I have been on Humolog since it was released in the US in 1996. It is not working like it used to, so I’ve decided to give Apidra a try. I tried it last summer at a diabetes camp I was visiting —one pump full to be exact. It worked great. If nothing else, any change in my diabetes routine forces me to pay really close attention to how it affects my body, exercise, food, etc. which helps my blood sugar control.
Last Thursday, my endocrinologist and I talked about the change which she agreed with, so she wrote the prescription. A usual she gave me a physical copy and sent one to my pharmacy. I don’t know how this pharmacy stays in business since about 1 in 3 prescriptions get lost, so I always call to check in.
After 25 minutes of them telling me they do not know if they have my prescription (yes, they told me they don’t know), and 3 phone reps later, I spoke to someone with half a brain— just half mind you. This rep told me that while he still cannot tell me if they have the prescription or not, they can’t fill it.
My natural reaction, “Why?”
“Sir, you need a letter of medical necessity.”
To which I reply, “I thought a prescription WAS a letter of medical necessity.”
I knew I wasn’t going to get much further with this without some help, so I asked where I should have the Dr. send the letter. He gave me a phone number. “Is this the fax number?”
“No. Have your doctor call here to find out what to do.”
Very calmly, I asked if he thought someone who spent
a) over a decade studying medicine
b) nearly 2 decades treating diabetes
had time to waste on the phone to get the same result as just writing a prescription in the first place.
He responded plainly; “No.” and hung up.
Look for the exciting conclusion to this story next week! (Well, I hope this is resolved by next week though, I’m quite skeptical).