When I feel the heat beating off of concrete on a hot day or get into my hot car, I think about patients like my son who were forced to mail order pharmacy. I think about the many other children and patients whose condition may worsen unknowingly due to the lack of proper storage of their medications. It's such an injustice that so many are forced to mail order without regulation or consequence when medications are handled unsafely or delayed…
Read MoreLoretta Boesing, founder of the nonprofit advocacy group Unite for Safe Medications, will speak on the topic "Effects of Temperature on Mail Order" at this year’s NABP AACP district meeting. The meeting is an effort to address professional issues and educational matters regarding the practice of pharmacy…
..Currently, temperatures of medications during shipment are not regulated by the FDA or state boards of pharmacy, even though many mail-order pharmacy warehouses are located in states that experience some of the nation’s harshest temperatures such as Arizona, Florida, Nevada, and Texas…
Read MoreWhen I first learned that the temperatures of mail order pharmacies are not regulated by the FDA and State Boards of pharmacy as many are forced to mail order, I was shocked. That was far from the worst part of the story.
How could such an issue be overlooked for so long? As reported in an NBC investigation, the FDA informed that they get calls like mine in the middle of every summer and winter. The FDA knew this was and is an issue. After hearing my son's manufacturer telling me to discard his life-saving room temperature medications that were just shipped in only a bag on a hot day, I wondered how many other patients and parents were not warned.
Read MoreChange.org Petition Update (JUL 31, 2022) — Hi Everyone,
I've seen more pictures this summer of melted medication bottles, gel capsules melted and clumped together, and crumbling tablets as the issues continue and as many are forced to the insurance companies' owned mail order pharmacies.
No one is warned that the temperatures of mail order pharmacies are left unregulated by the FDA or State Boards of Pharmacy. Parents and patients like my son deserved to be warned.
How did America allow this issue to go unregulated for so long?
Read MoreChange.org Petition Update (JUL 28, 2022) — To all of our supporters, please read this critical update to learn about this issue…
Since the most recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that was brought forward after outcries of pharmacists, advocacy groups, & patients, PBMs & their lobbyist association PCMA seem to be in a destroy and pillage mode. Our military, their family members, and patients are just collateral damage as PBMs seek to secure as many profits as possible even if that means that those who have served will not be able to use a local pharmacy as many pharmacies make the difficult decision to stop accepting Tricare after the information that I received yesterday.
Read MoreChange.org Petition Update (JUL 23, 2022) — First, thank you to our supporters. There are many days when we don't know how we could do this without you!
Next month, I will speak at the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy about the temperatures and mail order pharmacy issues. The FDA and Stare Boards of Pharmacy do not regulate the temperatures of mail order pharmacies. Patients are not warned.
Read MoreChange.org Petition Update (JUL 3, 2022) — Hello, supporters!
For those who are new, I advocate for patient choice in pharmacy, to improve the conditions of all pharmacies and better handling of medications shipped by mail.
To our supporters, please submit your photos or stories about issues with mail order pharmacy, including photos of medications that have been shipped without protection in the middle of the summer heat as trucks and mailboxes soar to 120-170 degrees. You may email these to loretta@uniteforsafemedications.com
I have an opportunity to share the stories and concerns with a larger entity…
Read MoreChange.org Petition Update (JUN 19, 2022) — Hello supporters!
My story will not create change. Our stories and unifying us together on the issues that threaten patients' lives will.
I'm asking today for patients and caregivers to be brave with me and to share their stories about receiving medications exposed to extreme temperatures by mail. I would like to hear from patients who've received hot or frozen medications as trucks and mailboxes are not temperature controlled. Also, you may share a photo of how your medications are delivered. Are they left on a porch, mailbox, or the ground, or shipped in a bag or a cooler with icepacks? Please know that you may remain anonymous to the public. I will keep your name and personal information concealed upon request.
Read MoreChange.org Petition Update (JUN 12, 2022) — Click here to see the tweet referenced in the image. What a great week! Thank you to the many patients that submitted comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about the many issues with pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs that force to their own mail order pharmacies. The FTC submitted subpoenas to PBMs that have merged with the mail order pharmacies that many are forced to, such as CVS Caremark, Optum RX, and Express Scripts.
Until we see true justice and change, we cannot declare victory. Please continue to share the petition, speak to your legislators, and file complaints with Boards of Pharmacy when issues arise with these corporations.
Read MoreChange.org Petition Update (MAY 8, 2022) — Hello to our beautiful supporters. Happy Mother's Day to all.
For many mothers whose children have experienced life-threatening health conditions, our children's lives are our most precious gift on this mothers day and helping us protect our children is the most precious gift that you can give.
So, I have a request on behalf of all the moms who are supporters of this petition…
Read MoreChange.org Petition Update (APR 17, 2022 ) — This week, I will celebrate my son's liver transplant anniversary. His transplant surgery took 12 long hours. How much dedication healthcare professionals must have to fight so hard to save one child's life! We are so thankful. Now, his life will forever rely on medications every 12 hours. Although he survived, the fight for his life and the lives of many other patients is only just beginning.
Due to the monopolization of the insurance, pharmacy, and pharmacy benefits management (PBM) industries, his life and the lives of others are at risk as many are forced to a 1-star rated mail order pharmacy or understaffed retail pharmacy owned by the insurance company.
Read MoreChange.org Petition Update (March 20, 2022) - As America’s pharmaceutical care is under attack by corporate greed, today, the most important person to my son's life and the lives of other patients is you, along with your voice.
The Federal Trade Commission or FTC is accepting comments on the many ways that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) such as Optum RX, CVS Caremark, and Express Scripts harm patients. PBMs work between the insurance company and the pharmacies and are often referred to as middlemen. They each have merged with an insurance company and own their own mail order pharmacies that they force patients to use. CVS Caremark will often steer to their own retail pharmacies heavily covered across news headlines for understaffing as CVS is positioned high on the list of wealthiest corporations in our nation.
Read MoreWhat would happen to me as a parent if I delayed my child’s medications that his life depends on every 12 hours?
What would happen to me if I purposefully put his medication in only a bag, placed them in my car, and allowed it to reach 120-170 degrees for a few days, knowing that the manufacturer and FDA have stated that the integrity could be compromised, thus threatening his life?
There would be criminal charges and public outrage, but A CEO can force patients to take these risks with their lives every day, and few scream injustice. Where are the voices for the millions of patients forced to risk their lives?
Read MoreThis week, a third-grader conducted an experiment revealing the high temperatures inside of her mailbox. She sat beside her mother, a pharmacist, warning patients of the dangers of leaving medications in such conditions. Her study revealed that her mailbox reached 118 degrees in about an hour.
If a third-grader can warn patients and caregivers like me about the risk, why aren't the insurance companies and their affiliated mail-order pharmacies? Studies have shown that mailboxes and trucks can reach temperatures of up to 150 degrees. Most trucks and warehouses that the majority of medications are stored are not air-conditioned. All prescription drugs are temperature-sensitive at some point. Most medications are not required to be tested beyond 104 degrees.
Read MoreAnother article by the NY Times revealed the issues of corporate retail pharmacy. The report specifically discussed a recent fine placed upon CVS for failing to adequately staff their pharmacies, which per a State Board of Pharmacy’s decision led to pharmacists making errors…
Often when errors occur, the pharmacists are fined; the patient pays the consequence of being harmed. At the same time, the corporation who understaffs and forces pharmacists to meet unrealistic metrics is left without any consequences to their actions. In fact, in this case of CVS, the CEO is left swimming in 36.5 million dollars of yearly compensation and many patients who have been harmed by these pharmacies are still forced to use the very pharmacy that risked their life or their child's life as the only option for coverage of life-saving medications.
Read MoreThis week, seven physician groups began fighting back against forced mail-order pharmacy for specialty medications. They cited many concerns including delays of medications to patients, lack of temperature control, communication issues, and increased costs.
Blue Cross Shield of Tennessee responded that specialty pharmacy (mail-order) wasn’t of any greater risk than getting medications from a wholesaler.
I, along with many other patients, caregivers, physicians, and pharmacists strongly disagree.
Read MoreWithout warning, the lives and health of many patients are at risk due to improper temperature storage of medications during transport.
Recently a lab in California, Emery Pharma, found that the amount of NDMA, a cancer-causing chemical in a medication substantially increased when exposed to extreme temperatures such as those experienced during shipping.
Read MoreThe package of life-saving medications reads “perishable,” but it is treated as any other package left in a non-secure, non-temperature controlled environment.
Read MoreMust see video on the importance of handling our medications with care.
Read MoreThe polar vortex has shadowed over much of the United States. Medications are being shipped in extreme temperatures and many are being delayed. For those whose lives do not depend on medications, this can be life-threatening.
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