[Diabetes-talk] ScriptTalker, another discouraging development

Debbie Wunder debbiewunder at centurytel.net
Fri May 13 14:07:05 UTC 2011


Hello, can you please tell me what is the most accessible meter that can be 
purchased?
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "cheryl echevarria" <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com>
To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 6:55 AM
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] ScriptTalker, another discouraging development


> There is something called HIPAA, a reader is nice, but let us remember you 
> are talking to the choir and like my husband always says, not everyone is 
> Cheryl, so not everyone if Mike Freeman.
>
> Leading the Way in Independent Travel
>
> Cheryl Echevarria
> http://www.Echevarriatravel.com<http://www.echevarriatravel.com/>
> 631-456-5394
> reservations at echevarriatravel.com<mailto:reservations at echevarriatravel.com>
>
>
>
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> Inc.
>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>  From: Mike Freeman<mailto:k7uij at panix.com>
>  To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'<mailto:diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>  Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 11:34 PM
>  Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] ScriptTalker, another discouraging 
> development
>
>
>  Tamera:
>
>  When I lived alone, I paid a reader to come once or twice a week for an 
> hour
>  or so and read mail, fill out documents etc. I had her read order 
> numbers,
>  medication administration directions etc. Now that I am again married, I
>  have my sighted wife read that stuff. I also have an Optacon but unless
>  there's absolutely no one around, the sighted reader/amanuensis is the
>  faster way to go.
>
>  Perhaps the distinguishing factor is that I'm not hung up on information
>  being "personal"; I don't give a rat's posterior who knows what about my
>  prescriptions etc.; I have nothing to be ashamed of. But, in fact, were a
>  reader to disclose information I did not wish disclosed, I would 
> immediately
>  fire him/her. I realize that reliance on readers is not in fashion 
> anymore
>  but, frankly, it's still the most efficient way to go most of the time.
>
>  I'm not hung up on using an amanuensis to fill out my ballot, either. If 
> we
>  start down the road of saying we can't trust readers, then we can't 
> expect
>  to be able to be blind foreign service workers, blind lawyers or any 
> number
>  of other professions that handle sensitive information in a sighted 
> world.
>
>  Admittedly, one must be systematic about this sort of thing. But that's 
> one
>  of the little annoyances of blindness.
>
>  Peace!
>
>  Mike
>
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: 
> diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org<mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org>
>  [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tamera
>  Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 8:11 PM
>  To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind
>  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<mailto:k7uij at panix.com>>
>  Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 6:26 PM
>  To: "'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'" 
> <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org<mailto: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>
>  > [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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