[Ohio-Talk] National Federation of the Blind and Two Blind Patients Sue Ohio-based Mail Order Pharmacy Exact Care

[Richard Payne]

National Federation of the Blind and Two Blind Patients Sue Ohio-based Mail
Order Pharmacy Exact Care
The plaintiffs say failure to provide accessible prescription information
led to serious adverse health outcomes.
Cleveland, Ohio (December 12, 2023): The National Federation of the Blind,
the transformative membership and advocacy organization of blind Americans,
and two blind Cleveland residents -Theresa McKenney and Shirley Patterson -
have filed a lawsuit against Exact Care, an Ohio-based mail-order pharmacy.
The lawsuit claims that Exact Care failed to provide critical prescription
information in accessible formats despite knowing that the two individual
plaintiffs were blind when it solicited their business and receiving
repeated requests from them for accessible information. 
Both of the individual plaintiffs were blind or had low vision when they
began using Exact Care's services and were specifically told by company
representatives that the service would be more useful and convenient for
them. But despite repeatedly requesting instructions in alternative formats
(such as large print or audio) with the company's "ExactPacks" containing
their individualized prescription doses, they claim that Exact Care ignored
their requests. As a result, they experienced difficulties in understanding
dosage instructions, potential side effects, and medication interactions.
This caused serious adverse health outcomes, including kidney damage and
heart disease, and accompanying emotional distress. According to the
complaint filed in federal district court for the northern district of Ohio,
Exact Care's conduct violates provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
(because Exact Care receives federal funds through Medicare and Medicaid)
and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as Ohio law. 
"Exact Care promised to make medication management for these blind and
low-vision patients easier and less stressful, but did exactly the
opposite," said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the
Blind. "Even after receiving repeated requests from them, Exact Care refused
to implement the simple and readily available solutions that they
recommended, and which are already being used by pharmacies large and small
across America. We demand that Exact Care compensate Ms. McKenney and Ms.
Patterson for harming them, and that the company take immediate action to
provide accessible information to blind customers, ensuring they can manage
their medications safely and independently. Accessibility is not a matter of
mere convenience, but a fundamental right that is essential to living a
healthy, productive life."

Ms. McKenney, Ms. Patterson, and the National Federation of the Blind are
represented by Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum and Jamie Strawbridge at Brown,
Goldstein & Levy LLP, and by John Marshall and Louis A. Jacobs at the law
firm Marshall Forman & Schlein LLC.


Richard Payne,  President
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
937/829/3368
Rchpay7 at gmail.com <mailto:Rchpay7 at gmail.com> 
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.


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