Written by Rodger Jacobs
Sorry for the impersonal mass e-mailing but there’s no time right now for me to send personal messages regarding my situation this gray Sunday L.A. afternoon. As you may have heard or read, there is a new crime wave sweeping across the U.S. and Los Angeles in particular: pharmacies are being robbed, often at gunpoint, not for the cash in their registers but for the potent painkillers behind the counter like oxycodone and oxycontin. In response to this rash of robberies several pharmacies — including brand-name firms like Rite Aid and CVS — have stopped stocking oxy and refills can only be had with several days advance notice. I was made aware of this last Friday after visiting my new GP in Highland Park and getting refill scrips for several of my daily maintenance meds, including my oxycodone, which I have to take four times daily for chronic arthritic pain (and have been doing so since November 2009).
A pharmacist’s assistant at CVS told me on Friday that my "best bet" for getting my scrip refilled (which I have in hand) is "(to) possibly try a pharmacy near a hospital, they’re more likely to have it in stock." I have called or visited six pharmacies within walking distance of our Highland Park home since Friday to no avail. No one is stocking it. I have two pills remaining, which will carry me until 6:00 this evening; within six hours after that I will begin enduring the grueling wirhdrawl process that found me in a Las Vegas ER last June.
Now, I have acquired no less than five revenue-producing projects since returning to L.A. a little over one month ago but so far only one has produced income in the form of a retainer that has since been spent on groceries and bills. As I write this I have $3.74 on Pay Pal and my SS Disability payment does not hit until June 3, next Friday. My bank account is, unfortunately, overdrawn and cannot be tapped. My co-pay for the oxy is $10.00 and a bus to, say, Glendale Adventist is $1.50 each way. The math is not in my favor. Some of you receiving this message have helped me in the past so I understand if there’s nothing you can do, honestly I do. Anyone who can help today with transportation or a loan via Pay Pal (I will return whatever funds are forwarded, it may take time but it will be done) or anything you can think of, well, I would be most appreciative. For my colleagues in media please feel free to report any or all portions of this correspondence to underscore the crisis of pain medication abuse in this country that is creating crisis situations for legitimate patients such as myself.
My Pay Pal is
rodger_jacobs@yahoo.com. My cell number is
702-496-2996. I’ll be standing by the phone and inbox all afternoon.
Thank you,
Rodger Jacobs
