Ugh. I've been running into this issue with our insurance the past few months. Mind you we've been with this company at least 10 years, and they have never done this until very recently. The first time they did it they were questioning my pdocs prescription for viibryd. I suspect they want prior authorization for any prescriptions for viibryd and I know it isn't "personal " but therein lies the problem. Once they finally got around to looking at my file on a "personal " basis to recognize this wasn't my first rodeo with antidepressants, they recognized my pdoc (you know, the man with the medical degree who knows my case intimately rather than the nameless, faceless person behind a desk who doesn't know me from a hill of beans) was correct to prescribe that med. The problem was that they drug their hills so long making the decision that by the time I finally received my prescription 3 1/2 weeks later my depression was very severe. The insurance found it more important to put me through their bureaucratic maze than to be sure a patient wasn't suffering.

My son has been going through treatment for acne with accutane, a med that is a very highly controlled substance. He had been on it for 6 months and when we went to fill the prescription for the 7th month we were told we needed prior authorization. Dr. sent in the paperwork and they denied the claim saying studies show patients should only need 6 months treatment and then they should be cured. So doc had to make a call to the insurance company's hired hand, I mean doctor, to tell him that some cases like my son's need longer treatment (which seems entirely obvious) and sure enough that time they approved further treatment.

We have excellent doctors and when insurance makes us jump through hoops, delaying treatment and causing conditions to worsen, I find that criminal.