Do I have to see a dermatologist for Accutane?
I currently don’t hаνе health insurance, аnd аm considering taking Accutane. Hοwеνеr, ѕіnсе I don’t hаνе insurance, I саn’t afford continuous visits tο a specialist lіkе a dermatologist. I CAN afford tο see mу family doctor whο charges mе a flat rate fοr each office visit.
Bυt, frοm whаt I’ve heard frοm οthеr people, a dermatologist (nοt a family doctor) іѕ thе οnlу person whο саn prescribe Accutane fοr уου. Iѕ thіѕ сοrrесt?
Unfortunately, there are pretty significant health risks associated with the Accutane drug, so there is a lot of administrative red tape that you have to go through in order to get it.
The prescribing doctor has to be registered with the iPledge program in order to be an authorized prescriber. While I don’t think general physicians are precluded from registering, it’s mostly dermatologists who go through this registration process. I guess it’s worth a call to your primary care doctor’s office just to double check.
In addition to monthly visits, you also have the cost of the medication itself and monthly blood draws (more frequently if you have any complications).
You might want to find a smaller dermatology office and just see what they can do for you. Before I started Accutane, some referral issues prevented me from getting my dermatologist visits covered by my insurance and the dermatologist I saw was really great about it. He charged me at a reduced rate, showed me how to do procedures instead of doing them himself (so that he wouldn’t have to charge me for them) and helped me find prescriptions that would be covered under my insurance. I know Walgreen’s has a program that is $20 for the year and can get you reduced rate prescriptions; that might be worth looking into as well to help subsidize the cost of the prescription itself.
Good luck!
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Technically, anyone can prescribe it (as long as they are signed up with the "i pledge" program) , but considering the serious nature of the possible side effects involved, I would think you would want to be followed by a derm. Taking accutane involves monthly blood tested (absolutely required before you pick up your prescription each month) and a monthly doctor visit so they can check you out and make sure you are not having any dangerous side effects. The blood tests and monthly office visits are probably gonna be expensive. Good luck!