PNN Survey Shows Strong Support for CVS Boycott
/By Pat Anson, Editor
There is widespread support for a boycott of CVS for planning to have its pharmacists impose strict limits on the supply and dosage of opioid pain medication, according to a PNN survey of over 2,500 pain patients, caretakers and healthcare providers.
Nine out of ten (93%) said they would support a boycott of the pharmacy chain, which has nearly 10,000 retail locations nationwide.
“I already have to jump through multiple hoops to get my pain medication prescriptions. It is not the place of CVS to monitor or alter my prescriptions. That is my doctor's job,” one patient told us.
“My Rx needs have been determined by my physician and my case history,” another patient wrote. “CVS does not have my history, nor have they been seeing me as a patient. Therefore, they have no business dictating or changing the regimen my physician has set to try to help me control my chronic pain.”
CVS Health announced last month that its pharmacists would only provide a 7-day supply of opioids for acute, short-term pain. CVS will also limit the dose of opioid prescriptions – for both acute and chronic pain -- to no more than 90mg morphine equivalent units (MME).
The policy begins February 1 and applies to about 90 million customers enrolled in CVS Caremark’s pharmacy benefit management program, which provides pharmacy services to over 2,000 health and insurance plans.
Many of the healthcare providers who responded to the online survey resent the idea of a pharmacist changing a doctor’s prescription or refusing to fill it.
WOULD YOU SUPPORT A BOYCOTT OF CVS?
“It is no one’s business how I prescribe but mine and the patient,” one doctor wrote.
“It is wrong on all levels. As a health care provider I am appalled by it,” said another.
“Pharmacies should not be interfering in doctor patient relationship and treatment. There are more and more rules and regulations, and where does it stop before you have tyranny? Their rule basically will accomplish nothing positive. I would also encourage others to boycott,” a healthcare provider wrote.
CVS Customers Support Boycott
Patients, caretakers and healthcare providers all support a boycott about equally. So did nearly 92 percent of those who identified themselves as current CVS customers.
“Treating patients like they are drug-seeking criminals is just plain cruel. Our lives are hard enough without having to jump through hoops to get even a few minutes of relief. I will never fill another prescription at CVS pharmacy,” one patient wrote.
“I have gone to the local CVS for my scripts for years because they had the best prices,” wrote another patient. “But since I heard about this new policy I refuse to even set foot in a CVS.”
“They (CVS pharmacists) think they are my doctor with rude comments to me and other customers. They are too big for their britches. I am switching to Walgreens,” another patient wrote.
“A boycott will happen whether organized or not. Patients who need more than 90 morphine equivalent mgs will have to take their business elsewhere,” said another patient.
“Boycotting solves nothing. A letter writing campaign or calls to corporate to voice our opinions would be a better way to explain why we disagree with the new policy,” another patient suggested.
There is still a fair amount of confusion about the CVS policy. Many chronic pain patients are worried the 7-day limit on opioids applies to them (it does not) and others believe a pharmacist doesn’t have the legal right to refuse to fill a doctor’s prescription (they do).
CVS says “the prescriber can request an exception” if a patient needs a larger dose or more than a 7-day supply, but hasn’t released details on how that would work or how long it would take.
The pharmacy chain says its opioid policy is designed to “give greater weight” to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's opioid guideline, which discourages primary care physicians from prescribing opioids for chronic pain. But the CVS policy actually goes far beyond the voluntary recommendations of the CDC, making them mandatory for all physicians and for all types of pain.
As PNN has reported, preventing abuse and addiction may not be the only reason behind CVS’ decision. In recent years, the company has been fined hundreds of millions of dollars for violations of the Controlled Substances Act and other transgressions, many of them involving opioid medication.
“Corporate self-interest is impetus for this policy. This CVS ploy is to avoid further scrutiny by the DEA and avoid additional monetary penalties,” one patient wrote.
“Money and bad press is the only thing that large companies like CVS pay attention to. Until the leadership and major investors feel some considerable financial pain themselves, they will continue to make or support decisions that hurt and endanger the lives of people in pain,” said another.
U.S. Pain Foundation Endorses 7 Day Limit
CVS is not the first pharmacy to adopt policies that limit the dispensing of opioids, but it is the first major chain to set a 7-day limit on opioids for acute pain. Several states have already adopted laws that limit new prescriptions to a few days' supply. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), an industry trade group, recently announced its support for a 7-day limit, as did a patient advocacy group.
“We are on board with limiting new prescriptions for acute pain, but we do believe there should be a specific, written exemption for chronic pain, palliative pain, and cancer pain in order to ensure they are protected,” said Paul Gileno, founder and president of the U.S. Pain Foundation, which lists CVS Health and PhRMA as corporate sponsors on its website.
“A number of states, including Massachusetts, have adopted laws limiting first-time opioid prescription to seven days, and this part of the new CVS policy is consistent with these restrictions” said Cindy Steinberg, U.S. Pain’s national director of Policy and Advocacy. “We are in agreement with this limit for new, acute conditions; however instituting dosage limits for all patients is troubling.”
Not all of the comments in our survey were negative about CVS. Some patients expressed appreciation for CVS pharmacists who helped them save money with discounts or by suggesting cheaper medications. Others are happy to see any kind of action aimed at reducing opioid addiction.
“It may anger some, but there is a major opioid problem in my area and sometimes it takes making a bold decision to create change, even at the risk of losing customers,” wrote one patient. “Notice nobody complains about CVS not selling cigarettes. They have lost billions in revenues since, but it was for the greater good of peoples’ health.”
One healthcare provider is worried what will happen when her patients can’t get the pain medication they need.
“When that happens, we as providers become part of the problem because these patients will go to the street for help. They will do anything to get pain relief - not to get high. I won't boycott them but I think they ought to rethink what they are doing and the impact it will have,” she wrote.
“I have children with horrific chronic pain issues and other children who have had addiction issues that were not started with pain meds. I know both sides of this issue.”
