You're right, I am not a medical doctor. I am a doctor of pharmacy. And what I explained falls within the scope of my practice. I am not trying to facilitate any drama or negativity.
Hey there! I am a pharmacist and I hope that I can clear up a few things I see in this thread! Please don't downvote the hell outta me, I really am on your side!!!!
It is not a HIPPA violation to include a diagnosis code on a prescription. There is an input field on eRx applications for providers to place it in. For example, it is a requirement to place a diagnosis code in for Medicare Part B standards for diabetic testing equipment. To be honest, I really appreciate it in my daily practice when doctors do include Dx Codes; there are many drugs that are contraindicated with certain disease states (like giving Wellbutrin to someone with a seizure disorder), so it makes my clinical judgement clearer when filling and clarifying scripts. I don't know where you live, and quite frankly that isn't my business. But I do know that a lot of blue states are placing in executive orders to limit HCQ use. Here in NY Fredo's brother did such and I get a "warning" screen to validate diagnosis with each fill. But your pharmacist should have seen your fill history and signed off on it, or called the doctor to get clarification if they were really unsure without you having to be denied a fill completely. Pharmacists have a right to deny a prescription if they do not feel comfortable to fill it, it is part of our rights as providers. We go to school for six years and learn far more about medications than the doctors do, we are the drug experts and they are the diagnostic experts. I feel quite bad for you, if you were my patient I definitely would not have let that happen! There should be no place for politics in medicine, and I am quite ashamed that they are pushing policy to restrict well-studied medications from the public. HCQ can cause cardiotoxicity, but patients who are high-risk are given an ECG at baseline and periodically during long-term therapy. It can also cause visual problems as well. But overall, it is our safest drug option in lupus and rheumatoid arthritis (versus utilizing something like methotrexate or azathioprine). When used short-term (like for malaria) the monitoring is not ever really warranted.
God bless all of you fellow patriots! MAGA!
Pharmacies make their money by reimbursement rates set by the pharmacy benefit managers (PBM). The reimbursement rate often includes a dispensing/counseling fee built into it (so if you ever get a new medication and decline to get counseled on it that is money you just lost). PBMs are companies hired by insurance companies to set medication formularies, and provide a bunch of other services to the member. Since big chains like CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart own PBMs, they cap the reimbursement rates to the point where sometimes an independent pharmacy will lose money on a script depending on the price of the drug. The big chains are killing off the mom and pop stores this way. Drug prices are so high in the US mainly for 3 reasons; 1. the PBM negotiations increase price (you add in a middle man to the equation, everyone has to get paid), 2. free samples on many brand name medications drive up price significantly ( Eliquis, for example, gives out boxes of 14 tab samples to cardiologists like it is candy, and when the doctors stop giving patients samples and write them a script, patient adherence drops significantly), 3. Drug prices are often inflated in the US market to counteract the cheaper prices thar the manufacturers give to patients/pharmacies in poorer countries. There are plenty more reasons, that is a discussion that could be endless. But the moral of the story is that everyone's say (patients, manufacturers, pharmacies, insurance companies) are at the hands of the PBMs. Pharmacists are also trained to immunize, give eye exams for the DMV, give in depth diabetes education, take your blood pressure, etc. so some independent pharmacies are making up for the shortcomings offering these services and compounding medications that don't come manufactured on the market.