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January 15, 2009
The Facts
Merck-Medco mail order pharmacy is arguably the largest mail order pharmacy in the nation. Many companies & corporations use Merck-Medco for employees covered under their company’s health insurance program. In some cases, other mail order pharmacies may be used depending on which insurance company the employer uses. As such, mail order pharmacies fill tens of millions of prescriptions each year. And, in filling that many prescriptions, an opportunity presents itself for those pharmacies to make extra money by deliberately shorting expensive drugs.
My View (and some more facts)
I have been taking two prescription drugs for 17 years. For more years than I can remember, my drugs have been through mail order from Merck-Medco for a 90-day supply. One drug I take has no generic counterpart; therefore I have to purchase the brand name drug. The current average retail price is about $2 each depending on where you buy them. Just a couple of years ago they went for as much as $3.90 each. I take one each of those two tablets each day.
I learn very early on with mail order that I needed to count the tablets when I received them. I learn that by noticing I was always running out of the expensive tablet a day or so before the cheap generic drug that I take. When I did start counting them I very rarely had the correct amount of the more expensive tablet; that is, to say, except on those rare occasions, I was always short one or two of those expensive tablets. I never recall being short on the cheap generic drug. Of course, with my always-suspicious mind, along with reasoning things out, it wasn’t hard to understand why the expensive drug was almost always short.
If you are a pharmacy and you fill a couple of millions prescriptions each year and one forth of them are expensive tablets, imagine the money you can make if you short each prescription by one or two tablets. It can really add up. And when you call them to inquire about a shortage, it’s almost impossible to get by the person who answers the phone. Inevitably, that person will argue with you and insist that their druggist do not make mistakes. When you then ask them why the prescription order is always short they attack you by saying you don’t know how to count. But if you will keep arguing with them, you will eventually get to the next person on the pecking order, and after much of the same, you will eventually get them to agree to mail you the shortage. But by the time you get to that point, you are so frustrated and emotionally drained you just shiver when it’s time to place the next order.
So where does this leave us, the consumer? The same place we were before; at the mercy of the most greedy, immoral and corrupt generation of business people the world has every witnessed. And the only change we can expect will be for the worse. Why? Because our companies, corporations, and elected officials are all part of the problem and they actually approve of this type of behavior. And we know adults are just like children; if you don’t slap their hand when they get out of line, they will not only continue to do wrong, they will take it to the next level before you can bat an eye. You doubt me? Then take another look at the current financial mess we have on our hands.
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