Congratulations, Kat!

Yesterday was a rough day what with the big final deadline and co-worker driving me batty, but counterbalanced by nummy Thai food (which I got a different co-worker and longtime friend to try—she loved it!), nummy 1940s style-porn on Supernatural, and a pleasant surprise hook up with an acquaintance-with-benefits I'd lost contact with a couple of years ago.

Also, I don't know if the change will be good, but it will be different. And sometimes different is necessary. I know that what we have now is NOT working (oh hi class of 53 students in my room!) and that some change is better than none.

Sounds like it!

I realized this morning what makes the cat pounce at 5am: the electric blanket being on. Oh well.

(2) Quantity controls "to make sure you're treating yourself with the appropriate levels of medication" for things including migraine drugs. FUCK YOU CVS. FUCK YOU WITH A RUSTY CHAINSAW. WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO TELL ME HOW MANY MIGRAINES I GET A MONTH?!!

Oh my god, Tim has Humana, who implemented quantity limits starting January 1. Which means that for his ADD meds, he now pays a $40 co-pay for 1/3 -- that's right, ONE THIRD -- of what his doctor prescribed. If he (as the letter put it) "would like to take the full prescribed amount," he gets to pay out of pocket for it.

Why in the HELL does someone at an insurance company get to override his DOCTOR'S decision about how much he needs to take to goddamn function every day?

The letter did say that his doctor can request an exemption on the quantity limit if he "truly feels it's medically necessary." That's right, Humana said "truly" -- again, big faceless bureaucratic company questioning the doctor's knowledge of his own patient.

So Tim called his doctor to have him deal with Humana, which he is doing, but it's bullshit that he should even have to. Total 100% bullshit. And cuts into the time his doctor could be spending on actual direct patient care.

Never mind the fact that the manufacturers of a lot of ADD drugs are apparently not making enough to meet demand, and haven't been for close to a year. Tim knows people who haven't been able to get Adderall for several months. Fucking INSANE. Why aren't the manufacturers making the drug when there's clearly a need? No idea.

Also, CVS Caremark is a bunch of jerks, too. They gave me a huge hassle with my IUD Saga from last year. Aetna contracted with CVS Caremark to supply the IUD, and then Aetna -- as insurance companies do -- paid the "negotiated amount" for the IUD, which was something like $400.

CVS Caremark billed the IUD at $800, and kept sending me letters that were NOT telling *me* to pay the other $400, but telling me -- I am not making this up -- to call Aetna and ask them if they were going to "pay the rest of their balance."

Uh, no. Aetna contracted with you. I *know* that *you* know how it works. Either deal with it, or bill me. You do NOT get to tell me to do bureaucratic legwork for you.

I didn't call, and they stopped sending the letters, and never billed me.

Never mind the fact that the manufacturers of a lot of ADD drugs are apparently not making enough to meet demand, and haven't been for close to a year. Tim knows people who haven't been able to get Adderall for several months. Fucking INSANE. Why aren't the manufacturers making the drug when there's clearly a need? No idea.

Apparently this has been a problem with roxycodone, too. My mom's pharmacist regularly sets some aside for her scrips, because they've had such a hard time getting it in. I think she said the FDA cracked down on the amount manufacturers were allowed to produce or something? Despite, you know, the clear need for it via prescriptions.

Em's doctor said that, like Amy said, in order to crack down on those using it to get high instead of to live their lives, the FDA siad, "You drug companies only get this much of this vital ingredient to make these drugs." Well, it's not enough to meet demand and thus, delays. We've been lucky in that Em's Concerta doesn't seem to be affected. It's totally ridic.

IMemememe-ness: the car won't start this morning and I have about 7000 things to do like Em's ballet class, picking up her BFF for a sleepover, runs to Target, the library, and Krogers, the Bollywood dance class the three of us were going to take, and oh ... just EVERYTHING. It's totally karmic payback for using my car as an excuse to not go somewhere last week when the car was fine.

However, combined with the fact that I quit smoking on Tuesday and there is no nic gum in the house b/c Joe accidentally took it all to work with him and now I'm stuck in BFE with no nicotine and no wheels, I am now a sobbing mess screaming at Joe on the phone to just tell me where the GD cigs are already there HAS TO BE A PACK HIDDEN SOMEWHERE and alas - there is not. Gah. I'm this close to firing up Joe's pipe just to get some damn nicotine.

OMG. Freaking Click and Clack. Joe heard them tell a woman JUST RIGHT NOW to turn on the heater fan on high and start the car. So Joe called me and told me to try it.

It freaking worked. WTF??

Hah! That's awesome.

Em's doctor said that, like Amy said, in order to crack down on those using it to get high instead of to live their lives, the FDA siad, "You drug companies only get this much of this vital ingredient to make these drugs." Well, it's not enough to meet demand and thus, delays.

I think that, 9 times out of 10 (or more, maybe 9.5 times out of 10), the FDA's functions are good and necessary. But cutting off drug ingredients that are medically necessary because of the possibility of street abuse is bullshit.

My IV anti-emetic of choice (it's also very effective with migraines) has been out of production for months. This means I get it orally, and then an IV each of the other two, and it's really not as good. But they had a "manufacturing issue" and now there's just none in the country.

I feel really bad for the chemo patients that relied on it. Pretty bad for me, but awful for them.

It's actually the DEA that's making the call -- the FDA is the good guy here: [link]