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Referral to reduction, with nothing left vague.
Most explanations of this stop at “the pharmacy waits for the settlement,” which is the least interesting part. What matters is who signs what, when the paper arrives, how the number is set, and what happens when the recovery is smaller than the bills.
Four steps, start to finish.
Send us the patient
Call, text, or fax the referral. We need the patient, the attorney or firm, the date of loss, and the prescription. That is the whole intake — there is no portal to onboard onto and no contract for the firm to sign.
Under 5 minutesWe confirm representation
We reach the law firm, verify the patient is represented on a contingency matter, and get the letter of protection or lien acknowledgment back in writing. If the firm will not sign, we tell you before the patient shows up — not after.
Same day, usuallyThe patient gets the medication
Picked up at the counter on Wilshire, couriered to the surgery center for discharge, or delivered to the patient's door. The patient pays nothing and is never asked for a card, a copay, or an insurance ID.
Same dayYou get the paperwork the case needs
An itemized statement goes to the firm on every fill, not a lump sum at the end. At settlement you get a final lien balance, the signed protection letter, and a reduction conversation with the person who can actually authorize one.
On every fillThe referral is a phone call.
There is deliberately no onboarding. A firm that has never spoken to us can send a patient in the same hour it first hears our name.
What we need
- The patient — name and mobile number
- The firm — who represents them, and who at the firm we should deal with
- The date of loss — what ties the prescriptions to the claim
- The prescription — e-prescribed by the treating provider, or faxed to (323) 653-4079
- Where it goes — counter pickup, the surgery center, or the patient's home
What we do not need
- No credit check on the patient, ever
- No vendor agreement with the firm or the facility
- No portal account, no software, no integration project
- No minimum volume and no exclusivity
- No fee at signup, per patient, or at settlement
What actually gets signed, and by whom.
Three documents. Two are signed by the patient, one by the law firm. Nothing is signed by a surgery center or a physician.
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The patient signs a lien and assignment
An agreement that they are responsible for the cost of what is dispensed, that they grant a lien on and assign a portion of any recovery to cover it, and that payment is deferred until the case resolves. This is the document that makes the arrangement a lien rather than an unpaid bill.
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The patient signs a HIPAA authorization
Permission to release the injury-related dispensing records and billing to their law firm. Scoped to the case — not a blanket release of the patient's whole pharmacy history.
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The firm signs a letter of protection
On firm letterhead: the client is represented, the firm is aware of the balance, and it will be addressed out of the settlement proceeds at disbursement. It does not make the attorney personally liable and it does not commit anyone to a number.
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Then, and only then, we dispense on a lien
If a firm declines to sign, the patient is not stuck — they can still fill at our cash price, which we will quote before they decide. The one thing we avoid is dispensing on a lien and sorting the paperwork out afterwards.
Why a pharmacy lien is contractual, not statutory
California's Hospital Lien Act, Civil Code section 3045.1 and following, gives hospitals a statutory lien on a patient's recovery. A pharmacy is not a hospital and does not get that statute. What a pharmacy holds is a contractual lien and assignment created by the patient's signature, supported by the attorney's protection letter — the same mechanism most non-hospital providers in California use. Anyone telling you a pharmacy has an automatic statutory lien here is overselling it. General information, not legal advice; no attorney has reviewed this page.
How the number is set.
This is the part that decides whether an attorney sends a second patient.
Usual and customary
The charge is our ordinary cash price for that drug plus the dispensing fee — what anyone walking in off Wilshire pays. When a defense expert asks why the charge is what it is, the answer is that it is the same price we charge everyone.
No lien surcharge
There is no separate premium for being on a lien, no interest, and no finance charge accruing while the case is pending. A case that takes three years does not cost more than one that takes nine months for the same medication.
Quoted before you refer
Ask for the price on a specific medication and you get it in writing before a single patient is sent. A vendor who will not quote a price up front is telling you something.
Settlement, reduction, and the end of the file.
The sequence
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The demand goes out
This is the right moment to ask about a reduction, not the moment the check clears. Tell us the gross, the limits, and what the rest of the lien stack looks like — a lienholder who can see the whole picture gives a better number than one guessing.
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We give a number in writing
From the owner, usually within a couple of business days. It reflects the recovery, the limits, the other balances, the client's net, and how much of our bill is genuinely injury-related.
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The final balance letter issues
Reduction already applied, with the signed protection letter and patient agreement attached and payoff instructions on it. One page your staff can put straight onto the disbursement sheet.
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Paid from trust, and the file closes
If we agreed to a reduced figure, the reduced figure is the end of it. We do not compromise a balance and then pursue the patient for the difference.
If the case recovers nothing
The contract and the practice are two different things, and the distinction is deliberate. The patient's obligation is real and unconditional — not contingent on winning. A charge that exists only on a win is a charge the defense will argue was never incurred, and that argument lands on your client's damages.
What happens in practice: call us, and a balance on a case that recovered nothing is compromised or written off. We do not hand an injured person to a collection agency over a post-operative prescription, and we do not report these balances to a credit bureau. Ask and that comes on letterhead.