Doctors who dont give enough refills to reach next appt

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This really pisses me off. My dermatologist's office refused to refill my Cyclosporine(no explanation). Last appointment I had with my dermatologist(in September) he said everything was good, no need to change the dose and wrote me a prescription. So my next appointment that they gave me isn't until first week of March but he only gave me enough initially to last me to the first week of January which other doctors have done before but have simply refilled them when my pharmacy faxes them.

He just I guess decided that I should find out that he wants me to stop the medication for 2 months when my pharmacy faxed his office and refused to fill it. Didn't bother to have his office to call me or tell me in advance. WTF?? Of course his office is one where the secretary will not answer the calls whatsoever, you leave a message and wait 48 hours to play phone tag or whatever. I already had my family doctor give me a month's refill but I can tell he is uneasy as my family doctor has no experience with prescribing Cyclosporine and he shouldn't have to.

It is just so irritating when doctors want to change their mind AFTER you leave the appointment and can't be bothered to inform of you of their change of plans, figuring you'll find out when you run out of your meds.

WTF is wrong with doctors not writing enough refills to reach the next appointment they have scheduled?

You should definitely file a complaint with the appropriate office/agency/bureau. Sometimes that's the only way to get people's attention.

Here in Ontario, if you file a complaint against a doctor they have the right to drop you as a patient without any reason whatsoever. They police themselves which is another way of saying they answer to no one. Their college(the name for their self-regulatory body) likes to brag about the fact that only 2.5% of complaints result in disciplinary action and they give that as evidence that the system works lol... I have filed a complaint against a previous doctor who pulled that s**t who I no longer needed the process took nearly 2 years and the doctor never faced any consequences or even so much as acknowledgement of wrong doing. I need this doctor for this specific medication cause its not a medication that just any doctor is familiar with or wants to prescribe.

^ Yet another illustration showing that the so-called doctor-patient relationship is really a master-slave relationship.

Maybe at least you could give them a poor rating on some review site like this one:
https://www.healthgrades.com/

Does the doctor's office get a $200 fee everytime you walk through the door?

You could get a different doctor

The other doctor will be better or worse than the current doctor

You won't know if the next doctor is better or worse , until after you waste q lot of time money and energy

It takes a lot of time money and energy to get a different doctor

Short of organizing political action, or winning a civil lawsuit, it sounds to me, like the doctor has an unfair advantage

Power imbalance

Can you show up there on Monday morning and ask to see the doctor? If the other patients overhear your complaint, the reception will likely help you out.

I understand the panic that sets in when a needed medication is not available.

There's always a chance, while slim, that the refusal is in error or some sort of mix up.

What I do when I need to get a doctor's attention is fax a nice, short, to-the-point letter. It would say something like this:

Patient: Mr. N. Noca
Date of birth: xx-xx-xxxx
Social Security Number (or patient number, or whatever Canadians use)

Dr. So-and-So,

The above patient has run out of cyclosporine.

The next appointment isn't until March xx.

If you could please fax authorization for 30 days (or whatever you need) to (your pharmacy and pharmacy fax.) to last until the next appointment.

If you are unable to provide authorization, kindly advise the reason.

Thank you.

Good luck.

Mr. Noca

I think doctors here get only $30 per appointment, at least that's the cost for family medicine, dermatologists may get more, I'm not certain. Either way its free for me(public health care).

I'm not sure if he has clinic hours on any given day. I see him at a hospital not a private practice. I will initiate phone tag on Monday. I have like 3 weeks to sort it out. I think I'll book to see my family doctor again just as a fail safe.

The patient is always at a disadvantage it seems.

Panic is correct. I'm trying to keep an open mind that this is an unintended f**k up. My pharmacy faxed him twice(2nd fax was friday afternoon) already, the first time the pharmacist said they refused to refill it that the doctors office said they would discuss at next appointment. I have no idea whether that was the actual doctor who replied or just some automated/blanket reply from their office. I'm fully open to negotiating with the doctor but only after I get to do it in person. I am sure I can convince my family doctor to write me refills if I plead and beg him. It's so awkward for both of us as he really shouldn't be prescribing it.

Have you called the doctor's office directly to find out why they are rejecting the refill?

Either there's a reason or it's a mistake. Good to go directly to the source.

I only found out Friday. I am calling tomorrow though I don't expect to be able to reach anyone since they have some voicemail that they don't answer the phone and get back to you in 48 hours. It's going to be hard to plead my case through phone tag.

Finally got a hold of my doctor's office. Turns out the pharmacy f****d up and didn't write down the correct number of refills that were on the prescription. My doctor's office is going to sort that out with them.

Thanks for the update! I was hoping to hear a resolution!

((YAY, Doctor!!))