[Diabetes-talk] ScriptTalker, another discouraging development

[Tamera]

Mike,
 would you please share with us how you keep track of your prescriptions, 
the reorder number etc.?
 I do have a sighted husband but find I'd much prefer to take care of my own 
meds myself.. reorder, reading  script, the pamphlet etc.
 I know certain readers do OK for pamphlets, but the roundness of script 
bottles makes it difficult to get a good read on that info.
 It would be great to know how you successfully do this?
 Thanks so much!
 Tamera

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 6:26 PM
To: "'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] ScriptTalker, another discouraging development

> Julie:
>
> I realize that many on this list will disagree with me. However, that 
> never
> stopped me, so ...
>
> I never quite fathomed why so many folks find this such a problem. In
> general, we, the blind, must learn to handle printed material in our daily
> lives. Why? Because the world is structured for the sighted. The sighted 
> use
> print. Therefore, in order to function satisfactorily in the real world, 
> we,
> the blind, must find a way to deal with print. This means finding a way to
> read documents such as our mail and legal documents that come our way. To 
> my
> way of thinking, this also means that we should find a way to get
> prescription information read to us and then find a way to mark the 
> bottles
> (as with your PenFriend) so that you can have the information at your
> fingertips.
>
> It doesn't surprise me that Envision America suddenly discovered that it 
> had
> to make money to survive and thus had to increase prices. I also don't 
> blame
> your pharmacist.
>
> There is this: if enough people find it impractical to return the 
> ScripTalk
> bottles, Envision America will not get many new orders and the product 
> will
> die no matter what.
>
> No one ever said blindness wasn't a nuisance.
>
> Mike Freeman
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie Kline
> Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 6:07 PM
> To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
> Subject: [Diabetes-talk] ScriptTalker, another discouraging development
>
> Good evening,
>
> I'd like to add my two cents to the topic of resolutions.  It's 
> discouraging
> that we have to deal with such a battle to get basic medical access taken
> care of.  There's a device that was being recommended by both consumer
> groups called the ScriptTalk prescription reader.  You had to use it at a
> participating pharmacy, but the nice thing about the machine was that you
> could read what was on your medication label independently and make sure 
> you
> were given the right medications at the right dosages.  There never was a
> local pharmacy in my area that participated in this program, but I did 
> find
> one here in New York state that did.  The arrangement worked out nicely 
> for
> a year or so and my medicines were mailed out.
>
> However, a couple of days ago, I learned that the company who makes the
> chips that the machine reads about tripled the costs for what pharmacies 
> pay
> to participate in this program.  My person I work with said that the 
> company
> chose to subsidize the machines for people who couldn't afford them, and 
> in
> doing the subsidy, the company decided to make up for the cost by charging
> the pharmacies more to participate in the program.  Now instead of 75 
> cents
> per chip, per bottle, the pharmacist now has to pay $3.75 per chip, per
> bottle.  My pharmacist talked to me about this and I was asked to ship my
> bottles back to him every few months so he could reuse the chips.  He said
> that was the only way he could afford to keep the program going, and even
> now he's considering dropping it.  In looking at this, I realized that I'd
> be paying a lot to ship the bottles back to him, not to mention the time
> involved in waiting for rides since there isn't a post office nor UPS 
> store
> on the way to anywhere for us.   I recognized I'd be spending more on
> shipping than my costs for what I'd pay at my local store (not to mention 
> my
> time), so now I'm forced to rely on a local pharmacy.  I have a pen friend
> system with the dots you can record information onto, but I just have to
> pray I'm given the right medicine in the right dose.  And I have to pray 
> too
> that the pharmacy will have the patience to read me that information month
> after month.  To tell the truth, it makes me nervous.  I have no way to
> check the bottles on my own now as we are both blind and have no available
> sighted assistance from friends or family.
>
> Not to bring anyone down, but I think if you are going to look at writing
> resolutions, this is another issue that really needs to be addressed.  At
> the least it's a discouraging development.  At most, for people who take
> high volumes of different medications, not knowing about dosages,
> interactions, or even mistaking which pill is what, could be life
> threatening.
>
> Julie
>
>
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