[Greater-Baltimore] James Pharmacy

Thu Aug 22 19:00:36 UTC 2024

Hi everyone,

This is very sad to hear. They have been my go to pharmacy for almost the entire time I have lived in Baltimore. I always felt like the customer service I received from them was so much better than any of the chain pharmacies in the area that I had used before, And they are one of the only pharmacies around that still does completely free home delivery.  Or at least they were a little less than a year ago when I was last living in the city still. As somebody with quite a few other disabilities on top of my blindness, they had been the perfect place for me, since I do not always have the capacity to leave the house, so home delivery is an important accommodation for me, not just a luxury service. Those extra disabilities have also come with at least 5 regular medication’s, many of those pills being entirely identical by touch and packaged in the same generic bottles, so without accessible labeling, they are kind of a nightmare to tell apart from each other and I have to be very diligent about making sure I put the right label on the right identical bottle when I put Braille  labels on them myself. I am no longer living in the area and therefore no longer using James pharmacy, and the current option I use does not offer any kind of accessible labeling, and this process is definitely quite a headache. Lots of relying on Seeing AI and taking multiple scans of each bottle to be absolutely certain I got the right one. I was planning on switching back to James pharmacy once I returned home from LCB and move back into Baltimore, but if that is going to be something they start charging for, that would cost me at least an extra $20 a month which is just not reasonable.  I also believe that we should not need to pay extra for accessibility, especially access to information as vinyl as our medication information. I will be interested to hear what Ronza and the affiliate are able to do.

> On Aug 22, 2024, at 11:58 AM, Bernadette Jacobs via Greater-Baltimore <greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> No! No! No!!! This is totally and completely unacceptable!!! I have had some issues with them in the past so I have taken my families pharmaceuticals elsewhere. However, this is off the deep end. Just recently, I heard of somebody in my area who has had to switch pharmacies as James pharmacy no longer delivers to the Catonsville/Woodlawn area. so, this is not the only issue. Now, if anyone would like to contact me and get the number for Northern Pharmacy, yes they do have ScripTalk and they do have a delivery service, I would be happy to  oblige.
> 
> 
> 
> If if anyone needs the contact card. Just let me know and I will share it with you. Can't seem to figure out how to insert the contact card into this email. So, just give me a shout and I will send it along.
> Bernadette Jacobs
> May today be your best one yet!!! ☺️
> 
>> On Aug 22, 2024, at 11:36 AM, Ellen Ringlein via Greater-Baltimore <greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Melissa and Others,
>> 
>> I have been using James pharmacy as well, since they were the first pharmacy
>> that provided the script talk labels and they are an independent business,
>> even though they are not the closest pharmacy to my house. But I won't be
>> patronizing that business anymore, if I am charged for accessible labels.
>> 
>> Ellen
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Greater-Baltimore [mailto:greater-baltimore-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Melissa Riccobono via Greater-Baltimore
>> Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2024 10:36 AM
>> To: greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org
>> Cc: melissaariccobono at gmail.com
>> Subject: [Greater-Baltimore] James Pharmacy
>> 
>> Hello everyone,
>> 
>> I'm wondering who uses James Pharmacy. My family and I use them, and I just
>> received a text saying on September first they will begin charging $3.99 for
>> each Script Talk label requested. They say this is necessary due to
>> increased cost of maintenance and materials. They are calling this a service
>> charge.
>> 
>> I know that in January, 2025, the bill we helped advocate for stating all
>> pharmacies will need to provide accessible prescription labels will go into
>> effect. So I'm guessing that in January this charge will not be legal.
>> Something tells me it may not even be legal in September. Seems as if just
>> because we happen not to be able to read a medication bottle does not mean
>> we should be charged in order to receive the information in a way we can
>> access it when everyone else gets that information for free.
>> 
>> So, I wanted to bring this to the attention of others who might use James
>> Pharmacy, and also try to figure out what we can do to educate them about
>> the law. Also, a part of me does feel for them if costs are truly increasing
>> that much. They are a community pharmacy, which is why I like to use them.
>> They were offering Script Talk before many other pharmacies in this area
>> were. It's not as if they have a large parent company who can come in and
>> help absorb increased cost. It does seem though, that if they had a service
>> charge of 25 or 50 cents on each prescription they sold, even just for a
>> little while, they could raise the money they would need without putting the
>> burden on only the blind customers. If they stated that money would be used
>> for general pharmacy and technology upkeep, I would pay it gladly, and not
>> bat an eye, and I think others would as well. I'm sure there are other
>> things they could do, or maybe even other resources such as grants available
>> to them as a small business that could pay for these increased costs. I
>> don't want to run them out of business by any means. On the other hand, I
>> would be tempted to take my business elsewhere instead of paying $3.99 for
>> each label I request. That seems quite high to me.
>> 
>> What are other's thoughts. How can we work together to educate and give
>> feedback as customers? Please let me know. You can reply to this message if
>> you want to keep your comments on the list for all to see, or you can
>> contact me directly.
>> 
>> MelissaARiccobono at gmail.com <mailto:MelissaARiccobono at gmail.com>
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> Melissa
>> 
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