Just off the Westerdam...Infirmary question

[TriGirl]

My husband forgot his pain meds for his back, so we went to the infirmary to see if the doctor could help. He was most accomodating and after a 5 minute chat gave my husband a scrip for enough to tide him over until he got home. It's not so much the $80 charge that bothers me, that was to be expected, but rather, the fact that not only were we unable to fill the scrip in the Cayman Islands, as the doctor told us to do, but that upon returning to Ft Lauderdale a US pharmacy also refused to honor it. Should I ask HAL for the $80 back?

[Jade13]

I would assume the fee was for the appointment. It should have been more than 5 minutes! It doesn't hurt to call Hal and complain. If you had med insurance this would be covered.

[retiredldo]

I would file it with your insurance company, we had to use the doc on one of our trips of course paid the outrageous price but filled with BCBS and was promptly reimbursed

 

However I would also contact HAL about the issuance of the script, something seems amiss with that issue

[mamaofami]

I got a perscription for a headache medicine on the Statendam in 2004 and was able to fill it in Ketchiikan, Alaska with no trouble at all. I'm holding the bottle in front of me and guess I should throw it out since it must be no good any more.

 

However, today, certain pain meds have to be written on a special form to be filled in the U.S. Perhaps that was the trouble in Florida.

[mamaofami]

Just thinking that if the MD told you to fill it in the Cayman Islands they might not have the same requirements there. When you couldn't fill it, you should probably have bought it back to the MD and told him.

[arabrab]

If the medication is a controlled substance, then the pharmacist may not be able to fill it with a scrip from a shipboard doc. May have even been a problem if your doctor in another state gave your husband a scrip and he tried to fill it in Florida.

[TriGirl]

The funny thing was the doctor assured my husband he could get the scrip filled in Grand Cayman. It's definitely not on a triplicate prescription pad, but we assumed the doctor knew what he was talking about. I don't know why they couldn't just give him a few out of their stash, but it would have saved a lot of time.

[Jade13]

What does the ship actually stock in the infirmary? You would think they would have headache medication?

 

Do they have oxygen tanks? My 14 yo stepdaughter was transported by ambulance to the hospital a couple of weeks ago after she was having trouble breathing and I initially took her to her clinic (And yes, I had called emergency but my Dh told me to call them back, cancel, and take her to the clinic by cab because her situation prob wasn't as bad as she was stating).

 

After several hours of oxygen mixed with various meds (Abuteral/Advair/Efineferin (sp?)), the clinic tranported her to the hospital emergency where she was admitted afterall for several nights. A couple weeks later an allergist said it was a cat allergy and she seems normal, but what happens if this occurs on a ship out of the US? My Dh says they have doctors and medication, but it concerns me that they wouldn't have something strong enough for a headache (even a very bad one). Does anyone know exactly what they stock on the ships? Do they have a supply of oxygen tanks and medication which could be administered by the ship doctor?

[mamaofami]

I needed furacet, a pretty common headache and pain medication, and I only wanted two, but the ship didn't have it and didn't offer me anything else. They just gave me a perscription which as I said we filled in Alaska.