Comment by kstrauser
19 hours ago
That just about broke my heart. I can imagine how awful and hopeless I'd feel in that situation, at least as a first reaction. Great. Just I'll just plan on not planning until I can get the doctor to send a new prescription, which they might not do because FDA.
There's a reason I pick up my refills exactly on time, even if I still have some of the old prescription left. That little overlapping buffer gives me great peace of mind.
The healthcare system in the United States is deeply, horribly broken.
Recently, my wife was going to be out of the country about a week-and-a-half. Her prescription for a medicine to manage arthritis would run out at the very beginning of that time. But insurance company policies refused to allow her to fill it even a little bit early. As a result, her only option was to go without the medicine for several days.
Policies should be set by organizations whose primary goal is to provide effective health solutions, not organizations whose primary goal is to minimize costs in order to make a profit.
> her only option was to go without the medicine
She could've gone to her provider to discuss adverse side effects. Sometimes they will prescribe a new medication that could be filled immediately.
She could've got a pill cutter and cut the tablets in half, or space out the doses, or otherwise take less than the specified dose for a few weeks.
She could've asked the pharmacist about OTC treatments which could be safely substituted during the gap time.
She could've gone to the emergency room or urgent care in the destination country, and tell the provider "I have run out of medication!" This would be covered by the traveller's insurance that you purchased for the trip.
You sound like you would be a great patient advocate. His wife would have been lucky to have someone like you help navigate that situation, but it would be even better if people didn't need to waste their brainpower coming up with these tips and tricks to work around this fucked up adversarial system in the first place.
Or we could have healthcare that doesn't profit off human misery such that his wife could take her full, prescribed medical dose.
The idea of someone cutting pills in half because their insurer is reporting record profits drives me nuts.