[Diabetes-talk] ScriptTalker, another discouraging development

Fri May 13 12:34:02 UTC 2011

Hi, my husband Gary and I are both  blind, and there for must be able to 
handle our own meds plus kids medicines. The first time with a medicine we 
have the directions read either by our pharmacist, delivery guy, or a 
reader. We then use a Braille dymo labeler to label the bottle, and possibly 
if it is needed to be taken more than once, we also put a number on it. If 
you only take a couple of medicines you just may be able to rubber band a 
bottle and tape another. This does not work for us as there are to many.

Debbie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tamera" <fidano at comcast.net>
To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 10:10 PM
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] ScriptTalker, another discouraging development

> 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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>
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