Pharmacy Issues
Julie and Greg Bohannon, Owners of Thrifty MedPlus Pharmacy in Ooltewah, TN
Corporate Snack Cake Giant McKee Foods Suing Tennessee Independent Pharmacy
Thrifty MedPlus pharmacy owners Greg and Julie Bohannon in Ooltewah, TN, are the unlikely defendants in McKee Foods v. BFP, Inc. The Bohannons, whose pharmacy is literally located across the street from the McKee Foods plant, was the pharmacy of choice for McKee Foods employees until they were unceremoniously cut from McKee Foods’ provider network in 2019.
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The suit, McKee Foods Corp. v. BFP Inc., has taken on much greater significance because McKee asserts that the Tennessee PBM reform law does not apply to its self-funded ERISA health plan and is asking the court to invalidate the Tennessee law on the basis that it is pre-empted by ERISA. If Thrifty MedPlus loses in the case, all Tennessee pharmacies will lose vital protections under the new law.
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At a time when even the manufacturer of fake oatmeal cookies and other “treats” thinks it can take over the pharmacy space for its employees, we must stand together to protect the profession. Please donate to the Bohannon’s legal defense fund - and know your generosity will be repaid in the upholding of laws designed to empower patients and keep the practice of pharmacy alive and well.
Click Here to read the initial court decision in favor of Thrifty MedPlus Pharmacy
The fight against PBMs and their allies is on a state-by-state basis. It is critical that we support those in every state who are trying to enact -- or defend -- laws that curb PBM abuses.
Laird Leavoy, President, American Pharmacies
TRICARE: Protect Patients' Rights to Local Pharmacy Access
“Lost Care and Broken Promises” is actually how Military.com first labeled the travesty of TRICARE decisions that left thousands of active military and retired veterans without access to local medical care at nearby military bases in 2020.
Just 2 years later, TRICARE - or should we say Express Scripts, because we all know whose job it is to ensure network adequacy - is at it again, this time cutting 15,000 pharmacies from the TRICARE network effective October 24, 2022.
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Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., has posted a form on his website for Tricare patients, pharmacists, and health care providers to submit feedback after he had what he described as a dismissive phone call with a Defense Health Agency official about the nearly 15,000 independent and community pharmacies that were forced out of the network.
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"It was the worst call I've ever had with a government agency," Carter told Military.com in a phone interview. "They said that they had not heard from anybody -- any recipients or any pharmacies -- about it. So we're taking it to the streets, if you will. We're getting our stories together."
Loretta Boesing, founder of Unite for Safe Medications, and her son Wesley. Wesley went into transplant rejection after his medication was rendered ineffective by mail order pharmacy protocols.
Put A STOP To Forced Mail Order Medications
PUTT member and patient advocate Loretta Boesing is on a mission to protect patients from forced mail order medication dangers. She founded Unite for Safe Medications after a series of events that led up to her child being unable to access his medications the safest way - through the hands of the family’ s trusted pharmacists. Loretta’s son is a transplant recipient whose life depends on medications every 12 hours.
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As a mother, Loretta realized the importance of having the option of receiving her son’s medications the safest way after her son’s medications were delivered on a 102-degree day without protection. Soon after, her son went into transplant rejection. She vowed never to use mail order pharmacy again until it could be proven safe.
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Loretta's petition to stop forced mail order pharmacy has amassed over 200,000 signatures on Change.org.
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"Since starting the petition, I have realized that there are many issues other than temperatures with forced mail-order pharmacy," says Loretta. "Mail-order pharmacy is very loosely regulated. There are life-threatening delays, lack of face-to-face relationships with pharmacists for people with chronic conditions, and rapid closures of our independent pharmacies; although, a recent study showed people prefer independent pharmacy. Mail order pharmacy should be an option, not the only option."