Opinion ID: 1275934
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Reimbursement of Prescription Medication

Text: Hodges contends that he should have been reimbursed for his purchases of Fentanyl Patches, prescribed to manage Hodges's pain, and that the Board was mistaken in deciding otherwise. Alaska Constructors argues that the Board reasonably determined that Hodges failed to meet the requirement of showing factual errors or mistakes of law made by the Board. By the terms of the decision in Hodges III, Hodges was to fill all of his prescriptions through a mail-order drug supply company. Despite the company's statement to the contrary, Hodges maintained that it was illegal to send narcotic pain medication through the mail. Though Hodges's drug supply company could not use the postal mail to send a class-II narcotic such as Fentanyl interstate, it could legally use other shipping methods to do so. In his application for modification, Hodges stated that he learned in 1993 that his drug supply company could deliver class-II narcotics. The Board, however, found that Hodges was made aware as early as 1991 that his company used alternatives to the postal mail system. The Board held in Hodges V that Hodges was dilatory in acquainting himself with the mail-order service and that Hodges failed to demonstrate any erroneous facts in Hodges III or any changes in condition since that decision, as related to the prescription medication. We further find [Hodges's] mistaken belief on the law is not proper grounds for a determination of modification. We agree with the Board's reasoning. Hodges failed to explain which facts supported his allegation of mistake of fact, as required by 8 AAC 45.150(d)(2). While Hodges argued in his request for modification that the Board made a mistake in requiring him to obtain his prescription medications in contravention of Federal or State law, this was not the case. Therefore, we conclude that the Board did not err in denying Hodges reimbursement for medication not ordered through the mail-order service.