#megaguillotine I love you

[salcristina]

On Thursday (1/11/2024), people fighting for access to medical treatment in Missouri need supporters to show up (virtually or in-person) against insurance companies that are exploiting them.

"Health" Insurance companies partnered with large chain pharmacies (CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, or Optum RX) are running monopolies that force a lot of rural people to get mail-order medications, shipped in conditions hot enough to melt plastic bottles or cold enough to freeze and destroy insulin, instead of having a safe supply to their local pharmacies.

A lot of the push for safe drug access is being spearheaded by a woman who's struggled to get working meds for her son to stop him from getting transplant-rejection of his liver - and she's been strategizing with UPS worker-organizers (UPS is left to deliver many of these prescription drugs, vehicle air conditioning is a major issue for them) and with pharmacists who've been organizing walkouts at large chain companies.

"Most recently, Loretta connected with many chain pharmacists who have stated that the poor working conditions were causing them to leave the profession as the monopolization is leaving them with few places to work where they can practice safely. Many state that there isn’t a shortage of pharmacists. There is only a shortage of pharmacists willing to put them and their patients in harm’s way due to unsafe working conditions."

Latest update is:

"January 11th at 11:30 [Central Time] the Missouri Board of Pharmacy will be holding a meeting to discuss the temperatures and mail order pharmacy. The Board of Pharmacy in Missouri has a great regulation in my state that they refuse to enforce. The regulation states that medications should be stored within the guidelines of the drug manufacturer or USP's (which per UPS is the storage range on the bottle). Upon filing a complaint with evidence that the pharmacies are not adhering to their Board's regulations, the Board did not enforce their own regulations. "

(There's not a link up yet but should be tomorrow. Even brief comments of support are helpful, or people can put the Unite for Safe Medicines logo as their icon or background on zoom.)

@dagwolf @bananapeppers @crippleprophet @vitariesocks (if it's not okay to tag you let me know and I'll delete, sorry)