Friday, July 10, 2015

Freedom in America?

We took a short cut.  We ended up traveling through miles and miles of national grasslands.  The view seemed never ending and with the exception of a few campers, we were alone.  It was as beautiful as it was frightening.  The thought that continues to circle in my head was who would respond to a psychiatric emergency here?  As we continued towards civilization I had no idea I was headed towards a crisis in the west.  We arrived at the pristine ranch and I proceeded to call in my psychiatric prescription that my pharmacy couldn't fill in time for my departure.  We visited Mt. Rushmore then the next day I called to see if my prescription was ready.  The news was not what I expected- my routine med of the last 4 years had been discontinued by the manufacturer.  The news sent panic through my body and I called my prescriber.  I waited for 6 hours at least, before I started to worry she was on vacation.  I called urgent care, because my need was urgent- I had nothing left of my atypical antipsychotic.  The answer: we don't prescribe psychiatric meds.  They recommended primary care.  I called a family practice.  The answer: we can't do anything without your records.  Their recommendation was to call my doctor.  I searched for psychiatric hospitals and federally qualified health centers, only to be paralyzed with fear that that wouldn't work.  I began to realize the extent that healthcare is not integrated at all.  Above all if a smart reasonably intelligent woman can't easily obtain an urgent prescription fill to avoid a crisis- we are have a huge disparity and larger crisis at hand in our nation.  What happened to parity laws?  As I gaze at national symbols of freedom, I wonder what happened to my right to pursue happiness?  I finally called my family practice doctor back home, they called in a prescription for me for the  generic drug with words of trepidation that it was a controlled substance.  As I return from a breathtakingly beautiful trip I am aware- something is wrong in America.