Do You Need Free Prescriptions?
Lackey clinic is a faith-based nonprofit providing free and low-cost prescriptions to adults without medical insurance. Our working-class patients earn too much to qualify for Virginia Medicaid but not enough to afford quality medical insurance, usually earning between $12-$25 an hour.
Check to see if you may be eligible to become a full
Lackey Clinic Patient!
We serve uninsured adults in Virginia, who meet income requirements.
If you have any questions, please call us at 757.886.0608 ext. 252 or 253 for Se Habla Español during our office hours.
Lackey Clinic has an in-house pharmacy where patients can pick up their medications right after their doctor’s appointment or anytime during pharmacy business hours. Our pharmacy provides both brand-name and generic medications.
In addition, we can get many brand-name medications for chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiac issues through patient assistance programs at no cost to our patients, which means brand-name insulin such as Novolog, Humalog, and Levemir are free for our patients at our pharmacy.
For generic, formulary prescriptions filled through our pharmacy, there is a $4 fee for up to a 30-day supply or a $10 fee for a 90-day supply. The fee is due at the time of prescription pick-up.
Please note: Our pharmacy does not carry or dispense narcotic/controlled substances.
Medication Assistance Program
The Lackey Medication Assistant Program (LMAP) helps patients receive their medications at no charge from different pharmaceutical programs through their Patient Assistance Programs. Our LMAP caseworkers fill up order refills and authorization forms on behalf of Lackey Clinic patients.
Please allow three weeks for refills and six weeks for new prescriptions.
Please inform Lackey Clinic if you receive correspondence from pharmaceutical companies.
Important: When necessary for the authorization and medical treatment, medical and financial information may be shared with other healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, and their designees.
Pharmacist
If you’re looking for someone who can work with you to manage your health better, look no further than your pharmacist. If, for instance, two different doctors prescribe incompatible drugs, the patient’s pharmacist can intervene before any complications arise. A licensed pharmacist can intervene and talk to your doctor if you’re having trouble with your medications or experiencing unwanted side effects.
Adherence to prescribed medications means taking them exactly as prescribed, including in the prescribed dosages, at the prescribed times of day, with or without food or beverages, and with or without any other medications.
Strict adherence to the rules is essential. Not taking blood pressure medication as directed, for instance, can increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. However, only about half of people in the U.S. who have been prescribed medication for high blood pressure take it as prescribed.
When You Visit Your Pharmacist, They Can Aid In Your Health By:
You can learn about what the medicine is intended to treat, how to take it most effectively, potential side effects, and what to do if you experience them can all be explained in detail by your pharmacist.
Your pharmacist is a valuable resource for learning about and resolving barriers to taking medication as prescribed.
Your pharmacist may recommend a daily pill box or other tools to ensure you take your medication appropriately and in the correct dosage. In addition, your pharmacy is an excellent resource for finding financial assistance and medication discounts.
Your pharmacist is in the best position to advise you on which non-prescription medications, such as pain relievers and nutritional supplements, are compatible with your prescribed medications.
You can discuss with your pharmacist current health issues, like your high blood pressure, and they can assist you in keeping track of it. A pharmacist can also talk to a patient’s primary care physician to ensure that the patient gets the best care possible.
Pharmacists can administer regular immunizations and instruct patients on the proper use of medical devices, such as blood glucose monitors for those with diabetes and inhalers for those with asthma.
Medication Management
Medication Management
Medication adherence refers to consistently and reliably taking prescribed medications as intended by the patient’s doctor. So what’s the big deal about doing these things?
Neglecting your medication as directed by a doctor or pharmacist can have serious consequences, including worsening the patient’s condition, hospitalization, or even death.
The CDC estimates that up to fifty percent of treatment failures for chronic diseases and a staggering 125,000 deaths annually are attributed to non-adherence. So taking your medication correctly and on time is serious business!
Patients who stop taking statins within the first year of treatment are at an increased risk of death. The risk goes up to 50% within the first year alone.
For various reasons, many patients do not take their medications as prescribed by their doctors.
Not being able to follow the prescribed regimen because of factors like forgetting to take your medication or taking too many pills at once can also cause you to experience avoidable side effects.
A patient’s inability to fill any necessary prescription or the decision to take a smaller-than-recommended dose to stretch the medication’s budget are potential causes of medication non-adherence. Again, however, following your doctor’s orders is crucial if you want to get the most out of your medications.
Many patients’ health and well-being depend on the medicines they take daily; for these people, taking medications is an integral part of their routine. Medications, whether prescribed or over the counter, have the potential to alleviate symptoms and speed recovery, but it’s crucial to weigh the benefits with the risks.
When a person takes a medicine, they can expect to feel its beneficial effects, including reduced blood pressure, infection elimination, and pain alleviation. However, medication risks are the potential for adverse effects to occur. Some mild side effects range from mild discomforts like an upset stomach.
Prescription Medication: How to Take Your Medication Correctly
Adherence to medication treatment plans is vital to managing chronic conditions, resolving acute issues, and ensuring long-term health and wellness. The success of any medication regimen depends on regular check-ins with your doctor or pharmacist. Your pharmacist is a medication expert who can advise you on taking your medication safely and effectively. The most crucial role, however, is yours to play by strictly adhering to your medication schedule.
- Try to maintain a regular schedule for taking your medication.
- It's best to refill a pill container once a week at the same time every week. Like, say, every Sunday morning after brunch.
- Get bottle tops with built-in timers to remind you when it's time to take your pills. Even some pill boxes have timer features.
- Make sure you have enough of your prescription drugs for your trip, plus a few extra days just in case your return is delayed.
- Avoid the hassle of lost luggage by storing any necessary medications in your carry-on bag. Your medication may be ruined due to the extreme temperatures in the hold.
- Create a ritual of taking your medication. We all have daily rituals, and it would be best to integrate your medication into your regular habits or rituals.
- If you need to take medication regularly, it's a good idea to find out if it works better on an empty or full stomach before deciding when to take it. However, note that some medications explicitly require patients to take the drug after a meal, so be mindful of those instructions, too.
- List Keep a "medicine calendar" next to your pill bottles and record when you take each dose.
- Put your pills in a pill container. Some models feature separate daily sections for morning, noon, evening, and nighttime dosing.
Additional tips when picking up medication include:
- Taking precautions to ensure that the correct medication has been obtained. Verify that the medication is the same in appearance as the one you previously purchased, including packaging, markings, color, and size.
When in doubt, never hesitate to consult your pharmacist. Make sure your pharmacist, doctor, or other healthcare provider knows if you notice any changes in how the drug works for you.
- Take care to familiarize yourself with the medication's proper use and dosage. Do you have any doubts? Query your local pharmacist on this.
- Have a measuring cup, spoon, or syringe for any liquid medications.
- If the medication you need does not require special measurement tools, feel free to ask your pharmacist for such a tool. Medication should not be measured using tools previously used for food or cooking. Please do not mix these tools.
- Get all the medication details the pharmacist can give you if you want to understand how the medications work. Also, keep any literature the pharmacist may give you and read them.
- Find out the pharmacy's hours of operation and phone number in case you have any follow-up questions or need a refill.
What is Brand-Name Medication?
A pharmaceutical firm sells a brand-name drug under a trademarked name. Name-brand medications can sometimes be purchased without a doctor’s prescription. The first company to develop a new drug typically files for patent protection to keep competitors from making and selling the medicine.
The pharmaceutical company will manufacture and market the medication under a brand name to recoup its costs and turn a profit while the patent is active, which could take up to twenty years.
However, when the patent on a drug expires, it opens the door for other manufacturers to create substitutes. As a result, it resulted in the development of both brand-name and generic drug categories.
The production conditions used to create brand-name and generic versions of the same drug set them apart. A generic drug is made from the same active ingredient as a brand-name drug but does not carry the manufacturer’s name. Therefore, generic versions of a drug will have a different brand name but will be chemically identical to the name-brand version. However, generic drugs are just as effective as their brand-name counterparts because they use the same high-quality active ingredient.
The FDA in the United States, or its international equivalent, issues stringent guidelines and monitors all pharmaceutical products.
For marketing reasons, generic drugs cannot be chemically or physically identical to their brand-name counterparts; each must have its name. Those variations are not only discernible between branded and generic drugs but also between different generics. Simply put, generic drugs contain the same active ingredient under different brand names.
What is Generic Medication?
Similar to their name-brand counterparts, generic drugs effectively treat different conditions.
All generic drug versions approved by the Food and Drug Administration are expected to have the same safety and efficacy profiles as the original brand-name version.
The quality, stability, strength, efficacy, safety, dosage, and mode of administration of generic medicine must be identical to that of the corresponding brand-name medicine. Likewise, the benefits and drawbacks of generic medicines are identical to those of their name-brand equivalents.
Generic drugs must meet the same rigorous standards as their brand-name counterparts. Pharmaceutical companies manufacturing generic medication must show that they are safe and effective alternatives to their brand-name counterparts. Candidates for generic drugs are expected to provide evidence that their medicine is identical to the brand-name version.
- All generic versions of a given drug contain the same active ingredient as their respective brand-name and innovator counterparts.
- The generic equivalent is the same in potency, dosage form, and method of administration (such as oral or topical).
- The generic equivalent is produced to the same standards as the branded version.
- The drug label is identical to that of the equivalent name-brand drug.
- The therapeutic efficacy of generic medicines is the same as that of their brand-name counterparts, but they cost much less.
Because they don’t have to conduct the same clinical and animal studies to prove safety and effectiveness, generic medicines are typically less expensive than their brand-name counterparts. Multiple generic versions of a product are frequently approved, increasing competition and inevitably resulting in lower prices.
Conclusion
The most important advantage of taking medication exactly as prescribed is the health improvement it brings about. Doctors prescribe medication to alleviate symptoms and aid in managing or curing various diseases. Conversely, failure to take medications as prescribed can lead to serious health problems such as deterioration of health, prolonged recovery, unpleasant side effects, substance abuse disorders, and even death.