Dr. Didn't Fax Back Authorization - No Ribaviran

My doctor's assistant was supposed to fax back the authorization form to my insurance company or pharmacy, one of the two, on Tuesday and come to find out a little while ago that it hasn't been done.  I have one shot of Interferon left for Friday night, so I'm all set there, and a dose of Ribaviran for tonight but no Ribaviran for tomorrow or Friday morning, providing they get the fax out and the delivery comes on Friday, anyone have any suggestions?  I take 3 pills in the am and 2 in the pm, so I'll be missing a day and a half.  I can't even believe that this is happening.  
How much will this hurt my treatment?  

Thanks!
Linda

[jmjm530]

Call around and see if a local pharmacy has any ribavirin. Try the very big chains first and then the hospital pharmacies. When you locate one, have your doc fax them the rx for how many days you think you will need to hold you over until delivery and then pay out of pocket. Alternatively, maybe someone here has some xtra.

[LindaC1207]

I was thinking about doing that, there's a CVS Pharmacy down the street from me, however, I'll most likely end up missing tomorrow morning's dose, will this affect treatment much?  

I'm not sure why they want an authorization from my doctor when I have 2 refills left on both prescriptions.  I'm not very fond of this home delivery of my meds, I'd prefer to go to the store myself and pick them up.

Linda

[jmjm530]

If the pharmacy has your rx on file, then there shouldnt be a problem. But if you use a different pharmacy, they might need a new rx. Ask them or maybe they can just call up the other pharmacy. Personally, I'd try and get in your full riba dose tomorrow. No need to take the riba 12 hours apart, so you could take your first dose with lunch and the second with dinner. That should give you enough time in the morning to get the riba.

[GreatBird]

Some prescription drug plans make you do mail order if it's an ongoing prescription and won't pay beyond a month or two at a regular pharmacy. Wonder if you have the same kind of plan that I do? (I hate it--so annoying.)

[jmjm530]

That's true. Mine did. But nothing prevents you from getting the drugs at any pharmacy as long as you pay out of pocket. All you need is an rx.

[geterdone]

Interferon will take 9 day or better to go to zero in your system and the Ribavirin has in even a longer half life. I am guessing you are in somewhere between week 20 and 24 so if you became UND early say week 4 or 8 you may be ok. I know I freaked out when a snafu happened to me but it was late in treatment and all you need right now is more anxiety so try to stay positive about the outcome of the current dilemma. I hated the home delivery after being able to pick up the prescripts at the beginning.

jasper

[LindaC1207]

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate your responses, I feel a lot better now, yes, who needs more stress at this stage of the game.  I am coming up on shot 21 on Friday, 3 more weeks and I'm half way there!

I intend on calling Caremark and my doctor at 8:30 am in the morning, I arrive at work at 7:30 am, so as soon as they both open, they'll be hearing from me.  Hopefully I can find a pharmacy near me where I can pick up a couple of days worth and pay out of pocket, I'm sure my doctor would call in an rx for me.

Hopefully now I can relax a little bit and get some rest.

Thanks again!
Linda

[GSDgirl]

It is times like these that I regret tossing my last 4 riba's in the trash.  I didn't know that I was suppose to take them after the last shot so I didn't.  I am surprised that you are having a problem with caremark as I never did and my doc didn't have to keep refaxing my scripts, thank goodness because I know that I would have been in your boat.  Good Luck.

Denise

[LindaC1207]

Actually it's not scripts that need to be faxed, it's authorizations I believe and after talking with Caremark last night, come to find out that it's my insurance company that's not authorizing payment of my meds and for the life of me, I don't know why.

I will be calling my liver doctor in less than an hour, hopefully I'll get to the bottom of it.  I'm just worried about missing a day and a half of Ribaviran and how much it will affect my treatment.  I'm hoping to find a pharmacy somewhere near me that has them.

Linda

[LindaC1207]

Just spoke with my doctor's assistant and the authorization is still sitting on her desk.  She was at the hospital all day yesterday and looks like all day today too!  Her assistant is going to text message her that I have no meds left.  If she doesn't fill it out and fax it back today, then I'm without Ribaviran all week too, so that will be 4 days.

I can't deal with all this stress, it's making me nuts.  If I don't get any meds, should I still do my shot of interferon tomorrow night?  How much will missing 4-5 days of Riba set me back.  Does anyone know the answer to this question?

Thanks for listening to me vent!
Linda

[Rockerforlife]

Cant you go to the doctors office personally and demand for the autorization to be proberly filled out and sent..cant you maybe get them to fill it out and you could send it in yourself...id be in there at the docs office right away...your life depends on this stuff....why do we have to go tru all this bull....when we have every legal right to proper tx.....I JUST CANT BELIEVE IT...i hate to say this....but it does look like you are getting the red tape...run around....is it legal to have someone mail you some extra RIBA?

[nygirl7]

I simply don't understand why the doctor himself (herself) can't handle this considering how crucial it is.  My docs NPs did everything but believe me if I called and he got this message he would move hell or highwater.

Jim is right - if you can get the doc to even just call you in a few days worth (it is EXPENSIVE) somebody MUST have some in stock.  Especially a chain like CVS that is so big - they usually can call around and find something if they run out.

ONe time my authorization didn't go through for some stupid reason and I was freaking out too - unfortunately it is a hard lesson to learn that you really do always have to make sure you have an extra week in the fridge BEFORE you try to refill.  It's happened to a lot of us.

Thank God though it's Friday you do have some time. I would get BACK on the phone and ask that nurse why the doc himself can't get involved in this? It's FRIDAY he can't let you go all weekend without the riba!

I wish I had some left but tx'd two years ago or I would send them overnight to you but I gave mine away years ago.  I had TONS left.

Somebody on here must have a couple they can stick in the fedex so at least you'd have them tomorrow!

Will try to keep this at the top just in case.

Get tough - call them BACK and nicely ask them to get either your doc or another doc or another assistant or SOMEBODY THE HELL ELSE TO GET THIS DONE!

[Marcia2202]

What a bummer... If I was in the US, I would send you some of mine. Maybe someone can send some you and you could return it once you have gotten yours. Don't you have like overnight shipping in the US?

[justme53]

I have a problem every time I go to refill. Even though I'm to take the meds for a year, I have to get prior authorization each and every time I refill. I'm thinking this is because with my insurance co. based on their formulary/non-formulary drug status. So two weeks before I need them, I need to start jumping throught the hoops, so they can begin their faxing back and forth and hopefully in a week's time, I can pick them up.

Does the Dr. office have any around for emergencies?

Good luck, Pam

[Rockerforlife]

Can i send some your way...i dont know if i can...im in a trial and they do count the pills....if i was treating on my own and i have extra....I WOULD MAIL YOU SOME

[Proactive]

CVS...(first post got lost!) I was stuck in Memphis last year dealing with delayed flights home. I was afraid I would run out of riba if I was delayed for multiple days...I called CVS and they gave me a 3 day emergency supply of riba--with no script...Well, they didn't :give" it to me...cost me $168 for 24 fricken pills!!! but I didn't miss a dose...I would call them immediately

[Kathy73]

I can send some to you tomorrow by fed ex.

[HectorSF]

I have almost a full bottle of Copegus. 100+ pills.

LindaC1207:
Kathy73 is closer to you...But if you need  Copegus, I have 200MG, pink. They are from April 08 when I stopped treatment. Yes this stuff is expensive so I rather give them away then let them go to waste.

You should be fine as far as your treatment is concerned but get them in the next few days somehow.

justme53:
If you need some Copegus to act as a buffer between reorders I can send you some too.

I am in San Francisco.
HectorSF

[LindaC1207]

All you guys are great, thank you so much for all these offers of sending me some meds.  The Ribaviran was shipped overnight and I'll be getting it today, there's still a hold on the Interferon but I have one injection for tonight so I'm okay for a week, hopefully everything will be ironed out by my next dose.  In fact, come to find out that Caremark could have shipped the Ribaviran out when I ordered it, there wasn't a hold on them, only the Pegysus, do you believe this, they told me that they don't like to split the shipments up, they'd rather ship them together.  

Anyway, I'll only have missed one day, which the doctor said wasn't a problem.  My question is, when I get home later today, somewhere around 5:00 pm, can I take 3 pills right away and then take 2 more 4-5 hours later?

Thanks again everyone!
Linda

[nygirl7]

YAY!  YAY!  YAY!

Take the 3 pills as soon as you can then go back on your regular schedule.  Taking five at once really won't give you any benefit and you don't want to be up all night.  You should be just fine seeing as the riba should be still floating around in there.....thank God for it's long half life!

You see what a complete pain these doctors/insurance companies are now and you've learned a really important lesson and passed the test of faith with flying colors Linda.  Next time something comes up just remember and approach it just like you did this.

And talk to that stupid doctor and make him see what YOU had to go through and how you CANT go through it again!

GREAT NEWS I AM SO GLAD FOR YOU.

[can-do-man]

Just my thoughts but after already missing one whole day i would take the 3 as soon as i could then take the other 2 at least 4 to 6 hours later. Taking 2 more later sure won't hurt you and there might come a time you have to miss a dose. If i have them i take them.......Good luck

[HectorSF]

Great news you are back on track!
One day shouldn't have any effect. You are good to go.

Cheers!
HectorSF