My pdoc's office recently changed their policy and no longer even gives you prescriptions in the office -- they fax them over to your pharmacy so the paper never touches your hands.

Thanks to my bank, which holds all but $100 of self-deposited checks for a couple days (direct deposit you have access to immediately), I am a bit short on cash right now, and called to ask for samples to get me through to my next paycheck. It turns out that with this new policy, *they no longer have samples*.

It is a small town and my entire pharmacy staff knows me by name, and they will defer billing till I have the money, which is kind of them, and also unusual, I know. But I just wanted to vent, because WTF are people supposed to do now if they have an emergency or something or just plain can't afford their meds in the first place? Who ever heard of a doctor's office not having samples available? I don't want to pay for a whole month of something if I don't know it's going to work, for example. Instead of a straight $20 copay or whatever, I pay 20 percent of the total cost of the prescription, and that can run into serious bucks.

For a variety of reasons, I really hate my pdoc anyway -- I guess this is just the final straw to get me to switch!

ARGH. I know nobody ever said life was fair, but it sucks that the rich get richer and the poor get more screwed over.