Point: I’m Holding Your Mental Health Hostage
CVS CEO
Hello, Alan. I want to play a game. You won’t receive any of these instructions, only a note from your doctor that your regular prescription “couldn’t be filled.” And they will claim they’re sorry. They will say that the pharmacy is out of stock, or is reviewing your medical information. They are lying to you, Alan.
Of course, the lying predates this game. By all rights, you should be on something a bit stronger than Xanax, my friend. If only your insurance would deign to cover it, that is.
If it feels like the world’s against you…Actually, no comment. There are no more corners left to cut, no paychecks unpadded. The system works. The Make America Healthy Again campaign has done wonders for us at the top. You’d think fear-mongering against the concept of a pill that genuinely helps people would hurt the bottom line, but CVS’ over-the-counter sale of “supplements” has been so successful that we have a whole new counter over which to sell. But you already knew all this, didn’t you, Alan? The rampant medical misinformation, the fact supplements aren’t safeguarded by the FDA. You knew. And you’ve done nothing to stop us.
Alan. If you ever want to see your mental health again, you must feel out into the ether and realize what the system is telling you. What we are telling you is to accept the way that things are, because without us you won’t feel like you. Accept that, and you may have a refill of something… A month max, maybe. Alan, open your heart to this message, and your wallet. Live or die. Make your choice.
Counterpoint: I Can’t Read the Ransom Note
Normal Person
Okay, so the other day I got a note from my doctor about complications with my prescription at the CVS drugstore on Nobel Drive, but what am I even looking at here? I just needed to refill on SSRIs but I shit you not, this is just a line. I got some half-mumbled explanation to go along with it, but by the time I processed I was the one being talked to and not the nurse, the doctor had moved on to another patient! I just had to hope I could get an answer and a prescription so I could function in my daily life.
There I was, on the street corner with a piece of paper that contained anything but a valid spelling of Xanax…Wait, Xanax? All I needed was my SSRI, and the doctor himself even said he was “happy I was stable with a medication that worked for me.” I walked into the pharmacy, eked out a single word as they snatched my doctor’s note, and then watched helplessly as the pharmacist disappeared to the back. And I do mean disappear. I waited nearly an hour before, distinctly, getting no help.
I have to reflect on this experience somehow, and the way I see it, I don’t think the woman in there hated me. It’s not her nor my fault that a refill wasn’t in the cards. Nobody really hates anyone just for one interaction. Not really. The world is never out to get you. And hey, if I could read the chicken scratch on this note that I’m holding on the 202 back to campus, maybe I could down regulate and figure out just one more thing. One more thing, and maybe I won’t feel so lost in this system.
Amit is a cog in this machine. But doesn't everything run on optic cables or something?
