Vet Refusing to Submit Prescription to Online Pharmacy

[spac]

Because of the Coronavirus, my vet clinic is refusing to submit to online pharmacies because of how long it takes to submit a fax. They're telling clients to use their own online pharmacy, which would cost me at least $13.50 extra to use. That may not seem like a big deal to most people, but it is to me. I already live very frugally in order to care for a colony of feral cats. $13.50 can buy one 15 lb. bag of food for these cats.

State law indicates the following: Unprofessional conduct: Refusing to release a copy of a valid prescription upon request from an owner, unless there are medical reasons documented in the patient record and the veterinarian would not dispense the medication from his own practice.

Does that mean that the veterinary clinic is required by law to send the prescription to an online pharmacy? The wording is kind of confusing. The part where it states, "unless there are medical reasons documented in the patient record and the veterinarian would not dispense the medication from his own practice." Does that mean that if they sell the medication there, they don't have to submit it online? Or does that mean something else?

BTW, I was there the day before they told me this and they were NOT busy.

 

[verna davies]

I take a photo of the prescription and email it to the online supplier. Are you able to do that?

 

[spac]

Chewy.com's website indicates that prescriptions for medications must be sent via mail. Veterinarians can of course fax it in. Getting a paper prescription would also require me to go to the vet clinic. I don't want to go out unless it's an emergency.

 

[fionasmom]

I order from Chewy and my vet is well able to provide me with the same prescriptions but has never balked at putting in the Chewy order.

That last part of the statement seems to mean, at least to me, that if the vet would not dispense the med because of some professional reason they do not have to comply. Won't bore you with the story, but one of my GSDs was in an experimental program and the initial vet would not dispense the meds because they did not believe it would be effective, despite the fact that he lived 2 years longer.

I had also thought that a valid prescription was the possession of the patient. How long does it take to submit a fax? Am I not getting something here?

One of my cats goes to a vet who is great but the office staff are all working off one brain cell. I have had to lean on them to get prescriptions faxed properly.

 

[LTS3]

Because of the Coronavirus, my vet clinic is refusing to submit to online pharmacies because of how long it takes to submit a fax.

A fax doesn't take long to do All you do is insert the paper into the machine, enter the fax number, and press send. It may take a few minutes if the receiving end is busy. The vet staff doesn't need to sit and wait around for the fax to go through.

 

[stephanietx]

If the vet hasn't submitted a prescription before, I say this is really uncalled for. Did you submit the request through the online pharmacy? I would start looking for a different, more cooperative vet.

 

[DreamerRose]

I've ordered flea meds online, which requires a prescription, but the website - PetMeds - said they would contact the vet. They have slots for you to fill in the vet's contact information. Try that - it should work.

 

[Jcatbird]

If you have a way to print it out yourself, would the vet text or email it to you? I think I would make sure the vet understands that you are providing are for many and this is important to you. Sometimes they don’t realize that the cost can make a big difference to those of us who do rescue and feral or colony work. My vet has come to understand that I work with a lot of kitties and they now offer help that they didn’t when I just had a couple of indoor residents. Sometimes it’s just a communication problem on their end.

 

[LTS3]

Chewy.com's website indicates that prescriptions for medications must be sent via mail.

A thought.... Why can't the vet just mail the prescription in if faxing supposedly takes too long? Or email you the prescription and you mail or fax it to Chewy yourself. USPS carriers will pick up outgoing mail from your mail box and take it to the post office. Is the prescription for something your cat needs daily and you're running low? See if Chewy's customer service can help.

 

[di and bob]

I would talk to the vet personally. Sometimes it is a lot easier to refuse when you talk to the staff. I have had them refuse to give me a prescription, talked to the vet, and got one. Hear in their own words why not. if they refuse, there are many other vets out there. If you have had a prescription before, there is no reason you can't have a paper copy now.

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

"Because of the Coronavirus, my vet clinic is refusing to submit to online pharmacies because of how long it takes to submit a fax."
Not getting the logic here? Faxing something does not impose risk on a person to develop the illness if they have a clean working office. They would be imposing more risk on themselves and clients to force them to come in/go out in order to get the prescriptions. One can even simply use smart phones to "scan" a document. It takes 30 seconds to do so and send as an attachment in an email. It sounds like since they want you to use their online pharmacy (I'm assuming they ship the script to you then?) they are trying to make up for loss in revenue from the fact that everyone has to reduce exposure and thus less appointments/routine appointments.

Sorry they are giving you this trouble and I hope it gets worked out.

 

[jen]

The veterinary clinic I currently work at, and ones have worked at in the past have used prescription paper that has a security print on it to make it unable to be faxed or copied.

If you are wanting to use any online pharmacy, including Chewy, we require you to pick up or be mailed a physical prescription so you can do with it as you wish (as in, submit it to any online pharmacy). We don't vouch for ANY online pharmacies due to the fact that we have no idea where that medication comes from, and whether it is expired, improperly dated, counterfeit, or stored in the wrong conditions making it ineffective.

Some people get really angry about this, but we don't want to tell you your pet needs this special medication, and you find it imported from overseas, after expiring and being relabeled, for a fraction of the cost, and it harms your pet and we get held liable without proper proof of the quality or validity of the medication.

 

[jen]

That being said... "because it takes so long to fax..." is a ridiculous excuse. Maybe say there could be a slight delay, we ask for 24 hours. But come on, that is a bad excuse.

 

[spac]

Like I said in my original post, they were telling clients this due to COVID-19. They're short-staffed because several of their employees have kids and with the schools closed they can't find childcare (probably should have thought about this when they had the kids - what do they do on snow days or during the summer?). Normally the clinic has no problems with submitting prescriptions online.

The problem has been taken care of. I got my cousin to post on the clinic's Facebook page about how, "if you have time to use Facebook and ask clients to submit pet photos on Facebook, you have time to submit online prescriptions." After that other clients started agreeing and so they started submitting the online prescriptions again. I don't think they're that busy, I think it comes down to poor work ethic and being unable to multitask on the part of the techs and receptionists. Sadly, it's a common problem nowadays.

 

[DreamerRose]

I call that crowd-influencing.

 

[Jcatbird]

I’m very glad you got the problem solved.