Prescription Processing Problem: Another Month, Another SNAFU

Good news: After spending more than two hours on a round trip to St. Cloud, Minnesota, I got the signature needed and have my medication.

Bad news: Filling that particular prescription got bungled, again.

The 'Vexed' part of this post appeared on my Google Plus account this afternoon. (June 4, 2013)

Vexed

A frustrating situation. A medication that I need is 'controlled,' so the pharmacy isn't allowed to fill the prescription until the day after I run out.

The situation would be acceptable, but quite often the request for a refill gets lost in a bureaucratic system. I'm inclined to believe everyone I speak with: the pharmacist who sends the request, the office staff who don't ever see the request: everyone.

However, I am left without a needed medication.

It happened again this month, so I am off to a city that's about an hour's drive from here, to personally carry the signed paperwork back to the local pharmacy.

My sincere hope is that the paperwork actually gets signed and processed today.

If I sound vexed: you're quite perceptive.

'Protected' from a Prescription

The medication is a controlled substance: Methylphenidate. It's a sort of generic Ritalin, can be habit forming, and certainly shouldn't be misused. I understand why some reasonable precautions need to be taken when distributing the drug.

However, losing the authorization form on a regular basis seems to go somewhat beyond 'reasonable precautions.'

I keep taking methylphenidate because I need it to keep my brain working properly: and because I am an irascible old coot who is too stubborn to let a routine bureaucratic SNAFU get in the way of my health.

Not everyone who needs medications is like me, though. I've wondered how many cases where someone 'stopped taking his meds' and died as a result are cases like mine: where the poor soul got tired of monitoring a 'routine' process.

Related posts:

• "Flu Shot"
  (October 26, 2012)
• "Prescriptions, Panic, and Points to Ponder"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (September 14, 2011)
• "Brilliant, Talented, and On Medication"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (November 30, 2010)
• "Mostly Medical"
  (June 15, 2010)
• "Medication for Depression? Yeah: The Catholic Church is Okay With That"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (February 25, 2010)
  Particularly
  • 'Relying on God:' and Not Being Stupid