Urgent care won’t prescribe Paxlovid??!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here— great advice from everyone. Thank you! Getting ready to send an online message to his doctor. Right now he’s resting, has been eating soup and breathing is fine. I’m just glad he’s vaccinated at least.

That’s good. It’s smart to go through the doctor. My father had to stop taking one of his medications when he took Paxlovid. When I had covid, my doctor did not prescribe it for a few specific reasons. His own doctor will know his medical history and any possible interactions. It’s best to be safe.

[Anonymous]

I'm really glad that worked out for you and your Dad.

My dad wasn't eligible for Paxlovid due to his kidney functions so they really do need the PCP who knows the entire medical history. But he was able to get other treatments in the ER (antibodies, oxygen) that really eased his symptoms. He was sicker for longer, but made a full recovery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm really glad that worked out for you and your Dad.

My dad wasn't eligible for Paxlovid due to his kidney functions so they really do need the PCP who knows the entire medical history. But he was able to get other treatments in the ER (antibodies, oxygen) that really eased his symptoms. He was sicker for longer, but made a full recovery.

Very glad to hear your dad made a full recovery!

[Anonymous]

Because it is not recommended for everyone (friending in what drugs he takes). They cannot take your word for that.

[Anonymous]

*depending

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try an online doctor. Type paxlovid prescription into google, and you'll get a bunch of suggestions. I did this before, and had a prescription transmitted to my local pharmacy within about an hour. And the online doctor charged me less than my insurance copay would have been. Will probably need to upload a photo of the positive covid test.

Do not do this.

Why not? Worked perfectly when I did it. The online questionnaire asked about all drugs I was taking and medical conditions I had. Not any different than calling your doctor and having him/her ask these questions over the phone -- except as the OP experienced, good luck getting through to your doctor. It's unfortunate that I had to resort to this to get paxlovid when I needed it, but I really had no other option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dad who is 73 finally caught Covid. He has several pre-existing conditions, so we took him to urgent care to get Paxlovid. They refused to prescribe it although he is symptomatic and has a positive test.

They claimed only his doctor can prescribe it. This does not seem right!

Would appreciate hearing from others, if you’ve had experiences with Paxlovid?

Physician here who works in Urgent Care. That's completely crazy! I can understand they might want to check his renal function and either ask for recent bloodwork or order it themselves, but that is precisely why urgent care exists! To urgently treat higher risk individuals as quickly as possible and in this case, significantly reduce his risk. I would report to supervisor and state medical board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dad who is 73 finally caught Covid. He has several pre-existing conditions, so we took him to urgent care to get Paxlovid. They refused to prescribe it although he is symptomatic and has a positive test.

They claimed only his doctor can prescribe it. This does not seem right!

Would appreciate hearing from others, if you’ve had experiences with Paxlovid?

The urgent care doctor doesn't have access to your dad's medical records to confirm or take into account his pre existing conditions.
Urgent care isn't just going to take your word .

Urgent care doctor here: Yes, we do. We just take your word...that's how medicine works. This isn't some narcotic that he's faking an injury about and wanting pain meds. This is an antiviral that has a high risk of death in this age group. These responses are completely bizarre and not true.

Anybody who is older or higher risk should make a plan NOW for what to do if you/they get COVID so you aren't scrambling at the last minute and stuck with bad advice. I can't tell you how many doctors don't take this seriously. TWIV podcast with Daniel Griffin, MD does weekly updates and he's often taking care of hospitalized patients who should have had Paxlovid, but doctors didn't prescribe and he literally just can't understand it.

Talk to your PCP about your labwork, what meds you might need to stop, ask for a copy of kidney labs and be sure to know all the medications you take and doses. You should have access to your records through a portal as well. It's sad you have to be such a forceful advocate for physicians who don't know any better.

[Anonymous]

I am a basically healthy 52 year old whintesTed positive thIs morning. I made one call to my PCP and I had a virtual appointment two hours later and a paxlovid prescription filled less than an hour after that. And if that had not worked for some reason like testing positive on a weekend, a friend recommended the CVS minute clinic. I understand the need to account for incompatible conditions or medications (I have to stop my blood pressure meds during the 5 day course of pills). But it seems ridiculous and a little cruel to just tell people they don’t need it because they likely can just tough it out on their own.

[Anonymous]

*”old who tested positive this morning”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my dad got Covid at 78 he wasn’t allowed to have paxlovid bc there was an issue with one of his current medications. Not sure if they are hesitant because they don’t know his full history. Luckily my dad had a super mild case and was fine but if he has a PCP I would try to contact their after hours line.

My parents got Covid at the same time. Because my dad has underlying conditions and medications, he could not take Paxlovid but had to use another medication that was harder to find. For my mom, also in the Hopkins network, if was very easy to schedule a telehealth appointment. The health practitioner will send the prescription right away and you can get the medication in a few hours. Best of luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dad who is 73 finally caught Covid. He has several pre-existing conditions, so we took him to urgent care to get Paxlovid. They refused to prescribe it although he is symptomatic and has a positive test.

They claimed only his doctor can prescribe it. This does not seem right!

Would appreciate hearing from others, if you’ve had experiences with Paxlovid?

Physician here who works in Urgent Care. That's completely crazy! I can understand they might want to check his renal function and either ask for recent bloodwork or order it themselves, but that is precisely why urgent care exists! To urgently treat higher risk individuals as quickly as possible and in this case, significantly reduce his risk. I would report to supervisor and state medical board.

I strongly suspect the OP left out important details. If her dad has several pre-existing conditions, then there’s a pretty chance he takes medications with adverse interactions with paxlovid. You can easily imagine an urgent care provider not feeling comfortable telling a patient to halt their maintenance medications, or ignore the interactions, in order to take paxlovid.