Jul

People on Lithium cause problems? Of course not…

Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as Lazy People, Me being a dick, Rude, Stupid People, True Story, Work Sucks

I’m sure most of you can deduce from the title of this rant that I had a little run in with a patient over a 30-day supply of Lithium. I needed 90-300mg Lithium Capsules. I had ZERO on hand. Some fucking twerp-tech of mine adjusted my quantity to keep on hand to 90. Of course, I filled that amount earlier in the day and was left with beans.

So, Mr. Mania comes in the day before, and we tell him that we have zero. He’s completely cool with that. No problems! I tell him I’ll have them drop shipped the following morning. He’s a long term customer and buys lots of crap from my store, so it’s not a big deal to lose a few bucks on overnighting this cheap generic. So, he thinks it should be ready by midday after I receive the order at 9 or 10am. The order came in and, of course, my Lithium Carbonate is shorted. Meaning — the warehouse is out as well as me.

Mr. Mania comes in and I break the news to him. He’s not pleased. He starts ranting and raving about how I told him it would be there the following day, and it’s not. He was too busy yelling to listen to my explanation of how it’s no one’s fault. After he wipes the spittle from his mouth, he tells me to call a store 30 minutes away and see if they have it. Before I even pick up the phone, he does what every “pharmacy screamer” does these days…bitch about fucking gas prices…loudly!

Why is the sudden increase in gas prices the pharmacist’s fault? Fuck if I know. But, as soon as something goes awry in a pharmacy, that’s the card that people play — fucking gas prices. Did the person call before they got there? Hell no. However, then they’d only bitch about their long distance charges…but I digress.

So - I say to the guy, “You’re the one picking a pharmacy 30 minutes away. If you want, I could call the store down the street and see if they have it.”

“You gotta be rich to go in that store. It’d probably cost me 20 bucks in there.” [I'm not sure when an independent pharmacy became associated with being rich, but whatever dude.]

“Sir, you have Medicare Part-D. It doesn’t matter where you go, your medicine is going to cost the same amount. I can transfer it to them and they can have it ready by the time you get there.”

“So, I have to go in there and show them my card again? (hrmph)” [I didn't realize that showing your insurance card was such a fucking pain in the ass disaster.]

“I’ll give them everything they need. Just go pick it up.”

“So who do I ask for, Joe Blow or something?” [I guess picking up a script at another place is a complete 180 from my place of business.]

“Uhm, I would just pick up the prescription at the cash register…like you do here.”

-=+=-

Wow, eh? Crazy shit. Crazy Customer.

Well, I’m back and settled now, so hopefully I can post with a little more consistency than I have over the past month or two. If you have any requests of things you’d like me to vent about, please click the contact link above and shoot me a message.

Or Print it...

The Ole' Apothecary says July 24th, 2008 at 5:00 pm

Adjacent to the town of Goshen, Massachusetts, is the tiny municipality of lithia, known for the high lithium concentration in its water. I never met an out-of-kilter soul from Goshen. Maybe that’s why they took the name of the land of the chosen people. I should go drink some lithia water myself for a few days.

Pharmacy chick says July 24th, 2008 at 8:39 pm

i’d say Mr Lithium wasn’t as stable as you thought. Otherwise he might not have wigged out had it been HCTZ rather than Lithium. Its just how it goes doesn’t it? The ONE thing you need is the one thing you are shorted. It wasn’t until a year or so that we had real time stock checking online and that is nice, still–sometimes things happen.

IAPhrmr says July 24th, 2008 at 8:52 pm

Well, I noticed from my wholesaler the other day that Lithium is on Backorder, so I ordered a couple thousand count bottles, they are cheap and I don’t have to worry about pissing them off…

I also have the local hold on Ethedent, I am the only one with some left LOL…eat that walgreens I am taking all the profits for you ethedent!!!! oops…that is only $0.30

Heather says July 24th, 2008 at 9:15 pm

I had the gas price card played on me yesterday. Old man Fogey (who is a retired eye doctor) brings in a refill for four prescriptions. He gripes about the eye drop, be cause a small bottle is less than a month supply, and his insurance (Part D) won’t cover the bigger bottle (more than a month supply). He gripes and even ponders re-writing his prescription to increase the dose. I advised him that this would probably not be a good idea…..to increase the dose on your OWN script to “fool” your insurance. I didn’t say the word fraud, but I danced around it. He agreed with me……but then started complaining about gas prices and what an inconvenience it is.

The kicker is that he lives less than a mile away from the pharmacy.

rxkat74 says July 24th, 2008 at 9:26 pm

Had the same thing happen today…. man demanded that we not fax the doctor, but call the nurse for his refill and after explaining that it is policy of his MD’s office for us to fax refill requests, he complains about the gas prices and demands to speak to the pharmacist…. grrrrr….

TheAngryPharmacist says July 25th, 2008 at 12:23 am

I had the gas card played on me today. However when I called him on it (he walks to the pharmacy) he got all embarrassed and quiet.

Just a Tech whoo is as angry as you says July 26th, 2008 at 5:33 pm

Thank you so much for your blog. It makes me laugh and almost cry at the same time. I work part time at CVS Pharmacy and I am a med student. Let me tell you not only does CVS headquarters think I am a looser because I am JUST a Tech but also the patients. Mainly the once on Medicaid or so. What is wrong with this system here in the US? And what is up with all these Gift Cards if somebody who NEVER has to pay for their scripts because of Vouchers or Government assistance, starts yelling get one right away??? Our Management at CVS is just one asskisser after another.

ADHD CPhT says August 1st, 2008 at 5:41 pm

I really really hate the “high prices” card that is played EVERY DAY. I want to jump the counter and deliver a ninja kick to the head and then shout ” NO SHIT GAS IS EXPENSIVE I DRIVE TOO AND I PROBABLY MAKE 1/4 OF WHAT YOU DO.”

andar909 says August 10th, 2008 at 6:16 pm

hi, andar here, i just read your post. i like very much. agree to you, sir.

KDUBZ says August 18th, 2008 at 9:37 am

My freaking word, I am so sick of hearing about gas prices. Really, you live a mile from the store and gas prices are high. You know you could ride a bike or walk. I am so sick of people wanting gift cards to “offset the cost of gas from repeated trips to the pharmacy. Really, Well do you want me to pay for all the maintenance on your car? Let me just call up Saudi Arabia and tell them that they need to ramp up productiivity so you can afford to drive a mile and get your damn medication.

Ok I am done, and feel much better thanks all!

Pharmamama says August 21st, 2008 at 10:45 pm

To Just a Tech, I too work for the big C and I completely agree about the ass kissing management. So what if the coupon says one per customer and you have 4 rx’s, so what if you transferred this rx between us and Osco 6 times,so what if it’s expired by 2 months, so what if you have a new rx but the coupon is only for transfers, you can have the coupon because we don’t want you to call the 800 number and lower our triple shit scores! Why does the store manager get to make us look like assholes when we try to abide by the rules that are written on the coupon? This is a sore spot with me…..

The Angriest Pharmacist doesn’t let that type of shit occur at his workplace. It only took one time and the management was set straight. “I will close this motherfucker down before I let a nonpharmacist dictate my judgement — professional or ethical.” I’ve got a post about it somewhere. It’s hilarious. I pulled that bitch into the bathroom before the customer got a chance to speak. By the time the manager heard what they said, they already knew that I was right, I had won, and any other decision would end with the store having a closed pharmacy.