Friday, August 07, 2020

HEAVY POLITICIZATION OF MEDICINE

by Bob Walsh

I have a buddy in Arizona who, like me, has been retired for many years.  He also has some of the aches and pains that come with being older and having led a somewhat physical life.

For quite some time he has been taking hydroxychloroquine for his rheumatoid arthritis.  He gets his script filled by a legit mail order pharmacy, OptumRX, thru the CA state retirement system.  

Since January the last two times he has had to refill the script he has had to jump thru a bunch of hoops, respond to a bunch of additional questions and required the physician who wrote the script do likewise.  

The script now has to be filled out by a board certified specialist and not just a g.p.  

It is hard to imagine why this is happening UNLESS it is an attempt to apply pressure to doctors and patients to NOT use this drug.  The only reason I can think of is political.  The drug apparently works (at least for this particular use) but the "powers that be" do not want anything positive connected to the use of this stuff, except maybe for treating malaria and I would not care to bet on that at this point.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I do not think this is politicizing medicine. As a former pharma rep, I know that drugs are approved by the FDA for specific medical conditions.  Hydroxychloroquine has been approved only for the treatment of malaria.  Because of that, OptumRx, the state retirement system's Pharmacy Benefit Manager, is requiring a specialist to prescribe this drug, rather than a GP.  Your buddy is fortunate because if OptumRx wanted to, it could refuse to pay for this prescription.   

3 comments:

Trey Rusk said...

Having worked on the border, I have friends down there that can cross over and mail me whatever I need. Once my grandson was prescribed an antibiotic for severe acne. The drug was very popular and expensive. ($300) 90 pills cost me $10 plus $10 for the favor. They worked well. Current law allows legal import of 90 count supply of most Rx's.

I know families that drive to Mexico and purchase drugs for relatives and friends. They take a shopping list and are reimbursed for expenses. Some folks can't afford it otherwise.


Dave Freeman said...

Howie. Hydroxychloroquine has also been approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. I know this because my rheumatologist prescribed it for me. I have been taking it for several years now. Oh...and my rheumatologist is not a GP.

You really oughta check stuff out before posting your uninformed opinions and stating them as facts.

BarkGrowlBite said...

My bad, Dave. Hydroxychloroquine is also FDA-approved to treat autoimmune conditions such as chronic discoid lupus erythematosus, systemic lupus erythematosus in adults, and rheumatoid arthritis.

I plain fucked up!

As for my remark about a GP, I was basing it on what Bob wrote: "The script now has to be filled out by a board certified specialist and not just a g.p."