[Jerie]

I am so fed up. I live in the boonies and there is limited health care. I have been black listed. I cannot even get a PC. My pharmacy is disclosing my records electronically without my permission. Asked two different times if they were doing that they lied and said no. Today I asked if my pharmacy records are protected by hippa or not and I was hung up on.
Legislators are passing a bill so they can disclose anything they want to to anyone electronically. I went to the ER last year and was dumped as a drug seeker during a flare up with plenty of meds on hand. I can't get a dr anywhere now. I am going to have to move, loose my home and my husband will have to find work at 58 with MS.
None of this was about meds. It was about a female exam and a jerk dr shaming me because he saw my boob and then I reported him to the clinic manager for saying I had the breast of a 20 year old. Never underestimate how Drs will stick together and a use their power to save their own. Big brother will have control of second opinions because they never will happen with a system like this. It's disgusting of our legislators to be involved in our ability to pick and chose a provider and get a second opinion. They think it's their right to be in every Spe t of our lives. Nanny state gone wild. Beware pain sufferers. Your treatment days Are numbered. Just using pain meds makes you a drug seeker . If you are seeking pain relief you are seeking drugs. Take my advise and never go to an ER for pain. You will be done. Never ask your pain manGement dr for help during flare ups you'll be dumped. Left to suffer while they're writing your dismissal letters . The war on drugs by the DEA has enlisted Drs, nurses and now your pharmacist as drug enforcement agents. Take any drug the give you that is not a pain pill regardless if it does nothing for your pain. Let them neuro drug you to death. Liberty is gone, America a dead old idea. *administrative edit*
The joke is on you. No freebies. And no privacy. Oppression. I know I have to move to maybe get health care in another state because of the abuse of power of dirty Drs.

[catra121]

Hugs.

I am sorry you are going through all this. Most of us...or at least many of us...have had at least some issues with doctors, nurses, ERs, etc and it really stinks. There are good ones out there...hopefully you will be able to find someone who can help you even if it does mean looking outside your area. Again...really sorry that you have been put in this situation...dealing with this horrible condition is bad enough even when you do have the support of a good doctor.

[Littlepaw]

Jerie, I hear your frustration and wish that things were easier for you. It is hard needing help so badly with this disease and having trouble finding it. I too hope that you are able to get the care you need and find relief.

[Hopeless]

Dear Jerie,

A few years ago, I needed copies of some of my medical records. Included with mine, was one page that was for another patient. It was a note from a pharmacy to the doctor, stating that the patient had not been filling a particular prescription.

I found several things unsettling about this discovery. ONE, the carelessness that someone else's information gets mixed up and included and SENT to someone else. The person whose page was misplaced in MY records has no idea that I now know her name, date of birth, and other personal information. (Made me wonder how many people have some information from MY file.) SECOND, that the pharmacy is going beyond filling valid prescriptions and is "reporting" on their customers.

From some wording on the misplaced sheet in my file, it "appeared" to me that there is some central database of ALL pharmacies, not just within the same company with various locations, but across companies as well.

Because of the above information and some other things, I was not surprised by your post. I think a lot goes on that most of us are not aware until it adversely affects us as it has you.

Not long ago, one of my doctors made some changes to some of my medications. He added two and reduce one to less frequency. I have been inundated with letters and phone calls from my insurance company telling me how important it is to take my medications. They have "assumed" that I have not been taking my meds since I did not refill the one med that was reduced. Why refill a med when I still had plenty since I was not taking them as frequently?

While I believe that being in a small rural area may make things more problematic than in a more populated area, I still fear you would encounter the same thing even if you move to a large metropolitan area.

I live in an LARGE metropolitan area where there is a Walgreens on almost every corner with a CVS across from them. And a Wal-Mart a block away. You can't throw a stone without hitting a drug store no matter where you travel in my area. BUT, it seems they all share your information.

My point is I am not sure "moving" will change much for you or at least not for very long.

You do need to have medical care but maybe you could just travel to the nearest big city and find care rather than move.

I am sorry that you have encountered so much difficulty in finding objective medical care.

[PurpleFoot721]

Originally Posted by Hopeless

From some wording on the misplaced sheet in my file, it "appeared" to me that there is some central database of ALL pharmacies, not just within the same company with various locations, but across companies as well.

I would like to mention that, yes, there is a central database that all pharmacies share. This is set up to both protect us from filling a prescription that may interact with another, as well as keep those that are drug seekers from filling prescriptions more than once. When I was at my most recent PM visit, he had the entire list of medications that I have been on over the past couple of years including those that I did not want filled. I had a psychologist that gave me a prescription for something earlier this year. He wanted to take control of my pain management and asked me to stop all other medications. Since I didn't like his decision to take over a specialist's area of expertise that he is not qualified in, I did not pick up that prescription even though he called it in. It was also on the list that my PM had the other day.

Originally Posted by Hopeless

While I believe that being in a small rural area may make things more problematic than in a more populated area, I still fear you would encounter the same thing even if you move to a large metropolitan area.

It will not make a difference even if you do move out of state. I ended up needing surgery one year while out in Colorado. I had a prescription for percocet that was filled at the Wal-Mart in the area. This was before a lot the regulations were in place that made it so you could not have opiates refilled. When I finally made it back home, my local pharmacy told me that they could see that I have not had it filled elsewhere, so they had no problem filling it. This was a different company in a different state.

I do hope you get everything straightened out. You certainly don't deserve having to suffer in pain.

[Jomar]

Did you report the inappropriate comment by the doctor anywhere else besides the office manager?
That kind of comment is totally out of line and shows very bad judgement by that dr.
I would find out where else to report this sort of thing as he could be doing it and more to others.
Medical board for your state?

[How to Complain About Your Doctor
If your doctor behaved in a way that felt inappropriate or unprofessional, speak up.]
http://www.realsimple.com/health/fir...ut-your-doctor

[Jerie]

Great, I refused to refill cymbalta because my liver enzymes flew up . I had gone on and off for the same reason. The drug was also hard to discontinue . It made me volotal and boo hooy. Went cold turkey finally. Insurance sent me a letter and told me they sent letters to all my recent providers. I blew a gasket wrote them and told the myob! You're not my. Dr! Well I changed pharmacies guess that was a waste. Same prescription co even with different insurer. Still it's illegal! Violates Hippa at least right now. Pharmacy electronic records are covered under hippa! Legislators here are ending that soon.

[Hopeless]

Thanks Alaina,

The central database being used by pharmacies does have some advantages as you pointed out, ie, interaction of medications, especially if filled at different pharmacies.

I also understand that it helps prevent drug seekers from going from doc to doc and pharmacy to pharmacy in order to get large quantities of drugs that would not otherwise be prescribed.

What I do NOT understand is why a pharmacy would inject themselves into the doctor/patient relationship and report on drugs NOT being refilled. That is not their place. Why do they feel the need to confirm or refute what may have transpired between doctor and patient. If a doctor discontinues a medication for a patient, it is NOT up to the pharmacy to question it. That is a decision made between doctor and patient and the pharmacy and insurance company should not be concerned about what is NOT being filled.

And it is NOT the job of a pharmacy to tattle-tale on a patient that may have discontinued medication on their own. That, too, is between doctor and patient.

And as you mentioned, you have scripts being listed that you have refused to take and may have never taken. Doesn't this make the record erroneous? And what good are erroneous records to anyone?

I loved your post. Thanks again for your input. The more people that step between me and my doctor only serve to anger me. I don't appreciate being "looked out for" like I am some child. I know what medications I take, why I take them, and I don't need someone to "supervise" me. When I get to the point that I NEED supervision, then I will ask for it. Until then, I wish they would just let me and my doctor make the decisions of what is in my best interest.

[Always_Believe]

From where I sit, "care" has been removed from 'health care' a long time ago. I have never in my life (on either side of medicine) witnessed/experienced the outright seemingly vindictive nature of providers.

I have a bit of an opposite situation: MD ordered amitriptyline 25mg tabs. I'm not sure of the qty he ordered but the pharmacy noted the 30 tabs I picked up several weeks ago as a "partial" fill. He ordered an amount so he could increase the dose, so I have a feeling it was 60 or 90 that he ordered. Since he DID increase the dose, I need a refill sooner than the 30 that was dispensed. I have to get him to send a new prescription in order to get it covered by insurance. Kind of ridiculous for the insurance to determine the 'proper' amount to fill instead of simply covering what the doctor ordered. SMDH

Nothing in health care is 'private' or between MD and patient anymore. Neither is it what is in the patient's best interest. It would seem that to consider moving to get the care/coverage needed, one must look to move outside the US entirely. I vote for someplace warm

[Jerie]

Originally Posted by Hopeless

Thanks Alaina,

The central database being used by pharmacies does have some advantages as you pointed out, ie, interaction of medications, especially if filled at different pharmacies.

I also understand that it helps prevent drug seekers from going from doc to doc and pharmacy to pharmacy in order to get large quantities of drugs that would not otherwise be prescribed.

Hi everyone! It was my insurer who sent out letters to my providers I didn't fill cymbalta not the script company. That being said I spent$140 informing every past dr and every pharmacy they have no permission to share electronic records with anyone registered mail and to shut the pie hole of hateful providers mouth to mouth crap too.
Than I called my script provider and asked to be off their shared data base and they deny it exist yet my pharmacist participated in it by sharing live feeds to providers.
So please tell me where the heck is this secret data base and how to I end their game in my medical care? I'm over these nasty providers too. If you are rude you will be dismissed. They can say anything in your records and to your face and on the phone and they are a protected class of ***holes. Never has a complaint about a providers rude behavior ever resulted in anything but my dismissal. Jerie