Medical Alert: CVS CarePlus no longer doing blood draws for persons receiving Clozapine.

As of June 1, 2010,* CVS CarePlus* is no longer doing blood draws for persons who are receiving Clozapine. DHS has identified 279 recipients of fee-for -service Minnesota Health Care Programs (MHCP) who appear to be prescribed clozapine and require monthly blood draws prior to refilling their prescription.

Although we understand that these individuals did receive some communication from CVS CarePlus regarding the termination of their blood draw program, we also want to alert you to this issue and provide you with some general options to assure that blood draws continue and prescriptions for clozapine can be refilled as needed. Some options to consider are:

• Assuring that the person’s psychiatrist or prescriber is aware of this change
• Making an appointment with an independent lab in the area
• Contacting the person’s primary care clinic for an appointment for a blood draw.
• Contacting a home care agency with the capacity to do in-home blood draws
• Contacting a pharmacy that specializes in mental health and who may offer a similar service

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