Complain about a product or service

Medco Health Solutions

255 Phillipi Road, Columbus, OH

robert of knoxville, TN September 6, 2009

I had 2 prescriptions faxed in by my physician on or about Aug 17, 09. After waiting for the delivery of the meds and not receiving them I called customer service. The lady I spoke informed me the prescriptions had been cancelled. The rep said she would reinstate the prescriptions and would expedite the order for overnight shipment. I waited 4 days for the order to arrive which it did not. I called customer service back, the lady I spoke with checked on the order, the order had not shipped but she would expedite for overnight but the holiday schedule and weekend would not allow shipment to be received before Tuesday, I spoke with her on Friday.

The rep wanted to know if I had any medications left, I told her I was out, she said she would approve a 7 day supply at no charge, that I should go to any local pharmacy, give them my insurance card and have them contact medco for approval. I worked 15 hours on Friday(without meds for that day), I went to Walgreens on Sat morning, they contacted Medco and were instructed to have me get in touch with my physician or go to the emergency room and request new prescriptions for these controlled medications. I called medco customer service Sat about 12:10 PM EST and spoke with Al Mcclay, we discussed the problem with no resolution, I requested he have his supervisor call me, Al Mcclay indicated he would have a supervisor call within 5 to 10 minutes. I have waited for the return call but have not received a call at this time. I am writing this complaint on Sunday at 12:33 PM EST.

Gerard of West Conshohocken, PA August 24, 2009

I am writing because I am concerned about the quality control measures, specifically the lack of attention to detail with regards to prescriptions, as well as the response I received when I attempted to get the problem resolved. On my last visit to your office, you wrote a 30 day script for the generic form of Toprol XL 50 mg, I noticed the 30 and I requested you change it to a 90 day supply since I order that quantity via mail order. When you corrected it, the script was for a quantity of 90 rather than a 90 day supply of 180. You had previously advised that I take more than one per day when I am having problems, and prior scripts were written for 180.

On July 20, 2009, after noticing the error, rather than sending the incorrect script to Medco, I called your office and asked to have a corrected script faxed to Medco so they could fill the proper quantity of 180. I spoke to both your office and Medco to confirm that the script was corrected and that Medco would send me the generic Toprol XL in a quantity of 180 for a 90 day supply. Both offices agreed that everything was corrected. On August 3, 2009, I called your office and Medco to re-confirm that everything was correct and that the prescription was received by Medco for the correct medication and quantity. I was assured by your office and Medco, that the quantity and dosage was correct, and that the medication would be sent shortly.

On August 10, 2009, I received in the mail, Brand name Toprol XL, in a quantity of 90. I called Medco for an explanation and was told that the prescription was written for brand name only, with a dosage of one daily, and that is what their pharmacist filled, intentionally ignoring the quantity 180, rather than contacting someone to confirm the proper dosage. When I called your office, I was told that Medco was at fault, even though the script was written for brand only and for one per day. I requested both your office and Medco to do whatever they needed to do to get the script corrected and to get the balance of the pills sent to me, since I obviously would run out before I was eligible to order more. I also requested that the Generic correction be made and to correct the 87.02 charge to my account. Neither your office nor Medco accepted responsibility for the errors, and insisted on blaming the other rather than correcting the script. I spent hours on the phone with both, attempting to get a resolution. Finally, their solution, rather than correcting the original script, was to make up a new script for 180 pills, in addition to the one I had just received in the mail.

I am now out 87, have no idea what is in my medical records regarding dosage since I was told by your office that there is nothing in my medical record of anything other than one per day for the Toprol, and I'm not sure what my script status will be considering the multiple scripts that are being written/cancelled/changed, rather than having corrected the original problem. Then on August 12, 2006 I checked the order status of the “new” prescription at the Medco web site, only to find out that it was for the Brand name at a cost of 165.00. Left a message at Main Line Arrhythmia. Again spoke to Medco. They will correct the order per Lenny. Lenny stated that the pharmacist made a mistake by not citing the “generic” substitution. The order will be corrected by Lenny.

August 12, 2009: Web site now states “Unable to complete order”. Again spoke to Medco. Supervisor, Miss G, again tells me that the correct medication and quantity will be sent out. And the story goes on. It is now August 24, 2009 and Medco management representative now tells me that neither they (Medco) nor UPS knows where the package is that contains my prescription. Persons at both ends need to pay closer attention to details regarding patient medication.

Rebecca of nacogdoches, TX August 18, 2009

I have been forced to get my medicine from MEDCO or pay a hefty price at the local pharmacy. This is because of the insurance my husbands company has. I was quite happy to get my perscriptions locally and not have to go through the pure " .... " that I've had to go through dealing with MEDCO.

It all started in May when I tried to first refill my perscriptions. That only took about 2 months to get them! My diabetic medicine is supposed to be the same medicine as I have been taking, however it is a different color and it does not seem to be working as well. My diet has not changed! I was given excuse after excuse after excuse as to why it took so long to get my perscriptions the first time.

Now, two weeks ago my Dr.s office faxed in another perscription to MEDCO. I was standing there the entire time it was faxed in and KNOW it was faxed. I have " one " pill left and have yet to receive my perscription. So, this morning I called MEDCO again and asked to speak to the supervisior. Ms Petterson/Patterson got on the phone and I was told that MEDCO never received the fax. This was the exact same excuse I was given in May. Ms. Petterson/Patterson gave me several suggestions as to how I should maybe order my perscriptions other than to fax them since there was maybe a problem with the fax line etc. I told her I shouldn't have to try other ways, but that I would take her advise and mention it to the DR.

It seems the fax worked after my calling in several times the first time trying to get it straight! I told her she needed to perhaps check her employees records or something to see that it was being right on MEDCO's end. I also told her I should NOT have to go through such a hassel anytime I needed to get my medicine. It is pure nonsence!

MEDCO needs to train their employees better, get a better system, stop trying to 'force' its customers into purchasing from them and saying one thing then doing another.

Rob of Lexington, SC July 24, 2009

Medco takes 7 to 11 days to fill a perscription and then ships USPS which adds another 3 to 5 business days. With mailing in transet time you wait over half a month for a perscription which you could purchase for less in about an hour at a local drug store.

Andrew of Westborough, MA July 20, 2009

We received a bulk supply of my wife's prescription from Medco unexpectidly. We do not receive our medication from Medco. Since we do not want bulk quantities of the medication at our house, and we did not request it, we returned the medication to Medco immediately. Medco is now billing us for the medication. The order appeared to be the result of an error at our doctors. We did not request the medication and immediately returned it. We find it unresonable that Medco is now demanding payment.

William of Carrollton, TX July 10, 2009

My wife and I have MEDCO coverage for pharma with her school district employer here in Carrollton, TX. We were notified by MEDCO that after 90 days of coverage, in order to get any benefit of a reduced pharma cost, we would be required to order our drugs in 90 day installments from MEDCO by mail. We are concerned that MEDCO might be sourcing our drugs, either generic or not, from India or China. We are comfortable with SAMS sourcing our drugs, as they have for years and years, with no problems.

My Lipitor just went to 35.00 on my 30 day renewal picked up yesterday from SAMS, not the usual 4.00 due to SAMS having that drug on their list of drugs dispensed at the 4.00 cost. MEDCO has impacted our purchase of drugs to force me to purchase the drugs on their 90 day system, by mail; the action by MEDCO appears to be in restraint of trade, and we are following up with FDA as well as FTC to see if the Fed can take an interest in MEDCO's business practices. Just another example of pharma being more interested in the bottom line than taking care of paying insureds. As CNN reported this past week, with my wife's contribution and her district's contribution, plus our co pays and deductibles, for the two of us, we are paying 7,000+ anually for our medical care coverage, the cost of which is constantly increasing, with reduced service delivery.

Time for nationalized medical care and the end of pharma/medical/physician/hospital robber barons.

Barbara of Knoxville, TN July 9, 2009

Medco refused to fill my Omeprazole prescription but only told me why when I called to see why I hadn't received it. They said I could only get 90 every 150 days even though the dr. prescribed one per day. I then called pre-authorization as Medco directed me to. Woman I spoke to told me my dr. needed to fill out a form. She (Medco person) refused to tell me her name. She gave me a referral no. My dr. faxed the pre-approval form to them. I called the 1-800-753-2851 preapproval number. It told me to put in the referral number which I did. I got a message that it had been approved. Still no prescription. I called the Medco order phone no. tonight and was told it had been refused again. Something about the prescription was voided "for some reason."

I won't put into print what I told the woman. They are deliberately delaying the filling of this prescription. My dr. will not fax prescriptions but did fax the preapproval form to them. Prior to the Omeprazole I was taking Nexium. I got a letter from Medco saying the Omeprazole (generic)was available. I immediately requested a new prescription to save the 20 difference. I take several prescriptions every day and most are ordered online from Medco.

TrudyGabbard of Frazeysburg, OH July 3, 2009

We have had medco for the last 4 or 45 years. My husband had to be put on humira and he was elligable for the humira protection plan that covers our copay and help pay for it. Medco is billing AND us for the copay and so now it looks as if we have an outstanding balance. Then they froze all other perscriptions until it's paid. So now I'm on my 5th week with out my medication. I have fibromyalgai and take Lyrica and I can't get it. We have called numerous times and they tell us that it will be taken care of but it is still unresolved sicne May 5 2009 and it's now July. We have to use them thru mailorder and can not use a local pharmacy. I have been in excruciating pain and have barely ben able to move. This has been rediculous. I wish nothing more than to be able go to my local pharmacy and get my perscriptions and know that I can TRUST them.

Larry of Finksburg, MD June 11, 2009

Doctor wrote prescription after exam. Pharmacy was declined when attempting to fill. I called Medco to request authorization. After several weeks (no prescription) I received an authorization letter authorizing refills thru May 2011.

Re-submitted prescription to pharmacy. Medco rejected it again. Called Medco and they informed me that they did provide one part of the authroization but needed to speak to my Doctor to complete authorization.

I spent 2 more weeks trying to get Medco and my Doctor to speak with no luck. I confirmed with the pharmacy again that the prescription could not be filled. Called MEdco to complain again. Medco put me on hold (OK), called the Pharmacy and provided approval. Elapsed time with no prescription = 3.5 weeks. I am going to the pharmacy to try to pick up my prescription now.

Patricia of Portland, OR June 6, 2009

On 19 May 2009, I placed an order to refill my Arimidex (medication I use to prevent recurrence of breast cancer). On 22 May, I received e-mail notification the drug was shipped on 21 May via USPS and should arrive in two to five business days. Using Medco's on line message system, I sent an inquiry about my order on 2 June as I had not received it. On 3 June, I received a response stating they would be happy to do an early refill - I would, of course, be charged my copay. I have been calling Medco to try to get them to reship at their cost to no avail. My employer's benefits people are getting the same story. Yesterday, I actually had to ask my oncologist for free samples in an attempt to have enough medication until I can resolve this issue.