Sunday, February 12, 2006
Breaking News: New Orleans
I have been noodling what us bloggers could do in order to make lives better for folks in New Orleans and think I have an answer...
The most-read webloggers aren't necessarily the ones with the most original ideas. Researchers have discovered that authors of popular blog sites regularly borrow topics from lesser-known bloggers. I am hoping that this idea receives this type of attention. This practice is better known as amplification.
Essentially, I would like for all prescription drugs for chronic ongoing conditions to have the notion of 30-day refills being removed. In not only New Orleans, but due to recent changes in Medicaid folks had to go without their prescription drugs for a long period of time. When the folks evacuated the city, they may have only had a short supply of medicine with them and couldn't get refills easily due to the fact that:
Many deaths could have been prevented if folks with chronic conditions weren't forced to get medication on an every thirty day basis. For me, I have high blood pressure and purchase all of my medicine outside of the United States (Trinidad to be specific). Regardless of what anyone tells me or you, I do so because I am firm in my belief that this is the absolute safest way to buy perscription medicine.
I currently take Atenolol which comes in foiled packages so I have no ability to get them mixed up or confused with other medicines. Likewise, all of my medicine is made in a single shape using a single color (light pink) which has an effect on making manufacturing costs cheaper.
Have you ever been in a pharmacy lately? Pharmacists seem to have to count each and every pill, deal with a long line of
folks who are irate, go back and forth with insurance companies who seem to have a business rules engine approach to rejecting lots of requests, having to also confirm with each doctor whether the perscription is valid. This seems like an opportunity to make mistakes. We have all read in the news were some innocent person got the wrong drug from the pharmacy.
This simply wouldn't happen if the practice of taking something from one jar and putting it into another jar were discontinued.
My mom is diabetic and takes glucophage. The last time I was in Trinidad, I purchased 1,000 pills in the jar that pharmacists here dispense from. The jar was sealed so it reduced the chance of any mistake of getting the wrong medicine.
Buying the entire jar cost me $24 US so it actually saved me money and I got safety out of it as well. One of the biggest lies ever told is how drugs from other countries are unsafe. In America, it is not difficult to find fake viagra but very difficult to do the same in Trinidad. The simple fact is that if someone is given fake drugs in America, they call up their lawyer while if the same thing occurs in Trinidad, their head will be in their car trunk, their leg behind walgreens and body parts were they won't be identified. Guess who has the better incentive of not tampering with
drugs...
Anyway, I am asking the blogosphere to talk about the problem of 30 day perscriptions and call on congress to eliminate this practice. Please amplify this message...
| | View blog reactionsThe most-read webloggers aren't necessarily the ones with the most original ideas. Researchers have discovered that authors of popular blog sites regularly borrow topics from lesser-known bloggers. I am hoping that this idea receives this type of attention. This practice is better known as amplification.
Essentially, I would like for all prescription drugs for chronic ongoing conditions to have the notion of 30-day refills being removed. In not only New Orleans, but due to recent changes in Medicaid folks had to go without their prescription drugs for a long period of time. When the folks evacuated the city, they may have only had a short supply of medicine with them and couldn't get refills easily due to the fact that:
- Pharmacy was closed
- Lost job and therefore healthcare coverage was dropped
- Didn't have access to a bank to get money
- etc
Many deaths could have been prevented if folks with chronic conditions weren't forced to get medication on an every thirty day basis. For me, I have high blood pressure and purchase all of my medicine outside of the United States (Trinidad to be specific). Regardless of what anyone tells me or you, I do so because I am firm in my belief that this is the absolute safest way to buy perscription medicine.
I currently take Atenolol which comes in foiled packages so I have no ability to get them mixed up or confused with other medicines. Likewise, all of my medicine is made in a single shape using a single color (light pink) which has an effect on making manufacturing costs cheaper.
Have you ever been in a pharmacy lately? Pharmacists seem to have to count each and every pill, deal with a long line of
folks who are irate, go back and forth with insurance companies who seem to have a business rules engine approach to rejecting lots of requests, having to also confirm with each doctor whether the perscription is valid. This seems like an opportunity to make mistakes. We have all read in the news were some innocent person got the wrong drug from the pharmacy.
This simply wouldn't happen if the practice of taking something from one jar and putting it into another jar were discontinued.
My mom is diabetic and takes glucophage. The last time I was in Trinidad, I purchased 1,000 pills in the jar that pharmacists here dispense from. The jar was sealed so it reduced the chance of any mistake of getting the wrong medicine.
Buying the entire jar cost me $24 US so it actually saved me money and I got safety out of it as well. One of the biggest lies ever told is how drugs from other countries are unsafe. In America, it is not difficult to find fake viagra but very difficult to do the same in Trinidad. The simple fact is that if someone is given fake drugs in America, they call up their lawyer while if the same thing occurs in Trinidad, their head will be in their car trunk, their leg behind walgreens and body parts were they won't be identified. Guess who has the better incentive of not tampering with
drugs...
Anyway, I am asking the blogosphere to talk about the problem of 30 day perscriptions and call on congress to eliminate this practice. Please amplify this message...
