Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Lying Medco

We had a case recently where we sent in several Rx renewals to Medco for a patient. Medco then contact the patient (we did have a voicemail from them) stating that something was wrong with the Rx. Information was misssing, and that it could not be read. They insisted that they could not tell anyone other than the physician what was wrong with the prescription.

The next day when they called, they asked if they could substitue a specific generic that would be cheaper. But it was a generic of another drug, not a generic version of what was prescribed. So, there was nothing "wrong" with the prescription at all. It was perfectly legible....as expected since it was sent electronically.

Our policy is that we do not do this unless the patient asks for it...and it usually involves an office visit.

The patient didn't want to change in this case. If they had just not told lies about it, it would saved alot of time. They should have just sent something to the patient.

Anyone else had these lying phone calls from the pharmacy?

Medco is a pain - you are lucky they called, I get faxes all the time asking me to sub for instance Celexa for Lexapro (in a stable pt. that tried in the past) - I get one for one patient at least 2-3 times per year and ignore (spoke to pt - she is doing very well and does not want to risk changing).

So you know they lie to patients a lot - if you put them on Crestor after trials of many generics and you finally get them to goal they will receive a letter encouraging them to change to 'pravastatin a generic alternative'. Try as you might to convince pt. that alternative is not equivalent all they see is that the pharmacist told them it was cheaper and would work.

I use generics and practice cost conscious medicine and am constantly irritated by this.

I have had the same experience with all the drug managers like Medco, Express Scripts and Caremark. They will often send the patient an unrequested generic or substitute for their brand name drug, claiming that we have authorized the substitution. As Wayne says, we never respond to such direct inquiries, unless initiated by the patient at an office visit.

When the patient challenges them to provide hard evidence that we okayed the change, they will refuse, saying they are not allowed to send the patient this information!

This type of devious practice is merely standard practice for the Pharmacy Benefit Managers.

John, that's a new one. They just go ahead and send it and just say you authorized it. Like that saying "Let's not and say we did."

I think the bigger issue here is the slander. If medco tells pt that want to discuss rx with the doctor, that is fine. This voice mail implied the doctor did something incorrect, or made an error in the prescription. This is defamation, slander, or whatever you want to call it. It makes the patient question your judgment and think you screwed up. If you did, fine. But you didnt here. If you have the tape of this voicemail, i'd send a certified letter to medco about this. IF they do it again, that makes you the lead plaintiff on a class action suit...you get to retire wealthy and I get one less nuisance in my life!

Medco and a few bretheren own Congress. Do you think they will care about a "slander" suit from the likes of us? Pretty soon, the drug companies and insurance companies will own all the hospitals, and all doctors will be employed by the hospitals. Then when they say "jump", you will say "How high, sir?"

Medicine has become a giant financial Ponzi-scheme game. "Image" and "market share" are all that matter-- and "covered lives" are bought and sold like cordwood.

The patients are pawns, and the doctors are whipping boys. It is a wonder we get any real "medical care" out of this system at all.

Ahhh, Tomastorio, I agree with you.
Motivation? Money, greed or just plain stupidity??
We demonstrate our medco difficulties to patients....they see...it is not us..it is them. Not that that helps much. Perhaps the pendulum will swing.
I've been fighting with medco for 20 years approx.

With the help of the local Merck rep, I actually had a conversation with the "medical director" at Medco, a physician, years ago before it was spun off from Merck. He was "astounded" by my comments and negative impression of the way Medco functioned, especially their pressure to change to formulary meds. The guy promised changes. We all can see how that worked.

Shortly thereafter, news of class action lawsuits broke. More recently, Merck was found to have conspired to cover up info about Vioxx toxicity.

Big Pharma -- rotten to the core.

I can't decide if I come on this forum because I like Amazing Charts and like learning more about making it work OR if it is to be surrounded by so many like minded individuals. Good Thread, especially liked the link, Ryanjo.