I got another prescription today…

Last time I did that was in 2020, and I did it again today for the same reason. I can’t take this prosthesis any more.

I’ve only had it five years but it fits so badly I’m basically confined to the house for not being able to walk with it. Two weeks ago I bought a cane. It’s enough to drive me to … well, go out and get another one.

Having come back from the local clinic with a promise from the doctor that he’d send an order to the prosthetist I’m pretty much stuck with, I came home and tried to make an appointment. Only to find the office is closed, presumably for the same reason the post office was. Stupid holidays…

About Joel

You shouldn't ask these questions of a paranoid recluse, you know.
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7 Responses to I got another prescription today…

  1. Tennessee Budd says:

    FWIW, Joel, congrats on not needing the cane for so long. My leg goes all the way to the ground (just an inch or so shorter than it used to be), and I’ve used a cane most of the time for 17 years. Damned inconvenient having one hand taken up by holding a stick.

  2. Jay Bee says:

    Yeah, I wasn’t expecting a UPS store to be closed. Mighty inconvenient when I have a prescription sitting behind their counter waiting for my signature.

  3. I’m not missing any limbs, so the whole prosthesis acquirement process is a bit of a mystery to me. A prosthesis is a purely mechanical device, right? But you still need a doctors prescription to get one? Or is the prescription just for the sake of getting insurance to cover it? I mean, you can’t just walk into a leg shop and say “Hey, you guys have any StrideMaster 5000’s in stock? You do? Great, can you fit me for one?” They (the prosthesis guys) won’t/can’t sell/fit you one without a prescription?

  4. Joel says:

    Oh, don’t get me started. With my first prosthesis in 1973 that’s exactly how it went. My first encounter with needing a prescription was in California over 20 years ago and I thought at the time it was just a California thing. But now I’m of the opinion that it’s driven by Hanger Orthotics, which has a virtual monopoly on prosthetics, and that somehow that rule works to their advantage. They still demand prescriptions for things like stumpsocks that I can openly and legally buy online without no steenking prescription.

  5. Uncle Anonymous says:

    It’s a good thing you are getting this done now, Joel. With DonOLD at the helm, it looks like programs for people with disabilities like Medicaid will be on the chopping block. Thanks to the game plan of Project 2025 and their proposals to restructure Medicaid and impose lifetime eligibility limits, the next time you need a prosthetic the money may have to come out of your pocket.

  6. RCPete says:

    CPAP equipment is much the same, though at least in Oregon, any doctor (even a dentist) can cut the prescription. I wrote mine out and had the doc send it. Somewhere along the line, even accessories (masks, primarily) started to need a prescription. Might have coincided with Obamacare.

    I’ve heard that some states (Ohio), the prescriptions have to be done by specialists. I suspect there’s a lot of lobbying and rent-seeking going on.

  7. Robert says:

    CZ: I tried to buy a shower chair. Nope! Gotta have a friggin’ prescription for a piece of plastic furniture that is basically one-size-fits-most. I can see a scrip for something custom that needs a specialist’s touch because those medical people have boat payments, y’know.

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