For those who require a continuing Rx for medication, what can we do? My Rx is written typically for 99 refills, but the pharmacy will refill only 1 month at a time, and then only after the month is almost over. Therefore, not much opportunity to 'stock up'. Most medications caution against long-term storage as well....mine is a tablet form, no refrigiration required. Would vaccuum pack storage be an option (assuming I could obtain a source of supply?) If not, what next? So many ???, so little time!

\/\/illis

-- Willis Thomason (BANDIT1@ontheroad.com), September 18, 1998

Answers

This is a good question. I have a heart-patient relative in my family who is going to die if she can't get her medicine. Because we are little children, and our bureaucratic betters can't trust us to cross the street by ourselves, much less medicate ourselves, she runs out of medicine literally the day before she gets the next prescription filled. Family members looking after her are "bump-in-the-roaders," preparing for "a few days without power, maybe." I've heard that pill-addicts hop from pharmacy to pharmacy, and go to multiple doctors to increase their supply - could Rx-dependent people do likewise? I've run this possibility by my family, but they would rather see this woman die, apparently, than (gasp!) break the law. They won't even let me know exactly what the meds are - all I'm able to contribute to this situation are my grave-digging skills...

E.

-- E. Coli (nunayo@beeswax.com), September 18, 1998.

A year from now, or sooner if the situation warranted) how about telling the doc you're touring the world for a year or 2 so you need to take it all with you. If the insurance won't pay that far in advance, pay cash & if nothing happens, then get reimbursed. There's something on storage on the Y2K Chaos.com site.

-- Jeff Brown (jefftix@yahoo.com), September 18, 1998.

I'll tell you what some people in Texas and neighboring states are doing. I'm neither condemning or condoning, just reporting. If you have a perscription, you can cross the border into Mexico and buy as much as you want. (Cash only of course.) The manufacturers of the drugs are the same, just the "packaging" is in "Espanol." The prices are only a fraction of the cost in the US. This would be a drastic measure for someone far away, but drastic times sometimes call for drastic measures. I can't help but wonder, though, as more is known about Y2K, if perhaps pharmacies and insurance companies won't "bend the rules" a little? But if they do, will the manufacturers be able to keep up with demand? So many questions...

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), September 18, 1998.

here's where advertising and "panic-mongering" can really actually help: the problem is bureacracy-based.

Okay, so start solving by hurting the bureacrats where they can't fight back: by the irrational fear of them becoming responsible. Write your local newspaper and Congressman. Force them to aknowledge the problem, by showing them it's caused by "assuming" a two or three week power outage (or gas shortage). Then let them become "heroes" by proposing solution.

Then if/when they fail, try the "extra-legal" methods. Check also with your doctor, let him try to write extra prescription amounts in NOV/DEC next year if still no relief.

Make sure you know best storage conditions of medicine: cool or cold, room temperature or high heat (NZ/Aussie/Chili) affect store times till it goes bad.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), September 18, 1998.

Good answers all. What a girl I used to date did -- she had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which many doctors poo-poo, but I can tell ya she was in constant pain -- she'd go to different doctors, as E. talked about, and have them write prescriptions to different pharmacies; so it was all independent-event-type stuff. None knew she had been to the other. Once she was found out by some type of computer cross-referencing; but the goon squad didn't come get her.

Gayla has a crackerjack idea if you can make it to Mejico. Just don't drink the water. :)

I'd say R Cook has a good idea too, except for the propensity of the American legislative process to imitate a herd of turtles the vast majority of the time...

The extra-legal route has validity here. Extreme circumstances sometimes call for extreme methods. Even Rahab the harlot is counted with the heroes of faith (Hebrews 11:31), and she told a flat-out lie, to save righteous men from death (Joshua 2:1 ff.) The laws of the land aren't always right, especially where someone's very life is at stake.

-- John Howard, Greenville, NC (pcdir@prodigy.net), September 18, 1998.

1) Doctors can write the scrips in a number of ways: "Disp 60, 2/day refill 99 (or PRN or for 1 year)" "disp 120 2/day refill 45 ( " " """) "disp 180 etc" This can be done creatively, with variances in the #/day, or.....

the difference may be that her prescription plan will pay only for 1 month at a time.

It is possible to take the scrip to the pharmacy and pay for the drugs at retail. just take a LOT of cash when you do because even money they are about 2.50 per DOSE.

cr

-- Chuck a Night Driver (rienzoo@en.com), September 19, 1998.

We live in S. California, and have purchased our prescription medications in Tijuana for about 10 years; we do this for two reasons. First price of meds, and because we hate the FDA, and the lovely little scam developed over the years that requires one get permission from a doctor to get meds one knows one needs to live.

I would urge anyone in the southwestern US to trip on down to Mexico if you need life-sustaining meds to store in bulk. Just check the expiration dates carefully before handing your dollars over the counter. Also be prepared to write out the name of the medication in case the counter person in the pharmacy does not speak English.

"Screw the FDA and all the rest of the tyrants!" she yells, as her attractive toga-sheet flaps the growing winds of change.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), September 19, 1998.

I have had experience with the Mexico route - went to Cancun this past winter and was surprised to see all the Anglos in the pharmacies buying lots of stuff. Think about antibiotics - with 5 kids, that's what I bought! Also, in Canada, you can buy the equivalent of Tylenol with Codeine - what if someone gets injured and needs pain relief and there is nothing available? Also, make the aquaintance of a good herbalist, naturopath, or Chinese or Ayurvedic practitioner. Stock up on stuff for respiratory illnesses, stomach flu, diarrhea - don't forget preparations to combat the physiological effects of stress. From a registered nurse with an emphasis on herbs and nutrition, by the way. :-)

-- Melissa (financed@forbin.com), September 20, 1998.