The Twisted Head Saga Continues

The last time I blogged about my torticollis I was awaiting an appointment for some Botox injections…which was to cure all ills. Oh, if life were so simple. If one could snap one’s fingers and what you wanted appeared. Well, there has been no genie in a bottle for moi. There has been only disappointment and misinformation. My poison pen is directed at the mail order pharmacy Medco who has a contract with United Health Care to fulfill the prescriptions of UHC’s insured. The crux of the biscuit, a favorite coinage by Frank Zappa, is that I should have shucked out the $1100 for the two vials and dealt with reimbursement later. But both the doctor’s office as well as the insurance company ASSURED me that the Botox would be in the doc’s office in a matter of days. Read more…
Trust Medco and the doctor’s office to deal with this I was assured by UHC’s Cure Coordination Dept. As my dear departed mother in law used to say, “trust died”. I tried to be my own advocate. I really did. But buracracy got to me. In defense of Medco, they are a “fulfillment” pharmacy. Normally a doctor will give the patient a few weeks prescription to take to their local pharmacy while Medco goes thru their protocol. But they have no protocol for someone like me. As I was told time and time again, it takes 24-48 hours to get approval and then up to 8 days to go out. Now, my doctor and the insurance company both approved the use of the drug. But that was not good enough for Medco. No. They faxed to the neurologist and still asked if it was going to be used for wrinkles. A supervisor told me that if I had wanted it in a hurry, I should have had the doctor write a prescription and take it to my local pharmacy to be filled. And you know what? I should have. But neither the insurance company nor the doctor anticipated this wait. Well, the Botox finally came in on Tuesday, April 20th (the prescription arrived at Medco on the 9th) and I got 15 little shots from below my left ear all the way down the top of my shoulder. That’s the good news. But there’s bad. What? It will take up to TWO-THREE WEEKS to POSSIBLY WORK! If Medco hadn’t have been such a-holes, I would have known by now if this stuff was working and I could get a second set of shots. And that timing will put me only a few days from my long trip. Medco-hear me out! You need a protocol in place for instances like mine. Hear me! Oh, one of the fun things one of the supervisors asked me after I had told her I had been to a chiropractor, physical therapist, accupuncturist and neurologist, that I’d iced, I’d heated, I Advil-d, and how I really needed the Botox because I was in pain….she asked if I wanted to speak to one of their pharmacists to see if he could help me…I almost threw the phone through the window.