I had to FIGHT with my Dr's office to get my birth control pills refilled!

[wicket]

UGH! I have NEVER had this happen before. I realized that my birth control pills are about to run out, so I called my doctor's office to get them refilled. This is usually never a problem- they call in the prescription to the pharmacy so I can pick them up. I'm not due for my annual physical for another couple of months so there is no need to go in for an appointment. The woman on the phone told me they couldn't call in the prescription, that I had to come into the "family planning clinic". WTF???? I obviously got very upset, I told her I had never had to this before. She said everyone who wants birth control pills has to go to the family planning clinic. I protested some more, she asked me what kind of pills I was on and then put me on hold while I fumed. She finally got on the line and told me they could call in the prescription. I'm not sure what made them change their minds. Either way- time for a new doctor!!!!

:grr: :grr: :grr:

on edit- And for the record- I've been on the BC pills for a long time before I was sexually active- they help a medical condition I have- endometriosis. These pills are a MEDICAL NECESSITY for me.

[ariellyn]

1. That's crazy. Glad you got them to call though. n/t

[Book Lover]

2. What the hell is THAT about?

I hope it'll be easy for you to find a new OBGYN office... May I ask how long you've been seeing this doctor?

[wicket]

7. Several years, since I had surgery for endometriosis

n/t

[Book Lover]

12. How bizarre

I agree with the posters downthread: maybe the receptionist was new; maybe it's a new policy in the office that they're having trouble implementing... Anyway, main thing is you've got your new scrip.

[wicket]

17. yeah- that's a huge relief

If they hadn't given it me I don't know what I would've done- gone to PP probably- but that's an extra medical expense I really can't afford right now.

[FreedomAngel82]

32. I'm glad you got it

That's just wrong of them to do. It's their job to fullfill the perscreption. Not play a thearapist.

[Dhalgren]

29. This kind of thing has got to stop!

You know, wicket, it makes no difference why you want these pills. You should be able to tell the Doc, "Hey, I just love to screw!" If there is no medical reason why birth control pills would be BAD FOR YOU, then you should be free to have then, period! You should not have to explain yourself - you have a prescription, you aren't due for another physical - goddamn it, they are yours to have! Sorry, but this just pisses me off...

[enki23]

3. relax. you're supposed to get a checkup when you get them renewed

it's a way to get you to see a gynocologist once a year. at least, that's how it's worked with every woman i've been with. like other medications, it's good to make sure the one you're on is right for you.

[wicket]

4. see that's the thing- I'm not due for another checkup for 3 more months

My prescription is off schedule with my annual appointment. This is the way it's been for years and this is the first time they've given me problems and told me I had to go to a "family planning clinic".

[Mandate My Ass]

9. that's the scary part

Did she say what that was about? Counseling maybe? I'd be damned if I'd go get a lecture so I could get a legal prescription.

[wicket]

19. she didn't say what it was about

I didn't even know a "family planning clinic" existed on their premises.

[me b zola]

45. You should go so that you know if it is religious indoctrination

or not. If it is religious "counciling" you should, at the very least file a complaint agaist the doctor with the board that oversees physicians. All complaints are available when a person investigates a potential new doctor, and we should be compiling this info.

[Book Lover]

6. Sometimes that gets off sync

I've been in the OP's situation before; my 12-month scrip running out 3 months before my annual.

[wicket]

11. yeah- that's what happened here

I'm very dilligent about my annual appointment (I have to be esp. since I have endometriosis)- it just got off sync with my prescription.

[lukasahero]

20. Wow yet another guy telling women to relax

:eyes:

[Demit]

23. Yeah, that was my take too. Plus the educational part, the "Let me tell

YOU about BC pills, I know because I date women". So appreciated.

[Blue Belle]

33. No kidding...

Thanks for the advice big guy, but I'll listen to a lecture from you on my birth control issues the minute you get a uterus of your own.

[enki23]

24. damned right. just like when women tell *me* to relax

the point is, the clinic likely fucked up. it's common practice to try to get people in for checkups when they renew their BC scrips. sometimes it gets out of whack, as has happened with my partner a couple times. they can get all testy when that happens, but that is hardly unique to birth control prescriptions. that applies to pretty much all prescriptions. in any case, my partner has had to move up the checkup date to satisfy them in similar situations. annoying, but not the end of the world one might imagine. (all the unpleasantness of a gynological exam, as i can only imagine it to be, aside.)

and so far as another man telling a woman to relax thing goes: get over yourself. i'm a feminist. i just don't happen to believe that i, as a male, have a diminished right to say "relax" to someone just because they don't share my Y chromosome. even in this case, as i am actually *quite* familiar with the scenario. i'm involved with my partner's life, as she is in mine.

[wicket]

26. see that's the thing- I already have my annual scheduled for July

This "family planning clinic" was something different entirely.

And I didn't take offense to you telling me to relax :hi: Thank-you for your input.

[Demit]

48. You're so cute when you're mad.

[benddem]

5. Was this just the receptionist being the police

or is this a policy of the physician? I'd find out. If it is the receptionist she should be fired. If it is the physician he/she should be reported to the State Medical committee.

[wicket]

16. I think it was the receptionists

But I'm not sure- I've been going there for several years and have never been told to go to the "family planning clinic".

[benddem]

21. You need to find out!

If it was the receptionist the physician needs to know.

[Terran]

25. I would definitely have a conversation with your OBGYN

and find out exactly what's going on. There can be no medical reason for requiring you to go to a family planning clinic in order to get the BCP's, so either your doc has decided to become a RW nutjob or the receptionist is one already.

[MountainLaurel]

41. Definitely write a letter

And ask What. The. Fuck. was this all about, and whether or not this sort of treatment will be SOP in the future. Then explain, if you've made the decision to find a new office, exactly why you will be doing so.

You've got my sympathy -- went through something similar a couple weeks ago because the calendar year date from my last physical was two weeks AFTER I ran out of pills, and insurance won't pay if the "healthy woman exam" is anything less than 365 days after the prior year's. (Nevermind the fact that I had to get a Pap just 7 months ago.) I have to use a mail-order pharmacy to get my full 3 mos. prescription, and I was able to renew, but then when the prescription arrived, it was a different pill. Now, I'd been on the same prescription for 8 years now, and wasn't about to fuck my emotions and body with a different hormone combo. Turns out that the patent on the old prescription had expired over the past year, and I was sent the generic edition. But no one bothered to explain that on the form.

[MissMarple]

8. Talk to the office manager. She may have been a new worker.

And your doctor needs to know why if you leave.

[JohnnyRingo]

10. I guess your "doctor" has decided that you should abstain from sex

unless you're planning to conceive.

I knew Buxh's vision of a New America would be bad.... But I never dreamed that it would come to this.

[wicket]

13. not only that- my pills are a medical necessity

I've already had surgery once for endometriosis and I don't want to go through that again- BC pills keeps everything under control.

[Warpy]

14. Send a letter of complaint

to your state Attorney General, to the state medical licensing board, and to the AMA.

Womens' health isn't some fundy cafeteria.

Complain about these bastards in writing and send it snail mail.

Then find the family planning clinic. They'll give you all the services you'll need up to catching the baby, and will refer you to a humane doc who'll do that part.

Then tell everybody you know that your present doctor has turned into a judgmental fundy freak.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. You must be punished with pregnancy..you godless harlot!

Ask the Pope.

[Goathead]

18. Fundamentalist body snatchers.

They are taking over. Big thing on NPR yesterday about it. There is a bill before the House or Senate, that says something to the effect that if you don't fill prescriptions due to ethical considerations you won't get any more Federal funding. Fundie Pharmacists must be circling the wagons.

[Deja Q]

49. Fundamentalist body makers.

Birth control disallowed.

Homosexuality fundamentally evil. (which is cack, then or now, there are plenty of heteros to make more little humans with.)

The Talibornagainics are nuts.

[recoveringrepublican]

22. I'm still not understanding why hormonal therapy pills are called

birth control. Preventing birth is just a side effect for me. I've been on them since I was 16 due to the fact that I have a "hormonal abnormality" that the doctors have no clue what is wrong. lol. Without them I (this might be to graphic for some) bleed for months. I get very tired and sick (from the blood loss). Without them I wouldn't be able to take care of the 2 kids I do have (which I have thanks to hormonal therapy pills making my cycles normal, in fact both kids were conceived while using them). Luckily my pharmacist is a family friend and I know he would never go above his job and refuse them to me. If he did he would be getting the nanny and maid bills that I would need.

[ailsagirl]

27. So they can legally deny a woman birth control pills??

Because they, personally, are against birth control?

I read about this in Prevention magazine last fall and was absolutely blown away.

But what about the pharmaceuticals who make HUGE profits on birth control pills? That would pit them against the fundies.

Interesting.

The right must have more than a FEW factions, I would say!!!

:evilgrin:

[Journeyman]

28. Why not be reasonable and talk with your doctor. . .

it may be the receptionist is new or didn't understand some new directive. . . that she left and returned to give the prescription tells me she was probably in the wrong and someone in the office corrected her. But rather than toss an issue you plainly don't have all the facts for into an internet discussion board, and receive everything from reasoned advice to "nuclear options," talk it over with your doctor, learn all the facts, debate it with them if necessary, and when you've got a clear understanding of the problem -- and know at least whether or not a problem even exists -- then you can explore your options. Until then, all you're going to get here is a smorgasbord of actions, some reasonable and some extreme to the point of absurdity.

[wicket]

30. I thought this was supposed to be a discussion board

:eyes: I am planning on talking to my doctor, I just wanted to share my experience with other DUers in light of the current war over BC pills happening across the country.

[bloom]

34. Seems to me the fact

that the receptionist (or whoever she was talking to) was uncooperative (more than usual) is a reasonable complaint.

And if that the direction the country is going - more roadblocks to BC- that makes a reasonable thread subject.

You seem to be the one without a "clear understanding of the problem".

[Last Lemming]

38. I don't think people are trying to dismiss your story

here in the discussion--I think it's a case of "cooler heads" trying not to see a big pattern in one instance. My "cooler head" comments are this:

medicine is a business
ob/gyn doctors have to make a living
ob/gyn doctors make their living in large part by prescribing birth control pills
ob/gyn who put women through hoops to get birth control pills for whatever reason will not be in business for very long or will have a rather unusual left over clientel because it doesn't matter if you are the worst kind of rearguard republican apologist, if you are a woman you will use or have used or are using birth control pills

Many woman use birth control pills for medical conditions that have nothing to do with pregnancy--if a pharmacists refuses to fill the prescription and you have to stand and explain to her for ten or twenty minutes the reason you are reguesting birth control pills, you have grounds . . .

[DELUSIONAL]

40. Shall I guess -- you are a man??

and you have no god damned idea about what this conversation is really about.
Until you grow a uterus -- back off and save your pontification for your male buddies.

And I promise I won't put in my 2 cents about being kicked in the balls.

[Journeyman]

46. I believe I have an excellent grasp of what this thread is about. . .

After a short but frustrating effort to get a prescription for birth control pills refilled, the original poster believes -- though she has no evidence to back her belief -- that her ob-gyn is maybe engaging in behavior similar to that of certain pharmacists nationwide who are refusing to fill birth control prescriptions because they believe that to do so will violate their religious or ethical beliefs. With no concrete evidence whatsoever to back her suspicions, the original poster has thrown this issue to the members of this board, who have responded in typical fashion with suggestions that range from the thoughtful to the absurd. It was my contention that the original poster, rather than relying on the ill-considered judgments of equally ill-informed people on this board, should instead address herself directly to her doctor, where she will learn the true nature of his office’s practice and can then make a reasoned decision based on the facts, rather than the emotional outbursts of people on this board who are -- by the very nature of the situation -- woefully ignorant of the facts. And people on this board have to be ignorant of the facts. The original poster doesn’t know the full story, and people here are dependent on her for their understanding of the situation.

As to the larger issue, pharmacists who refuse to fill “birth control” prescriptions solely for religious or ethical beliefs are clearly in the wrong. Such medications are used for a variety of medical purposes and to deny them because of objections to the mores of the woman requesting them flies in the face of the larger issues of her health and the confidentiality of her relationship with her doctor. Unfortunately, the refusal to fill birth control prescriptions is getting caught up emotionally with some pharmacists’ refusal to fill prescriptions for “morning after” pills, a totally separate concept, one on which the recalcitrant pharmacists have at least some measure of ethical basis for their objections. Fortunately, there is a movement underway to make such “morning after” pills available over-the-counter, or at the least to have them dispensed by the prescribing physician. This would alleviate all considerations of compromised morals by the pharmacists, and provide a ready means by which people could purchase these critically important compounds.

If people want to expend effort on this issue, I believe letters to their local and state medical licensing boards, and a concerted campaign of well-reasoned letters to the editors of local, regional, state and national publications will accomplish far more than senseless spewing on an internet discussion board.

That’s my understanding of the situation. Your understanding, however, seems to be incredibly limited and quite shallow. In your view, this is an issue of anatomy, and all women are defined strictly by their plumbing. In your world view, discussions of birth control, reproductive rights, medical ailments and their treatment, as well as simple issues of chemistry, biology, physiology and the workings of the psyche are impossible without a uterus. In your narrow outlook, only the woman -- strike that, only the uterus -- is allowed to engage in such discussions, since the uterus defines the person and sets the stage for the debate. In your view, testosterone should remain segregated amongst itself, perhaps only making an appearance to deliver the support check. Or are you consistent in your uterine-view, and absolve the partner of any and all involvement -- no input to the decision, no decision about the output. If so, then cads the world over will leave you with a quick smile and a hearty “thank-you-ma’am.”

How sad, to see the world so myopically, to remain so disengaged from those around you. Rather than make decisions about contraception and family planning as a couple, you would relegate the decisions to a muted organ, content to let the plumbing dictate how the home will be built.

[FreedomAngel82]

31. What I would do

is I would call back and tell them you need your BC and it's none of their damn business and to give it to you. This is bullshit and they are forcing people to do something against their will to get the BC. See, this is the problem with these people who are refusing to give out BC. It's not just for sex. People need to EDUCATE themselves. Some people also take it for PCOS.

[Unions]

35. Go to planned parenthood

They are pretty good, but if you do please donate a little as they charge as little as possible for everything especially for the poor.

[newyawker99]

43. Hi Unions!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Kathryn7]

36. They make more $$$$ if you come in for an appointment, they make nothing

if they call it in.

[Bridget Burke]

37. Before getting a new doctor, talk to him/her

Is there a new anti-contraception policy at the office? Time for a new MD.

It may have been a clueless receptionist.

[Scout]

39. another problem along the same lines....

exactly 12 refills of birth control pills does not last one complete calendar year...

28 pills per "month" x 12 packs = 336 pills

a calendar year, by which the insurance company measures your annual checkups is 365 days ... and trust me, the insurance company measures exactly

so, I had my doctor write the prescription for 13 packs because then
28 pills per "month" x 13 packs = 364 days. the pharmacist assistant argued with me that it was illegal to write a scrip for more than one year ... I had to carefully explain and make them do the math ... the pharmacist overheard and came over and agreed to fill the scrip as written, finally.

[CitySky]

42. if you're in Boston, PM me

I can recommend a good doc downtown. She was AWESOME, really attentive to her patients and what was going on in our lives. I'm in a new city now, realizing that doctors like her are hard to find.

[LittleClarkie]

44. I'm familiar with that condition

and some women have painful periods and also need the pills to regulate their periods, keeping them on a regular schedule.

There are other reasons for the pill.

[DanCa]

47. Can you sue?

I know that this is becoming a problem but am not up on the legalities of it. Can you sue? I would because this is so wrong on so many levels that it makes my skin crawl. What's next doctors and nurses refusing to draw blood?

[Maine-ah]

50. I'm not on BCP's any more

but, when I was, I always went through the FP clinic. Had my exams there once a year, and my script through them as well. I prefer to go there because they use a scaled payment based on income. It's way less expensive than any doc's office, and it's all women. They were very informative when I ended up pregnant when I was 23 yrs. old. Showed all options available to me. I decided not to have the baby, I was not financially stable, no insurance, (still, no insurance almost 10 years later)and just begining my life.

I say screw going through another doc's office and just go to the FP clinic.