are any escorts moving to LA or NYC to get prep?

[javo]

heard about a lot of tourists coming to la and nyc to get a prescription for prep because either their too afraid to do it in their home town or their backwards dr back home wont give it to them. just wondering if escorts were doing the same thing?

[+ nycman]

I hooked up with a guy the other night who asked me a million questions about PreP.

 

I told him he needed to have a frank and honest discussion with his doctor. He told me

he had, but he way he described it his NYC physician sounded very ill informed and

slightly homophobic. In the end his doctor basically refused to right the prescription.

 

I told him to get a new doctor.

 

The lesson is...even living in NYC isn't a guarantee of having a doctor who's well informed on gay men's health.

 

You need to educate yourself and advocate for yourself.

 

Any physician who is threatened by that isn't a great doctor. Period.

[javo]

I hooked up with a guy the other night who asked me a million questions about PreP.

 

I told him he needed to have a frank and honest discussion with his doctor. He told me

he had, but he way he described it his NYC physician sounded very ill informed and

slightly homophobic. In the end his doctor basically refused to right the prescription.

 

I told him to get a new doctor.

 

The lesson is...even living in NYC isn't a guarantee of having a doctor who's well informed on gay men's health.

 

You need to educate yourself and advocate for yourself.

 

Any physician who is threatened by that isn't a great doctor. Period.

 

Its really hard finding a new Dr that will agree to write you prescription before seeing you. I even called a few drs to see if they had any experiance with the drug. 2 gay Drs refused to prescribe it, SHOCKING! Shopping around to 1 maybe 2 or as in my case 4 different Drs to finally get prescription, got expensive. Insurance doesnt cover that many elective Dr visits. I should have just gone to a free clinic, God those places are nasty and filled of homeless, lets just say some chairs were so dirty even the staff didnt want to clean them. I'm suspecting if it was hard for me with insurance to find a Dr it might be even harder for escorts, the real people that could benefit from this pill the most.

[stop]

Its really hard finding a new Dr that will agree to write you prescription before seeing you. I even called a few drs to see if they had any experiance with the drug. 2 gay Drs refused to prescribe it, SHOCKING! Shopping around to 1 maybe 2 or as in my case 4 different Drs to finally get prescription, got expensive. Insurance doesnt cover that many elective Dr visits. I should have just gone to a free clinic, God those places are nasty and filled of homeless, lets just say some chairs were so dirty even the staff didnt want to clean them. I'm suspecting if it was hard for me with insurance to find a Dr it might be even harder for escorts, the real people that could benefit from this pill the most.

 

Its illegal to write a prescription to a patient without seeing them first. If you are in LA why not just got to the Gay and Lesbian center or go to AHF? Yes I know AHF doesn't support prep but the doctors will write prescriptions for it.

[javo]

Its illegal to write a prescription to a patient without seeing them first. If you are in LA why not just got to the Gay and Lesbian center or go to AHF? Yes I know AHF doesn't support prep but the doctors will write prescriptions for it.

 

sorry i never asked for a perception before seeing the Dr. i asked if they were willing to prescribe it to patients. No dr will prescribe it without their own and new blood/ even though i had blood work that week from another drs office fax it to them. Then each Dr tried to explain why they didnt want to write the prescription. 1 dr said im not at risk. another said he didnt know the side affects of the drug. another said abstain from all sex if i feared aids.

 

yah ended up at the Center. That place has tons of homeless. Nice building and about a 3-5 hour Dr visit (with and appointment) is a little much.

[stop]

sorry i never asked for a perception before seeing the Dr. i asked if they were willing to prescribe it to patients. No dr will prescribe it without their own and new blood/ even though i had blood work that week from another drs office fax it to them. Then each Dr tried to explain why they didnt want to write the prescription. 1 dr said im not at risk. another said he didnt know the side affects of the drug. another said abstain from all sex if i feared aids.

 

yah ended up at the Center. That place has tons of homeless. Nice building and about a 3-5 hour Dr visit (with and appointment) is a little much.

 

Oh, sorry I miss understood this statement:

 

Its really hard finding a new Dr that will agree to write you prescription before seeing you.

 

The Center serves all people, so yes, there are going to be some homeless at the Center. It is a free service and free health care. But the times I have been there, it was a mixture of many different backgrounds. I haven't had the experience of having to wait 5 hours for a pre-scheduled appointment. Not sure what was going on that day. I have never had to wait that long when I went there, even when I went for an SDT test and just did a walk in it only took about 2 hours from beginning to end.

 

That last doctor you referenced sounds horrible to reference AIDS. That is really out of touch with reality. I could see a doctor referencing HIV status but talking about AIDS is something most doctors don't do these days.

[LADoug1]

It would be easier just to find a new doctor than to move. I have an amazing doctor who handles my care for PrEP and insurance pays for it all.

If you are low income there are programs to pay for PreP. Ask your service provider or call the manufacturer yourself.

[rvwnsd]

If you are low income there are programs to pay for PreP. Ask your service provider or call the manufacturer yourself.

It sounds like the issue is the service provider.

 

My guess is no physician will answer a question about whether or not he/she will prescribe a particular medication, whether it is Truvada as PrEP, Advair for asthma, oe Zythromax for the sniffles. A different way to approach the issue is to ask a prospective physician to describe his or her treatment approach, including the use of Truvada as PrEP.

[+ Eric Hassan]

heard about a lot of tourists coming to la and nyc to get a prescription for prep because either their too afraid to do it in their home town or their backwards dr back home wont give it to them. just wondering if escorts were doing the same thing?

 

If anyone is having problems accessing PrEP, whatever the issue is, PLEASE speak up! I highly recommend (if you are on Facebook) that you check out the PrEPfacts group - it's run by my best friend and is widely recognized as an excellent resource for folks who are looking to find information, have questions, need help, etc. The group has many doctors and other providers, along with guys well versed in overcoming whatever hurdles may arise and it's an excellent way to get your questions answered, find compassionate, pro-active and knowledgeable providers and find support/connections in the community. Also, feel free to reach out to me directly if you like - I'm well connected and am more than happy to help you out.

[+ Eric Hassan]

Its illegal to write a prescription to a patient without seeing them first. If you are in LA why not just got to the Gay and Lesbian center or go to AHF? Yes I know AHF doesn't support prep but the doctors will write prescriptions for it.

 

I wouldn't recommend AHF to anyone.

[rvwnsd]

sorry i never asked for a perception before seeing the Dr. i asked if they were willing to prescribe it to patients. No dr will prescribe it without their own and new blood/ even though i had blood work that week from another drs office fax it to them. Then each Dr tried to explain why they didnt want to write the prescription. 1 dr said im not at risk. another said he didnt know the side affects of the drug. another said abstain from all sex if i feared aids.

 

yah ended up at the Center. That place has tons of homeless. Nice building and about a 3-5 hour Dr visit (with and appointment) is a little much.

I can't recommend this place (as I have not used their services), but a Google search of "PrEP access in Los Angeles" produced several links, including:

 

http://www.prephivprevention.com/index.php?gclid=COqhs62xk8wCFYqPfgodHdkAug

 

it also produced the following:

 

http://beingalivela.org/prep-pep-list-of-providers-in-los-angeles/