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