Readers. Use this page to leave a message. Newest comments appear at the bottom.
More places to "leave a message" and read what others say about Raj's fight for justice. . . Click these links!
National Public Radio WMNF.org
Drug Monkey. A pharmacist's blog
FARK - an offbeat news service (112 messages posted!)
Thank you readers. RB RPh
ReplyDeleteI tried to send you a comment earlier this morning, but my google password went bad. Try again later if this goes through
ReplyDeleteHi Raj: I would like to commend you on your stand against Medco. I have been following your hunger strike for six weeks. It is absolutely unconscionable to demand a pharmacist toput their clients at risk simply because Mr. Snow has more love or his almighty dollar than the safety of patients. I presume you are on a liquid strike since you certainly are holding your own. Keep it that way. No on will gain unless you keep your health. I followed you on Google while I was researching on hunger strikes myself. I have been on a liquid hunger strike since August 15th in protest of exploitation of the brain injured. I have a group on Facebook under: "Hunger Strike against Exploitation of the Brain Injured." I have started to post my bio/docu how a TBI impaired can lose 25 years of their life thanks to the ignorance, negligence of a hospital and its doctors. My email address: bentongraf@aol.com Tomorrow I just might send Mr. Snow a letter what I think about his greed over safety. Take care of yourself. I will keep following your progress and ultimately success in a change of Medco's policies. Maria Benton
ReplyDeleteBy Maria Benton on Why Medco CEO David Snow Should Step Down. on 9/11/10
Perhaps Medco has responded to Raj Bhat's protest because my experience with them is very long lapses of time between receipt of an order and its shipping date. These delays have never been less than ten days and for several prescriptions now run to over two weeks. Medco's actions appear consistent with business decisions that put quality health care below efficiency to improve profitability. Moreover, in my experience repeated phone calls with Medco result in contradictory or incorrect information. The service people should not be faulted for not knowing how to pronounce drugs' names, but they should be able to provide consistent information, especially on how 'scheduled' drugs must be handled. Knowing about problems with the pharmacists now makes Medco appear to be a threat to an individual's health status. For more on the plight of the pharmacists, google: IndyStar Medco. Thanks to Mr Bhat for taking a stand.
ReplyDeleteBy ChuckJones on Day 50. on 8/24/10
You are an inspiraton to all pharmacists.
ReplyDeleteBy Anonymous on RPh Messages on 8/21/10
The main issue here is patient safety. Leaving the company is not going to solve the problem.
ReplyDeleteBy Anonymous on Letter to the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy on 8/17/10
this issue easy to solve once pharmacist stopped working for medco or similar companies . Go Independent, To be able to express your professional judgment , first become independent practitioner, its very hard to make there because of the corporate pharmacies .once you agree to become slave of Medco what did you expect, they hold all the power because of pharmacists like you who would slave for stable biweekly paycheck. Hunger strike will not help to resolve the issue
ReplyDeleteBy Anonymous on Letter to the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy on 8/17/10
Raj, I pray for your health and safety. More power to you. I am Medco RPh from NJ. You are an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteBy Anonymous on Letter to the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy on 8/16/10
Raj, you can upload your videos on CNN ireport. You need to be heard.
ReplyDeleteBy Anonymous on Day 34 on 8/10/10
Being a (retired) College of Pharmacy faculty for over 25 years, I am keenly aware of the Pharmacists Oath and how retail pharmacists working at chain drug stores struggle with the pressure of filling more and more prescriptions per day, at the same time trying to avoid or catch any prescription errors and fraud by checking with the prescribers. The "quotas" at Medco for pharmacists and technicians definitely borders on the breach of the Pharmacists Oath of ethical responsibility taken by pharmacists. Continued use of this kind of pressure because of "highest profits by all means" policy of corporate America will surely gives rise to more madications errors and adverse consequences to the patient population. It also erodes the reputation of pharmacy profession being the most trusted of all the professions including the clergy. We all need to support Raj's peaceful means of protest and help this important cause by speaking out and drawing attention of the national media and regulating bodies.
ReplyDeleteBurde Kamath, Ph.D.
By burde on For Immediate Release on 8/9/10
If you were that unhappy with the work environment, why would you even stay working there? Wasn't there plenty of other businesses hiring pharmacists? If you couldn't handle working at a rate near the group average then why not find a better job? There are plenty of pharmacists at Medco who can easily handle working at or above the group average.
ReplyDeleteBy Current Medco Pharmacist on A Letter to Medco. A Reply from Raj Bhat RPh. on 7/29/10
You hungry yet??
ReplyDeleteBy Anonymous on A Letter to Medco. A Reply from Raj Bhat RPh. on 7/20/10
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Bhat, I work in similar settings as yours. While I understand your concern regarding unreasonable productivity targets, I am greatly concerned about your health and approach. I think you have lots of courage in doing what you are doing. Physicians have cut down their appointment times to 15-20 mins with patients. These criteria are used in almost every healthcare settings, anesthesiologists are critical care physicians and they are also compelled to keep up with the Operating Room Schedules. I urge you to take care of your health and spend your energy in continue to fight the system for pt safety in other ways.
ReplyDeleteBy Anonymous on Day 10 - Hurry Up and Get Well Soon on 7/14/10
good cause and all...BUT hunger strike is not going to work.Medco has done many good things for patients i have not heard to much about Medco killing people as of late. I honestly can not begin to understand how you are still typing these blogs and have any energy if you have not eaten in 90 plus. I do not believe this will change anything! I hate to say it but the world unfortunately doesn't care enough even if this was as big of a issue as you think. If so many prescriptions are wrong and need verified numerous times and called out on im thinking the Dr's or medical staff need to get there shit together too. I think they should pay more attention when writing a prescription. This is not a nice place and it is only getting worse from here. I do not wish harm on you or anyone but you might die (i cant believe you are not dead already) but if this happens i do not think it will even make a ripple. Please stop not eating get your energy back and fight the right way. if you do that it may be a longer battle but you will have more time here on the planet to fight it. best wishes
ReplyDeletenot eating and death...nanana google says...
Medical Doctors
Commonly cite 4 to 6 weeks without food
10 Political Prisoners in Ireland
Lived 46 to 73 days before succumbing to lack of food
Many war prisoners
Lived 28 to 40 days with no food
World War II concentration camps
With only 300 to 600 calories per day, many thousands did not have enough food to survive more than a few months at best.
Terminally Ill patients
Live 10-days to 3-weeks without food depending upon initial heath
Obese
Can live from 3-weeks up to 25-weeks and more without food depending upon initial health and amount of fat
Mahatma Gandhi
Survived a 3-week fast while in his 70's
My various well wishers have constantly expressed concerns about my physical status during the course of this long fight. I have already lost about one third of my body weight since I started this fast. I drink water, salts, Calcium, potassium, Iron; multivitamins and mineral supplements to keep me hydrated, and keep my plumbing pipes working properly. My drinking these basic nutritional elements, though they have no caloric value also give some degree of comfort to my family members and well wishers. My body is using remaining fat stores (which are constantly depleting) to generate glucose for energy. I can still walk around a little at a time. From time to time, I experience weakness in my legs, my arms and in my voice and have also experienced bouts of black-outs and fainting sensations. During those times, I listen to what my body tells me; stop even those minimal physical activities and lay down to recover from the edge of exhaustion. I prefer to talk less and less to conserve my energy. I know, when my fat stores get totally depleted, my body will have challenges in generating glucose for energy and at that point the water and supplements I am taking, will not help much to keep me alive for long.
ReplyDeleteMr.Tegan is right about his observations of the ultimate Mortal Truth of a fasting person’s future without food. That is acceptable to me even if any one opines it will not make a ripple. What is not acceptable to me is defying dictates my own conscience which I have explained in detail in “My Final Message”
This is continuation of my previous comment.
ReplyDeleteThis typing on my key board that used to be relatively easier before, is increasingly taking a lot out of me, in relation to sequencing my thoughts and placing them in proper order. I do this a few sentences at a time. Every day when I wake up, I am thankful for being alive. I appreciate the opportunity presented by every single positive minute to fight for this cause. I disregard the physical discomfort and do not allow it to come in my way. I constantly try to stimulate my mind and keep it active via positive thoughts and analyzing the day-to-day developments and reinforcing them into my beliefs and convictions. My fight gets basic strength from my beliefs and convictions and is based on matters of undeniable Facts, and Truth, by every reasonable, logical, commonsense objective standard. It is not based on my subjective opinions.
Completion of my recent postings, “My Final Message”, “Justice Delayed and Justice Denied” took me almost 2 months to complete. Thanks to my spokesperson, Ms. Hudson’s tremendous efforts in relation to processing my communications, proof reading and placing them on my blog.
I am responding to Mr. Tegan’s comments. On the one hand he has expressed frustration and apparent helplessness when he mentions, THIS IS NOT A NICE PLACE and IT IS ONLY GETTING WORSE from here.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of talk about the country and planet we are leaving behind for the next generation. “Nothing will change” sort of defeatist attitude and accepting the injustice with a sense of resignation will not improve the situation. It will only make it worse. Now that we have lived our good lives for past twenty years or more, as Citizens of our generation, should we take an approach that the social concerns such as these have not adversely impacted us or our families directly so far.. and hence, let us continue our so called good life the way it is without doing our bit to fight the wrong? Should we embrace the attitude that future generation of our kids be damned and let them fend for themselves when they come to deal with it?
On the other hand, he mentions about MEDCO DOING GOOD THINGS for patients and he has not heard much about MEDCO KILLING PEOPLE as of late. I do not know whether he is expressing this opinion on the basis of his experience and objective facts as a Medco Patient or as a Medco Pharmacist. Or he may be doing so, on the basis of his subjective perception, unaware of (or not wanting to know) the facts. Or he may be doing so, as a Medco defender for his own reasons.
In any case, I would like the readers to get the actual facts about Medco from the link under THE COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT-BAD SERVICE REPORTS @ MEDCO "PUBLIC RECORDS” on my blog and VARIOUS OTHER WEB-SITES of actual experience of Medco patients. You can read the feelings of helplessness in relation to erroneous medications dispensed to these Medco patients. On INDYSTAR blog, one patient had expressed that Medco was not even acknowledging the fact that she was dispensed a wrong medication. Let alone take corrective action to replace it with the correct Medication. Like so many of the DUI victims we do not hear about, (except when a known celebrity is involved), victims of a fatal Medco Error get hospitalized and die inside the corridors of a hospital and not in front of viewing public at large.
This is continuation of my previous comment.
ReplyDeleteWILL THIS ISSUE BECOME BIG to Mr.Tegan or for that matter any one else among us, only when HE/WE BECOME THE ACTUAL VICTIMS OF SUCH MEDICATION ERRORS? When such a personal tragedy happens, is he or any person in that position not going to blame a pharmacist like me and all others who had inside knowledge of these dangerous Practices…. and still did nothing to expose them?
Both the Doctors' offices and Pharmacies have to carry out their responsibilities in the interest of the patients. Doctors have the responsibility to write prescriptions clearly if they choose to HAND WRITE. All the same, Doctors’ illegible hand writing should not be used as an excuse by Medco or its defenders to justify Medco’s Business Practices of not allowing Pharmacists enough time to check prescriptions completely and accurately or penalizing Pharmacists for seeking Doctor Call clarifications. Medco’s primary Business is to dispense medications by processing prescriptions safely. How can Medco or any one of its defenders approving these Medco Practices assert that it is doing so many good things, and providing Quality of Care in its Business slogan when as a matter fact it allows less than 25 seconds to its Pharmacists to check a prescription entered by a Technician and places them in an untenable situation to commit errors. I CHALLENGE MEDO TO TESTIFY UNDER OATH and REFUTE the FACT about 25 SECONDS PER PRESCRIPTION as NOT TRUE. It is up to the readers to make an informed judgment as to whether following Medco’s own SOP, (standard operation Procedure) it is humanly possible for any conscientious and efficient pharmacist to completely and accurately check prescription info in less than 25 seconds without committing errors.
On Oct 17, 2010, I read a Washington Post article titled, “For many foreclosure processors, speed equaled money, rewards, penalties imposed for moving slowly” by Arlana Cha and Zachary Goldfarb. It states that, ‘Law firms competed with one another…and were paid for volume, so they processed as many as they could, leaving little time to read the paperwork and catch errors. … The system was so automated and so inflexible that once a foreclosure process began, homeowners and consumers advocates say, there was often no way to stop it…. This was a systemic problem…and pervasive and everyone knew about it. ---Speed and profit were emphasized over fairness to homeowners”. Now the state and federal law enforcement officials are conducting a fraud investigation.
ReplyDeleteSimilar situation exists at this time at Medco Health Solutions, one of the largest mail order pharmacies in the United States, says Raj Bhat in his blog. Speed and profits are emphasized over pharmacists sworn duty to patients and their safety by imposing a quota system.
In the corporate interests of perceived efficiency and profits, does a pharmacist have to ignore his sworn oath to put their patients first and be just a technical robot without applying professional judgment and ones own conscience? Does a conscientious pharmacist like Raj Bhat, has to resort to a hunger strike jeopardizing his health and his life? Do many more patients like Emily Jerry have to die from incorrectly dispensed medications before authorities investigate the grave danger to the public and put a stop to this dangerous practice?
Now is the time to action before people we know suffer from wrongly dispensed meds.
Burde L. Kamath, Ph.D. Retired Faculty of Pharmacy,
Dear Raj ,
ReplyDeleteGoing through a lot of comments , more than 500 of them in various forums ( or fora ) , I can summarize reactions to your hunger-strike as :
1. Appreciation and even awe that you are morally courageous enough to take on a billion dollar giant.
2. That you are crazy to endanger your life , when you can at the least just walk away and live your own life
I have yet to see any significant support by way of people who have suffered because of Medco's practices ; this is THE reason for your hunger-strike , that Medco , by its practices , is endangering the life of its patients.
In view of this , don't you think your struggle is a private one ? Your apprehension that lots of patients may suffer or even die because of Medco's practices , does not seem to resonate with the thousands who have read about your protests , seen your interviews on television or by word of mouth heard about you.
I think by living a virtuous life , you can certainly earn good karma for yourself and your near and dear.
Giving up your life , in a cause which not many people think important enough to raise their voices for , I think you should have second thoughts on continuing your protest.
Stopping your hunger strike at this stage is not a sign of defeat ; you can continue to raise your voice and rally people around you in the years to come. Hopefully then , you will live to see the fruits of your struggle.
Continuing your hunger-strike till the ultimate end , may earn you and your family good karma in subsequent births , but is your objective earning good karma or winning the war against Medco ?
Please rethink.
It is fascinating to know that Mr/Ms. Well-wisher had reviewed more than 500 comments about my fight in various forums. I did not know that there were so many comments posted about my fight. This number of 500, even by conservative estimates should extrapolate to at least tens of thousands of actual readers of those published articles, blogs and radio interviews. I appeal to Mr/Ms. Well-wisher to share the source of all these forums/blogs for the benefit of all the readers of our blog here.
ReplyDeleteThe blogs and aricles/interviews which we are aware of have been posted on this blog for readers to make their own judgment about the facts and Truth about this case. Significant majority of the readers have clearly understood the facts presented by the interviews and have been forthcoming with their support via their various comments and messages. Current as well as former Medco Pharmacists via their comments on various blogs/messages have substantiated the existence of Quota System and how these dangerous Medco Practices increase Medication errors. I have provided the actual facts and figures of increased Medication Errors committed by Medco attributed to these Practices (on this blog as well as to the reporters). MEDCO HAS NOT DISPUTED ANY OF THESE FIGURES with me or with the Press. Medco has been committing any where between 10-40 times more numbers of REPORTED Medication Errors since 2003. When more and more such errors are committed it damages patient health and safety of more and more number of Medco Patients,(in direct correlation to Millions of Prescriptions dispensed every year). United Steel Workers Union which oversees Medco facilities all over the US also has same concerns about patient safety attributed to what it terms as UNREASONABLE PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS.
The question arises as to why Mr/Ms. Well-wisher, (purportedly playing a role of my sympathizer) is dismissing and disregarding the Truth in the form of facts and figures as enumerated on this blog as well as in all those published articles/interviews/blogs? Why is he/she focused only on talking about his/her subjective assessment of more than 500 comments he/she has reviewed and why is he/she attempting to misrepresent or spin this public safety issue? Why he/she is hiding himself/herself in the garb of an empathetic screen name WELL-WISHER and not exhibiting the conviction to identify himself/herself via his/her real name? Is reviewing of 500 comments, disregarding the facts and casting aspersions on me just a part of his/her Medco Assignment of damage control to mislead the Public?
There are no words to thank someone willing to go so far for justice.
ReplyDeleteOur democracy depends on our faith in justice. Our lives depend on justice itself.
Based on the following I have made a complaint to the FTC dated 11/2/10:
I am disabled due to an auto immune disease and neurological disorder. My scripts require 6 month reviews to be covered by Medco. This review is overdue although all the paperwork was filed by my Dr weeks ago. Medco hasn't made a judgment on my current case. Medco claims they have not received a single fax from my Dr's office. ( Dr's office faxed 5+ times, and Dr. personally faxed once). The problem of so many 'lost' faxes has happened to me before.
Within two weeks I will be out of money for my meds and have to be hospitalized. I will also be about $20,000 in debt for which I may have to remortgage our family home.
Several sources aver that Medco employees regularly throw out prescriptions and faxes that will require extra time to process so they can make their unreasonable quotas. The company and its senior officers are aware of this practice. Medco has been repeatedly prosecuted for this practice by both federal and state governments. They have been prosecuted and fined for many other crimes; fraud, negligence, kickbacks and more.
In every prosecuted case, our government has traded the public's health and safety for cash. All the agreements include the phrase that "Medco did not admit to any wrongdoing." By this one phrase, they have made it almost impossible for those harmed or relatives of those killed to win civil suits and legally impossible to hold Medco's directors criminally liable for their behavior. Medco has racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in fines since 2000. A slap on the wrist since they make billions in profit, record profits for 2010 Q3.
As per the 2006 settlement agreement with the government, AG-324916,
"The United States alleges that Medco ....
• (i) Canceling, destroying or re-entering prescriptions into ... system to report a later and inaccurate prescription " receive date"... for the purpose of... avoiding contractual penalties;
• (v) For unfilled prescriptions delivered from one Medco facility to another for processing, falsely recording ... date of receipt, rather than the actual date the prescription was first received by Medco;
Case No. 99-CV-2332 4
• (vii) Canceling prescriptions without a valid reason using a stop cancel code " STCXL" in combination with reason code " CX999" ;
• (viii) Canceling prescriptions for which no record exists in Medco' s Protocol Management Database (PMD); .......
• (x) Canceling prescriptions in doctor call, drug utilization review (" DUR" ) and other areas in the pharmacy without making an attempt to clarify the prescription with the physician or patient."
I have had problems with every Medco interaction. From what I have read, so have many of their other clients. I believe overwhelming evidence proves that Medco keeps costs down through pain, misery, and ultimately killing their sickest and costliest clients.
The Law Reform Commission of New South Wales offers:
• "Corporate crime poses a significant threat to the welfare of the community. Given the pervasive presence of corporations in a wide range of activities in our society, and the impact of their actions on a much wider group of people than are affected by individual action, the potential for both economic and physical harm caused by a corporation is great."
Similarly, Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman (1999) assert:
• "given the absence of political control today, corporations serve to destroy the foundations of the civic community and the lives of people who reside in them."
My prayers are with you and all who are now suffering or have suffered from Medco's criminal activities and corporate greed.
As of Monday, January 17, 2011, Raj has suspended his 28 week long hunger strike for now with a glass of orange juice, to prepare and start afresh the second stage of this non-violent peaceful protest. The developments in the last couple of months have vindicated his belief and convictions as relates to the necessity for having started and to continue this moral fight.
ReplyDeleteDuring the last 2-3 months due to physical constraints, he has not been able to communicate on this blog, with his concerned supporters and out of town family members. He could not communicate with the members of the press and the public interest and advocacy groups to update more about his ongoing fight. He intends to use this intervening period to regain some physical strength to enable him to process leads and evidentiary data and bridge this communication gap.
Raj’s health has deteriorated significantly. He is now very thin and bony in physical appearance. We massage his arms, legs and back to help him cope with muscle stiffness and rigidity. He is also coping with head ache, dry mouth, stomach distress and pain in his hip area. He has had problems in tolerating intake of multivitamins and mineral supplements. Due to stomach intolerance he also had to reduce the amount of water he can consume and combat his way out to maintain stomach health. He disregards all the physical discomfort and has remained positive in his spirits and thoughts. All along he wanted the focus on the Truth related to Facts of this Public Interest issue and not on his physical discomfort and well being. Also he did not want his friends, well wishers and out of town family members to experience panic and anxiety attributed to knowing more details of his deteriorated health.
Despite loss of significant strength in his legs, he still walks a little every day to the extent possible to ensure physical mobility. He continues to be clear in his thinking, strives to accompany us and participate in carrying out various family responsibilities and the decision making process. All along, it has been his wish that we, the rest of the family members on our home front here eat well, remain strong mentally, stay positive in our thought process, have a sense of humor in our conversations and carry on with the day-to-day academic and other activities normally as usual with calmness, strength and composure. Though this has not been easy, we understand the need to be upbeat and positive. We have respected his wishes. His beliefs and convictions to do the Right Thing despite heavy odds are a source of strength to all of us. We see this as a miracle and it is very clear to us that an aura of divine grace, strength emanating from the dual pillars of non-violence and peace, prayers from supporters and family members have protected him and kept him alive. He strongly believes that the past 28 weeks have been an exercise of redemption and spiritual atonement for all the family units that make up our Society at large towards achieving social justice.
We take this opportunity to thank all our supporters, well-wishers and out of town family members and members of the press, our spokesperson, Ms. Dawn Hudson and family, our Attorney, Mr. Randall Reder and family for their best wishes and their support to bring this cause to the attention of public at large.
Posted by Raj Bhat’s Family in Tampa
January 17, 2011
I think Well-Wisher's closing line about Karma is a jab about your ethnic origins, Mr. Bhat. That's my impression, because the seemingly-neutral tone of the comment combined with the "it's hopeless and probably your own struggle" message registers as patronizing and belittling.
ReplyDeleteI posted about your predicament on one of my blogs and would be really happy to get an update from you as of today, April 11th, 2011. Even if there are no updates I would be pleased to interview me for my blog, which is about public affairs, current events and all the lovely corruption and chicanery that gets inflicted on working people this last decade.
I do agree that a hunger strike may not be your best option---if that's what that person was saying. What does seem to work in these David-and-Goliath struggles is uniting against Goliath. Maybe the United Steel Workers can help--now that the lunatics are trying to bust the unions, they may be picking their battles right now. Safety in numbers, if not publicity. Don't expect coverage from network or cable news-they are thouroughly corrupt. Go to the newspapers with your story. Smaller newspapers with an editorial bent toward patient issues, such as you might find in retirement towns, might be a good place to start.
Please email anytime at legacy-86800@mypacks.net.
Best Wishes
C Burkey
Pleased to interview YOU for my blog, not "me." ;)
ReplyDeleteOh, by the way, Medco customers (I am one) --here's how to get around that horrible phone tree they have that routes you nowhere for literally hours if you make it that long. At least once I gave up because I could not find a way to get to a representative.
ReplyDeleteHere's how to get a representative: when the robot asks you why you're calling, in a few words, just say clearly: "I have a problem."
Bingo! That got me through to an operator within minutes. They sure don't give you that option on the phone tree.
Medco's surprise present to me was a 250.oo copay on my name-brand meds unless I order by mail. Apparently this was changed at the beginning of the year. My carrier, Aftra health plans, told me that "everybody is doing this now."
That is, penalizing (that was the word) customers for getting brand name meds. In my case, there is no generic for the medication. Period. So I have to get brand name meds for my chronic condition. And now I can't get them at my local store unless I want to pay 250.oo a month.
I like my pharmacy, but I guess it has to be mail order. I have no other option.