California WC patients

[Maria]

I'm wondering if anyone else had the following happen to them recently:

I went in to refill my Neurontin script which I've been taking since 1998 and it's covered under my future medical with WC and there was a "block" on my medications. No explanation at all.

The Risk Manager was out of the office for the weekend and the supervisor was the only one that could take the block off besides the RM or so I was advised and this person was not available either.

I just now got the block taken off my prescriptions. There was no absolutely no explanation of why it was done. I asked the Risk Manager why it was put on and she said "it was just taken off." I asked her if it would be put on again and she said "it was just taken off."

Honestly, I can get this medication OTC in Mexico but it's still pretty costly and the cost to me here for my 90 count 600mg tid for a month is $209.

Anybody else have this type of thing going on with their WC scripts and if so do you know why? The Risk Manager that works with my case is pretty tight lipped about anything and I believe because I'm viewed as a *lifer* my case is sort of looked at with stink eye.. (and because I have not yet had the proposed surgery authorized).

[KL Aguilar]

They have been sitting on authorization for Celebrex and a writst brace for me for several weeks; they have done this to me numerous times.

[mmglobal]

I hear stuff like this all the time and I'm completely baffled... how can they do this. If they are putting a block on your medications, why should you have to discover it by having a refill refused before the start of a holiday weekend... why wouldn't they tell you?

These situations are so very frustrating... If there is justice in this world, the people who perpetrate this will have to suffer a huge taste of this themselves.

Mark

[Maria]

What I don't get is how they can block refills (probably en masse) and then not worry about potential damage this might do to a patient should they be entirely out of a med while waiting over a long holiday.

I don't wait until I'm at the last pill before refilling but usually the last week's worth. This time I didn't realize I was down to about 10 pills or roughly 3 days worth. Never had any prob with refillng my Neurontin (Methadone yes as authorization was removed for that cold turkey once by UR but restored by the Risk Manager when I brought it to their attention that I'd end up in detox if they didn't restore the script auth).

Just as a side note, I asked about Methadone OTC in TJ and they said they had it and it would be $8 for 120. That's what I would pay here if I had to pay but I don't. Still it blew me away that it's OTC there.

This block may have been just a computer input error but at least it would have been decent to get an explanation.

I don't like to wish ill upon anyone however one of these days I hope any of the buttheads working for WC that think the patients are losers/users/abusers of the system or any meds have to deal with some sort of related hardship such as this themselves. It's unfortunate but I believe that's the only way anyone would really *feel* what patients actually go thru.

ok, my rant is over. thanks for replies.