So, along with those annoying, continuous pounds of junkmail, Copaxone's "Shared Solutions" program has the irritating habit of calling me now and again. So, yesterday, when they did their routine interrogation, I told them that I'd quit it.

Get this! My neuro called this morning and said that they had received a fax tattling on me!

Now my Oct. check-up is next week. That alone makes me glad I quit C, the nerve! I'm probably in trouble now.

Ouch it hurts to laugh I knew better ...

Well, at least you've been off C long enough now to let your doc know how much better you feel right?

How rotten of the little buggers.. They're not concerned about you, though, just their pocket books..

You probably should have told your Neuro first, but I'm sure you will make your Doc understand. Tell your Neuro that you want to try LDN for awhile.

It's not as though you've given up the cure. At best, Copaxone may slow progression and, with you, it has not done that.

If it were me, I'd call them back and tell them what you think of their tattling on you. Send 'em a basket of Razzberries.. Did you tell them how much better you feel, after stopping the C?

Remind all of them that, it's you that have the MS and it's your body and your decision. They are all there to help you not the other way around.

Don't doubt yourself. You thought long and hard before making the decision to stop C and I think you made the right decision for you.

OMG, I can't believe that Cindy!!!

That would make me so angry. They have NO RIGHT to do such a thing, and I'd be sure to call and tell them so. My neuro would be getting a peice of my mind when I went to visit too!

Wow!

Cherie

Well, I have mixed emotions on this one!

On one hand...I want to say..."I told you so!"

Then...I feel how dare they...it is none of their business.

But...what if you are the patient that quits a drug and never tell the Dr. for a long time. Sure, it is your choice to take the drug or not.

Or..what if this drug by now stopping is causing this patient other problems and they end up doing harm to themselves. How would that look?

So in the end all I can say is.........

I told you to tell the Dr.......................

(never listen to me...)

I think you are in more trouble with Taffy than you are with you doc!

LOL, I think Taffy's suffering heat stroke, that's the most sense she's made in years!

I am very angry with Shared Solutions and very much feel that they stepped way beyond their professional boundaries. My neuro knows that C hasn't done squat for me and she also knows that I've been thinking a long time about this. At my last appt., she asked me if I'm still doing the shots, so this will not come as some major shock to her. Paleeeeze.

This has infuriated me beyond belief, the caller didn't bother to ask me whether my doctor was a part of my decision or not. I agree, this is a matter of corporate bottom line politics, and believe me when I tell you that they will not soon forget the day they crossed me.

Just got off the phone with SS and I was put on with a manager. I told her that I don't consider them my care provider and feel that they were outside of their "integrity" clause of mission in so acting and she lamely defended their action as a "part of the ongoing support communications... I accepted upon registration... as requested by my physician..." My butt.

I don't care that my neuro knows about my stopping, I care that they made it their business. It's just not.

There is a red-hot series of letters burning my keyboard.

Note to self: Do not get on AMN bad side.


I wonder? Are the drug companies in anyway obligated to inform the Drs. if they know a patient has stopped using a treatment?
I wonder? What would happen to the patient that stopped a drug and did not see their Dr. for say a year. How would the Dr. feel about that?

Hmm....maybe for fun...the next time the nurse calls I will tell her I quit!

Well, Taff, that would be tantamount to blaming a drug company because a crime was committed as a result of some guy quitting his medicine.

My chief complaint is that I don't consider them a care provider and that my medical choices are between my doctors and me, not some dollars-per-hour phone lackey. It's an invasion of my privacy, plain and simple.

I am in total agreement with you, Cindy. This goes along with a discussion some of had not too long ago about pharmacists and insurance company claim processors wanting to be our doctors. Who gave them that right?

I certainly didn't! I don't ever remember signing anything that says the person on the other end of the phone processing my claim has the right to tell me what medications I can and cannot have. That is just about the same as SS calling your doctor and tattling on you for not taking your C any longer.

Why are pharmacists counseling patients about medications in lieu of patients seeking medical advice from their doctors? Is this because the patients are afraid to ask the doctor? TV Commercials?

A topic of discussion at a recent conference I attended was whether or not pharmacists are part of the medical team or had wandered off onto their own advising patients on what meds to take against their doctor's advice. Several of us were appalled at this idea. (One pharmacist commented he wanted to be "your" doctor ) It's bad enough that the insurance companies feel that they are qualified to dispense medical advice and decide our medications, but now the pharmacists want a piece of the pie as well.

Now we have miniminum wage telephone receptionists at a help line calling our doctors informing them that we are not following orders. What business is it of theirs?

It's just not right.

It's all about money.

SS didn't call my doctor when I quit Copaxone. And 3 years later, I am still getting information from MSPathways. I haven't been on Betaseron since December of '04. You think they know? I know my doctor does! LOL!

I am done now. *can you tell I am on steroids?*