Drugstore cowboys
I wrote a few days back about how our local Rite Aid pharmacy abruptly closed, leaving us high and dry, not to mention unmedicated. Yesterday several members of my household got this identical letter in the mail.
It's dated November 20, and it tells us we should chime in by December 3 to name a new pharmacy, but the darn letter didn't get here until the 9th. (There was no postmark on the envelope.) By Monday the 4th they had disconnected the phone and were forwarding all calls to Fred Meyer. Huh. "Take care," indeed.
Which got me thinking. Every medical professional I know is all uptight about patient privacy, given the federal "HIPAA" laws governing such matters. Heck, there are even signs at the drug stores telling you to stand back while you're cooling your heels waiting in line, so that you can't see or hear what the customer in front of you is picking up at the counter. That being the case, I'm a little surprised that they're allowed to send my information to Fred Meyer when I didn't ask them to, or say it was okay, or get any meaningful chance to be involved.
And these are the people we entrust our lives to when we pop the pills they sell us. Ah, the American medical system, it's what makes us the greatest country in the world. That and our gun laws.
Jack, you're a lawyer... You should engage in the Great American Pastime with them...sue 'em. It seems to work for every DEI grievance warrior in Portland....
ReplyDelete#Medicare4All
ReplyDeleteSo, drugstores do not close with #Medicare4All?
DeleteAll I can say is two words PILL PAK
ReplyDeleteThe measures taken by Rite Aid that you describe appear to be required under OAR 855-041-1092.
ReplyDeleteInteresting stuff: https://casetext.com/regulation/oregon-administrative-code/chapter-855-board-of-pharmacy/division-41-operation-of-pharmacies/section-855-041-1092-retail-drug-outlet-pharmacy-closures-temporary-permanent-or-emergency#:~:text=Unless%20subject%20to%20an%20exemption,than%202%20hours%20after%20the
DeleteRite Aid clearly did not comply with the rules on permanent closure in this case. The notification to patients was not provided as required.
I just got one of those from the Rite Aid in Canby. Same deal: letter dated 11/20/23, no postmark w/date, received 12/11/23, and directing me to contact the pharmacy prior to the closure 12/5/23 if I wanted my stuff transferred to somewhere other than Fred Meyer (Kroger). Fortunately for me, my scrips are elsewhere - this was just a convenient place for vax, in part because there was usually no one there. Still, it's infuriating that they shifted anything without prior permission, doubly so with this sort of post-hoc notice. Corp[orate clowns slipping and sliding on the ragged edge of HIPPA.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I love about Portland: complain about the lateness of the letter instead of discussing the reason they’re closing the stores.
ReplyDelete