Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
I was supposed to receive my Enbrel delivery today, but UPS is saying that my delivery has been delayed due to bad weather in KY. I may not get it until Monday or later! If I have to wait that long, it won't be cold any more and I will only be able to use two of the doses, because it is only good for 14 days if left unrefrigerated.
Has anyone else ever had an experience like this with meds that are supposed to be kept refrigerated but were delivered late? Enbrel is so expensive. I doubt if the specialty pharmacy would replace it.
Thank you.
Has anyone else ever had an experience like this with meds that are supposed to be kept refrigerated but were delivered late? Enbrel is so expensive. I doubt if the specialty pharmacy would replace it.
Thank you.
Call your pharmacy as soon as you can- tomorrow if they're open- and let them know there is a potential problem. Any chance they saw problems ahead and delayed the shipment?
UPS trucks aren't too well heated, and it may stay plenty cold.
I had my delivery delayed once for one day and it was fine (snow storm in NJ). That is why I always specify a Tuesday delivery so if there is a problem I will most likely get it the following day.
Mine are shipped from NJ to PA via UPS Next Day Air - however it doesn't go via air but by truck since it is fairly close by.
My new insurance uses a specialty pharmacy in Florida - should be interesting.
Just drives me nuts - the big box with cooler and multiple ice packs sending overnight air for those 2 little pens.
My guess is that the cooler and ice packs offer a certain number of days where it's still under a guaranteed temp. So, you might be ok. I'm sure there are studies on this. I have always thought the Styrofoam box and ice packs were over-the-top but now I see they aren't.
Well, here it is, Saturday, and I still haven't received my shipment and UPS is saying I probably won't get it until Monday, even though the truck probably made it to the pick up location today. The scanner tracking shows it left Louisville at 5:30 this morning, and I only live a couple of hours from there. But UPS is only open until 1 PM on Saturdays. I went over there, even though I never got any notification, and the guy said that he won't have any information on my shipment until Monday. He said it is probably out in the "trailer" right there on the property. The truck just won't be unloaded until Monday. By the way, it sat in the trailer all night last night in Louisville, KY, in freezing temps.
I did call my insurance company. Even though they were closed, they still had an "emergency" number so I could speak to a real person. They told me that when I get my Rx, I need to call them right away to speak to a pharmacist so I can explain over the phone how it looks. Of course, if it is cloudy, I won't be able to use it. They did say that if anything appears to be wrong with the condition of it when I finally do get it, they will replace it! Thank goodness, because it is so expensive.
By the way, my RA doc told me the other day that the pharmaceutical companies are working on cheaper versions of these biologics so they will eventually be more affordable.
Thanks for your replies!
I just got my Enbrel delivery, exactly three days late (I went to UPS to pick it up, myself). I was pleasantly surprised. The cooler kept the Enbrel cold (like refrigerator cold)! The cooling packs (the ones that say "B" on them) were very cold, just not solid blocks, as usual. I looked at each injector pen and everything looked normal.
I called the pharmacist at the specialty pharmacy like they told me to, and he seemed to think I will be fine using them. The first thing he told me was that he was glad I called about it. He said that was the right thing to do. Since I was concerned about it possibly having frozen while sitting that first day in the trailer in KY, he said that if it had frozen, it would probably still have some frozen chunks floating around in the liquid. He was most concerned about any particles in the liquid (there were none) and whether or not the liquid was cloudy (it was not).
He said he would be more concerned about Enbrel getting too hot than too cold. He said that if it had been frozen or left to get warm, it wouldn't hurt me... it just wouldn't be as effective. So, I am very happily surprised that I can use this supply and I don't have to have another shipment sent.
The pharmacist also said that there was quite a number of people with the same issue today (all due to the harsh weather last week). I guess no two scenarios will be exactly the same in a case like this.
Thank for sharing what pharmacist passed on. Very informative.
You never know & better safe then sorry.
Sammy