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.
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