Saturdays SUCK

Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as APhA, Disgusting, Drug Topics, Errors, Lazy People, Me being a dick, Me hating others, Money, Patient Education, Politics, Stupid People, TPA, Technicians, True Story, Work Sucks

I’m lucky that I don’t have to work weekends on a consistent basis, but I do get the pleasure of working every 4th Saturday. What sucks about Saturdays? Nearly everything.

- I have to work 11 hours as the lone pharmacist.
- I get no lunch break. I sneak back to our little office and swallow a sandwich whole. I usually get interrupted 2-3 times to check in-store prescriptions or answer an old person’s call — they usually just have refill numbers of course!
- The technicians scheduled are all my part-time HS/College kids — meaning they know the most basic of tasks in the pharmacy and on the computer system. So, I type almost all prescriptions AS WELL AS check them. At least they count, right?
- We run two shifts of techs. They switch out at the lunch hour.
- We don’t do a ton of scripts. Maybe 200 total…250 is pushing it.

My last Saturday that I worked wasn’t super busy, but I was inundated with idiots and assholes — more so than on a regular day! At one point in the early afternoon, a short, fat man approached the counter right after my lunch time shift change.

“Yeah, I called and talked to the pharmacist, and he said you had Carter’s Liver Pills.”
“Well, I’m the pharmacist today — the only pharmacist working here all day. I didn’t take the call. I’m not sure who you talked to. Anyway, I’m not sure what ‘Carter’s Liver Pills’ are. What are they for?”
“They’re for the Liver.” [I guess I had that coming]
“Well, nowadays, there isn’t anything available over-the-counter for ‘the liver,’ and products couldn’t advertise themselves as such. Let me look it up on the internet.”
“Well, I don’t know why the pharmacist would say you had them if you don’t. He said they have them on the shelf!”
“Sir — I’m the only pharmacist on duty, and we did not speak today. Are you sure you called the Angriest Pharmacy?” [Well of course he did! He talked to the pharmacist!] “Well, give me just a second to go check some sources on the internet.”

So, I went to McKesson first to see if I could get it. I often use MCK to ascertain the existence of some of the shit people dream up that their friends, third cousins, and great grandmothers told them about years and years ago. When you search “Carter” on MCK, it returns one result — CARTER’S LITTLE PILLS. I immediately just thought the man was short, fat, and stupid…mistaking / misinterpreting the word LITTLE for LIVER.

I then moved to Google. I searched “Carter’s Liver Pills.” That took me to a OLD message board site that explained the name was “Carter’s Little Liver Pills,” and the word liver was dropped when government involvement required documented efficacy [DESI, anyone?].

Next stop was Wikipedia. This told me that it was heavily advertised BISACODYL even back then. Coincidentally, it is STILL bisacodyl, and it is available….available in MY STORE! Woo hoo! Surely, the short, fat, stupid man would be happy with my research and time invested and would buy the product and be pleased with his poopie pills. But then I woke up….
“Okay. Here’s what I found. Carter’s Liver Pills were renamed to Carter’s LITTLE Pills many years ago due to government or FDA regulations. We actually have those. They are down the stomach aisle as they are just a laxative called Dulcolax. The drug name is Bisacodyl.”
“No. That’s not it. They’re called Carter’s Liver Pills, and I drove all the way up here to get them cause the pharmacist told me you all had them. Apparently, you just don’t want to help me.”    [Why does this always happen to me?]
“I’m not saying you didn’t make a phone call and talk to a pharmacist. I’m simply telling you that you did not call THIS pharmacy nor did you talk to THIS pharmacist. As you can see, I’m working here with these younger technicians — none of them would have answered the question about “Carter’s Liver Pills” without asking me. Girls — did any of you talk to anyone about “Carter’s Liver Pills”? [Of course not] Okay. Anyway. We don’t have Liver Pills. No one has Liver Pills. What I’m telling you is that Carter’s Little Pill is what replace Carter’s Liver Pill.
“Well, you just try telling that to my wife. She’s expecting Liver Pills.”
“And I’ve told you…this is it.”
“Why can’t you just admit you made a mistake?”    [Wait...whaaa??]
“Mistake? Mistake? You’re joking right? What mistake was made here?”
“You don’t have Carter’s Liver Pills.”
“I guess if you want to split hairs, I do not have Liver Pills. I do have the new version called Little Pills. The LIVER pills are no longer made or sold anywhere.”
“Then why did the pharmacist tell me you did?”   [Wow, really?]
“I am the pharmacist. We have never spoken. We have never met….”
“Then where is the guy I talked to?”
“That is a mystery isn’t it. I don’t know if you noticed, but I am the only male employee here today. The rest of these high school girls certainly didn’t impersonate me and tell you that we had the Liver Pills. Did they?”
“Well, it’s all clear as day now. I can hear it LOUD. AND. CLEAR. You are perfect. You’re too god damn good to make a mistake…well, you’re not too good to make one, but you’re certainly too good to admit it! I can hear you LOUD AND CLEAR! I can’t believe I drove all the way into town and I’m going home with nothing! Who’s gonna pay for my gas money? I drove 8 miles!”
“I’m sorry that you are at a disadvantage here. If I had made a mistake, somehow,  I would have admitted it….but, I haven’t made one. You are just angry for some odd reason. If you’d like, I could call your wife and explain to her the product’s new name — and that it’s the same thing.  Or, if you’d like, I could take a sharpie and cross out the word LITTLE and replace it with LIVER!”
“This is exactly why I don’t get my prescriptions filled here. You all are the worst kind of people.”
“It’s probably best that you don’t fill them here. If you did, I’d refuse you service from this point forward.”

As he said, “LOUD AND CLEAR” — both times — he pointed to his left ear, where he had a HUGE hearing aid. So, the man was partially deaf. He must have MISHEARD the pharmacist he talked to on the phone! [Which wasn't me]  The last line, where I said I’d refuse him service, was said as he was walking away. It’s pretty unlikely that he heard me…so, while I’m a wussy for whispering, I meant it!

Anyway, that’s the story of my run in with the short, fat, stupid, and DEAF man dwarfish asshole.

PS — Kudos to the DrugMonkey for a KICKASS article on the suckiness of Pharmacy organizations. Wonderfully pithy, well-worded, and a resounding YES to the question of, “does drug topics have the guts to let its contributors / authors publish the cold, hard truth?”

http://tinyurl.com/DrugMonkey

My “Why APhA Sucks” article from Dec 2008 pales in comparison.

Another DrugMonkey jab at APhA

Pharmacy Optimization With Enterprise Re-engineering: My Disdain, Thoughts, and CALL TO ARMS

Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as APhA, Drive-Thru, Drug Topics, Education, Government, Hospital Pharmacy, Just a question, Management, Me being a dick, Me hating others, Money, PHARMACY SECRETS!, Politics, TPA, True Story, Work Sucks

P.O.W.E.R. — (n. – ENG) Pharmacy Optimization With Enterprise Re-engineering.

It’s okay. It hasn’t hit my area yet, but my fellow citizens aren’t stupid. They are asking what it is, what my thoughts are, and what they should do. [Again, you have my word that I do *NOT* work for Walgreens -- at all...] Anyway, my marquee is exactly as I said it would be (Yes, heart included):

Your Rx Filled RIGHT HERE
by OUR Pharmacist ♥

It’s going over good. Some people know and they like it. Others don’t know and they ask…so I’m starting the word of mouth of all the rumblings and grumblings. All the fodder I need is on the Student-Doctor Network or other various message boards.

Everyone has a problem. No one has stated, supported, backed, and pushed a solution….We all know what it is. We all know what it would take. We all know what it would stand to gain. A TRUE Pharmacist’s Union is necessary, with the focus on us and the preservation of the profession as a primary goal and focus on the patient being synonymous with that — i.e. without a happy pharmacist, you cannot have confidence in the safety/best medical practices for the patient. It would be ridiculous in the power it [Such a union] could hold.

There are close to 60,000 pharmacies in the United States. With a diverse (randomized amongst the chains/businesses/clincal/hospital) group out of the some 220,000 pharmacists working those stores/locals, we could nearly control the flow of pharmaceuticals in this country (bring balance to the force).

Would we ever go on strike and grind the pharmacy business to a screeching halt — less the SCABS? I doubt it, but we have to be willing to do so to foster/compel change. We have taken Oaths to serve the public in positive manner (like the hippocratic oath). But, a collective bargaining agreement, could be much in our favor due to the 100% necessity of our presence at all times in every pharmacy in the country and governed territories. We could also bargain/work to set ‘maximum-allows” and work-flow/safety standards. So, a pharmacist cannot exceed say 300 scripts checked per 10 hour shift (Contradicting MY EXAMPLE, I exceed that on certain occasions, but all I do is check, no count – no type [mostly ALL single RX refills] which bugs the fuck out of me!), let’s say 5 techs working at a time to be monitored per RPH (again, examplenshot out of a cannon), required 30 min lunch taken outside of the pharmacy as well as maybe even a 15 minute break, otherwise your company must pay you $200 to miss lunch and/or $75 to miss a break or something egregious (I may go hungry for a price!). I bet I don’t swallow a sandwich laying on the counter under that deal.

I’ve said this all before….there’s just nothing to protect the pharmacist and his/her interests — only punish them severely after an incident/issue. We’ve given up control of our pharmacies for longer-term financial security and reduction/elimination of short term risk, and in doing so, given away basic job-related / human rights — like going to the bathroom when one must micturate.

Over time we’ve gotten used to not having these simple things that were rights and are now seen as luxuries, and that lackadaisical attitude absolutely sucks…it causes much of us disdain and could be attributed to many errors we may be responsible for….

Now, who’s prepared to lead the charge? Who shares a vision with the majority of people? Who can rally massive support and inspire people to rally to the cause? Who is intelligent enough to see through the bullshit pushed out by the corporations and trustworthy enough to bring the truth to those interested? We need to find that person. Pharmacy needs a ’savior’ — an advocate capable of achieving big things — huge things. It’s gonna be a long, bump-filled, gravel road (which will only lead you to a rowboat with which to sail across the ocean!).

If we don’t find this person(s)…we are going to find ourselves in a position we never planned for. We are going to have our backs against the wall (essentially) begging for another punch to the face.

Pharmacists are currently salaried management making between 50-65 dollars per hour for starting/initial staff jobs right out of school (per my snap judgment/absolute guess on 8/30/09). I’d say store and district management make more / MUCH more (150k/250k respectively on the low side).

Pharmacists — think about the debt you have right now. Let’s really say you’re in deep.
120,000k School Loans (I’d bed the MEDIAN)
7,500k Credit Card Debt (Playstations, Wii, and Drinking)
45,000k You needed a fucking Lexus SUV didn’t you asshole
+/- HOUSE NOTE — Depending on the location and the house this could be a starter at 80-100k or a huge house at 250k if you qualified for the loan (meaning you had less school debt most likely).

If you go from a dollar a minute to a dollar every two minutes due to an artificial decreased demand for your specialty (and you are the unlucky fired)….how fucked are you? Entirely, a lot, a little, not at all (due to mom and dad saving my ass), or this is good for me. Personally, I’d be fucked a lot — even taking into account my wife, and her job, makes more than I do!

It’s cliche as fuck, but UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL. Come together as a single unified profession with a loud voice, or fall apart quietly….as 250 thousand single, quite voices that have been put in their place.

There’s a “Kick-Me” Sign on Pharmacy’s Back

Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as Disgusting, Doctors, Drug Companies, Hospital Pharmacy, Insurance Companies, Laws, Me being a dick, Me hating others, Money, Patient Education, Politics, True Story

I guess we’re the flavor of the month as the douchbags and assholes are coming out of the woodwork to take a cheap shot at our lovely profession. A loyal reader, known only as Bond, sent me the link to an article titled, “The Great Drug Switcheroo.” This piece of shit article published by “Prevention Magazine” (which has been around since the 50’s). The tagline is, “Your pharmacist may be changing your medication without your knowledge–and what you don’t know could hurt you. Here’s how to stay safe.”

Once again, the man behind the counter in the white coat is trying to KILL you — not trying to help you achieve optimal results from your drug therapy. It begins with a story of a lady diagnosed with epilepsy who had troubles finding an effective drug regimen. After she had gotten stabilized, she fell of her bike and broke her leg — all because of an evil conniving pharmacist!

Her pharmacists, she learned, had exchanged her Tegretol for a generic that worked a little differently. “Just imagine what could have happened had I been behind the wheel of a car,” she says.

What’s wrong with this sentence besides everything?

The article then goes into THERAPEUTIC substitution and not GENERIC substitution. The article makes the point with statins as well. The problem with this entire bullshit, whacked-out piece of journalism is that therapeutic substitution does not exist outside of the inpatient setting. I cannot think of a situation where that would be legal, and I seriously doubt it is allowed in any state.

For readers not in the know, here’s an example of THERAPEUTIC substitution: I am working a shift at my local hospital. I receive an order for a patient to receive Crestor 10mg at bedtime. The hospital doesn’t carry Crestor because it’s silly expensive. They do, however, carry Lipitor because they have a contract with Pfizer for a good price for it. The Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee at my hospital did a review and based on their specific protocol, I can swap in Lipitor 20mg for Crestor 10mg as their lipid lowering effects are very similar (based on the results of the CURVES trial). I don’t need the permission of the MD or anyone else as the P&T committee represents the MDs and they have okayed this sub. There are hundreds of places where this happens — IN HOUSE! It does not happen in a pharmacy as Walgreens does not have a P&T committee…:-)

Here’s an example of GENERIC SUBSTITUTION: Your doctor writes for Vicodin 5/500mg. Name brand Vicodin is really expensive, and I don’t carry it. Luckily, he signed the prescription on the side of the blank that says, “Generic Substitute Allowed.” This means the doctor has given me the authority to dispense a generic drug, Hydrocodone/APAP 5/500mg which has been rated AB by the FDA (meaning it is recognized as equivalent therapy by the United States Government).

I’m pretty fucking sure our seizure chick was getting Tegretol or Tegretol XR for some time and the pharmacists switched her over to an AB-RATED generic equivalent. Can we say that this was the cause of a seizure? Fuck no. This bitch has epilepsy. She can have a seizure after a loud fart — did the fart do it? The time frame fits! I just drank a cherry coke. Can we say that Cherry Coke made me a dickhead? No. I’m a dickhead and it’s expected. Anywho, I SERIOUSLY doubt the pharmacist here said, “Well, she’s been getting Tegretol for quite some time. Let’s give her some Phenytoin. It’s okay…I’m a Pharm.D.!” —- No way….They are sensationalizing this and trying to compare dissimilar things.

The article specifically says, “A generic that worked a little bit differently…” — I know it’s semantics here, but generics are the same drug that work in the same way.

The second page of the article talks of a switch done by a mail order pharmacy. This I don’t doubt happens. They know exactly what drugs their plans will cover,  but by the letter of the law, they shouldn’t be making changes. I’d bet they call the MDs and say, “You wrote for Prevacid. We’ll pay for Nexium. Is it okay if we fill the latter?” — Of course the doctor doesn’t care and the patient gets the new drug in the mail without ever being told of the switch. Is that okay? It’s bad customer service as the patient is likely going to be scared and ultimately pissed, but they most likely meet the legal requirements of the law.

Ask your pharmacist to put a blanket statement in your records that you don’t want any medications switched unless you and your doctor approve. “It’s a way of getting your pharmacist’s attention,” says Catizone. “When pharmacists know more, they can do a better job of advocating for patients.”

We’ve all got a few of these assholes in our system. “I want brand name everything! Generics don’t work for me.” It’s these type of assholes that make me lose money on a bottle of name brand Vicodin when 70 tablets expire in a 100 count bottle. But, if they wanna pay for it, that’s fine by me. I’m not gonna lie and put DAW1 — I’m putting DAW2 and you can pay the difference.

Each section in this pissass article says, “If your pharmacist makes an unapproved switch….”  — What’s the need in this statement? Is there really this much distrust in pharmacy and pharmacists? I’m blown away by this. The final section has a quote from Robert Reneker, MD, urgent care physician at Spectrum Health, a hospital system in Grand Rapids, MI. He correctly says that pharmacies are reimbursed better on generics and switches are profitable. He incorrectly states that we are motivated to make these switches by profit.

I, personally, could give a shit less about what prescription a person gets. I’m happy to get the person in the store and make the sale. Volume is volume and it all averages out. If you get name brand something, you do. I’m not going to go out of my way on each of the 800 scripts I fill a day to ensure it is generic and maximize my profit margin. That’s just silly…to think that one would do that. To change you from Nexium to generic Protonix (pantoprazole) requires a call to the MD, the wait, the recount, and the dice roll that your insurance covers it. I may make more money on it, but it’s it worth the 5-10 extra minutes of work? Never…So his claim here is valid, but off base. He also says that pharmacies have told him drugs aren’t on formulary when they are — he’s checked. This is funny to me because I have no idea what’s on anyone’s formulary, and again, I don’t give a damn. If it’s covered it’s covered. If it’s not, I try something else. I have the broad ideas of what’s covered: generics are, Phentermine isn’t, BZDs aren’t on Part D, etc. For fuck’s sake, I could process a prescription and get a rejection that says drug not covered. Then Dr. Reneker calls the insurance company, and they say, “Prevacid? Why sure it’s covered, Dr. Anything you want. Let me send you this form to fill out.”

Dr. Reneker understands that to mean that: The drug is covered. I just got the prescription for my patient. The pharmacist lied to my face. The pharmacist  sees this as: I tried to process it and it was rejected as NDC not covered. The MD called and got a Prior Authorization. Now I can fill it and the patient can pay $75 while Prilosec is 20 bucks for 42 tablets. Way to go, Doc! You think you won, caught a pharmacist in a lie, and got the patient the medicine. The fact of the matter is the insurance company won (twice), you now distrust me and don’t know the whole story, and the patient can’t afford the food anymore that causes her heartburn.

Above is an example of what happens when a journalist talks out of their ass.

I’m not sure who makes the above switches. They are insinuating that you bring in a prescription for Lipitor, your pharmacist is going to send you home with Simvastatin and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. Well, that’s fucking bullshit. While these substitutions are all fine and dandy, I certainly wouldn’t do them on my own accord. However, Prevention magazine thinks I can and do.

Read REMOVING THE WOOL to see what changes could be made where the new isomer-removed-new-drug/patent-game-type name brands exist and the generic would be cheap to use and work just as well.

5 Things Your Pharmacist Won’t Tell You About Pharmacy but TheAngriestPharmacist Will!

Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as Courtesy, Education, First Post, Insurance Companies, Laws, Me being a dick, Money, PHARMACY SECRETS!, Patient Education, Pharmacy School, Stupid People, Work Sucks

Recently, there was a huge uproar (caused by me) resulting from a crappy article making pharmacists look like unethical dickwads. Well, I rebutted. You can read PART ONE and PART TWO. The title was “10 Things Your Pharmacist Won’t Tell You.” — I’m about to tell it.

1. “While FOUR DOLLAR PRESCRIPTIONS are good for you, I am usually losing my ass.”
- Sure, the cost is low enough that I make a profit on the medicine, but in the grand scheme of things, I am getting bent over here. We are failing to realize the actual cost of filling a prescription here. I have to pay for: the tech to type it, the computer system that interprets it and runs a DUR/interaction check, the electricity to run it all, the A/C to keep the store cool (and gas for heat in the winter) and staff happy, the water in the bathroom, the cost of having all these drugs in stocks (gotta have it to sell it — my inventory is 100-200k), the tech to count it, the amber bottle it goes in, the label that goes on the bottle, the pharmacist that checks it for validity, the pharmacist that calls to check the dose or confirm something, the bag the Rx goes in, the tech that staples the bag, the staple/r, the tech that rings it out, and the cost of everything else in between. If pharmacies had to sell every prescription for $3.50 profit, there would be no pharmacy.
- To try and make it better, I convert all my people to 3 months for $10. They save two dollars and I can actually come closer to making a profit since there it only 1 dispensing (1 bottle, 1 label, 1 count, 1 check, 1 sale, etc.).
- Wal-Mart invented this program not to help people save money, not to live by their motto, “Save Money, Live Better,” and not to proudly announce, “Watch out for the falling prices.” Wal-Mart invented the 4-dollar prescription program to put independent pharmacies and smaller chains out of business or to at least squeeze them to the brink of collapse. Wal-Mart can sell prescriptions for 4-dollars because when you go in there, you spend hundreds. Who cares if the pharmacy barely breaks even — it got you in the store, right? I realize this falls right in line with how our society operates. Capitalism prevails, and to the victor goes the spoils. Good, great, grand! But, do not question me if I don’t charge you 4 dollars if you don’t make a point to ask for the special and your insurance charges you 5 or 8. Also, don’t expect to get the red carpet when you bring in a stack of 10 prescriptions, all listed on the 4-dollar list, and tell me you’re going to wait on them.
- Finally, you can still expect me to bill your insurance, if you are lucky enough to have it. Your copayment may be 8 dollars, but I will eat that 4 dollars, charge you $4, and smile because your insurance company paid me $10. I actually may make a profit. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. I’m not sure if it’s legal — I’m not sure if it’s illegal. All I know is I can easily do it in my computer system, and it’s the right thing for my business. To the victor goes the spoils, right?

2. “It costs me between 5 and 25 cents to submit your claim to your insurance.”
- So what, right? I get charge that “transmission fee” whether the claim is paid, rejected, or completely erroneous. Therefore, don’t expect a big smile when you hand me a stack of your past 10 insurance cards and tell me, “It’s one ‘uh deez.”
- I submit the claim and it rejects. It sends back a rejection error and code, but it usually doesn’t make a lick of sense. Do I continue to submit it with different ID numbers/group numbers, or is this card just from 1998? Now you see the dilemma. How can I help you if you won’t help yourself. Throw your old cards away — they do you no good. Do you keep expired credit cards so you can show people how you once paid for groceries? Makes a lot of damn sense doesn’t it.

3. “If you have gotten a significant number of prescriptions filled, it’s highly likely you have taken a pill that fell on the ground.”
- Ewwww. Gross. My pharmacist would never do that? Pshh! Some of these tablets are 10 and 15 dollars each. You can bet your ass I’m gonna use it if it hits the ground. I sure as heck can’t charge you, the patient, nor do *I* want to eat that cost, so, I do the only sensible thing and put the tablet either in your bottle or back in the stock bottle to be dispensed to a random person. Don’t worry, I do have some level of concern here — I don’t use it if I’ve stepped on it or don’t immediately pick it up. I find pills everywhere, and I have a huge bottle labelled, “Unknown NDC – Do NOT dispense,” for them to go in to. I draw the line somewhere!
- I have heard stories of some pharmacists out there actually gluing tablets back together when broken to save money. For instance, Levaquin 750mg is more than $20 a tablet and comes 20 to a bottle. If it breaks, I’m going to do all I can to either convince someone to take it, or glue that bitch back together.
- What doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger. Remember, there is no level of sterility required nor guaranteed in a retail pharmacy. [And USP 797 has absolutely no teeth or power of law so :-p]

4. “You may get shorted on a drug even if I have enough to fill your entire prescription.”
- If I have 60 tablets of DrugA, why should you get all 60? Why can’t I ration them out? This is especially true if we are entering a weekend, and I won’t be getting another order in for several days and the drug is one that likely will be prescribed more over the weekend.
- Granted, it is my fault for not ordering more earlier, but this could be do to a brevy of things: a HUGE order just came in — like someone got 500 of them for some reason, the inventory quantity got off somehow, or, gee, the distributor I buy from did the same thing and shorted me a bottle so they could send a bottle ANOTHER pharmacy and spread the wealth around.

5. “Your friends are stupid.”
- If I had a nickle for every time someone took a friend’s advice over my own, I would open my own pharmacy to eventually be put out of business by the corporate machine. I spent a lot of money to get a good education. I studied pretty hard to graduate. I took a big test so the state would give me a piece of paper certifying my intelligence. I let a company pay me a lot of money to stand behind a counter and BE RIGHT — ALL OF THE TIME. That’s right, some people are paid to drive a forklift. Some people are paid to lay bricks. Others are paid to mow lawns. I, however, am paid to be right….and I am good at it. If you ask me a question, and I don’t know that the answer I’m going to give is 100% right, I’m going to go look up the answer. I don’t guess.
- Here’s the normal scenario. Rebecca calls Jenny and asks Jenny how she lost all that weight last summer. Jenny says, “Well, girl, lemme tell you. I went up to Wal-marts and got me some of dem Detox-a-Trim 2 Pills. You take one with each meal, and you can eat whateva you wants! The weight just be fallin’ off yo’ fat ass.” — Rebecca knows Jenny lost weight, so those must be some good muthafuckaz. So, she comes to me and asks me, “Are these good?” while holding a bottle of Detox-a-Trim 2 which sells for $35.99 per 60 capsules. I tell Rebecca, “No ma’am. None of those really work. They are mostly caffeine or herbal stuff that turns in to caffeine. There may be some vitamins or minerals in there, but those don’t help you lose weight. Honestly and truly, the best way to lose weight is to follow a few simple steps: cut out sodas by switching to water, decrease your portion size or leave a little bit left on your plate every meal, be sure to eat 3 square meals a day — you don’t lose weight by skipping meals (that makes your body store more!), try and scale back on the sweets, and exercise for 30 minutes a day most days of the week. I know it’s a major lifestyle change to do it all at once, so maybe try and incorporate one thing at a time until you’ve got them all done.”
- That is certainly NOT what your homegirl, Jenny told you, and you know Jenny lost the weight. Therefore, I must be wrong. How else can you explain the weight lost? She said all she did was take the pills now this rich, white muthafucka up in herre tellin’ you bout some,”eat three meals a day, exercise, and stop drankin’ soda…shiiiiiiit….Ima take deez pills and we see…” — What Jenny failed to tell you was that she did all those things AND TOOK THE PILLS or maybe she took the pills AND started using Meth or she took the pills AND had a baby. Who knows? I’ll tell you one thing though, dramatic weight lose does not come from pills alone — period. Anyone that says it does is wrong.
- So, why did you ask the pharmacist? You just wanted confirmation of what you were going to do either way. If I would have said, “Ohh yeah girl, those are the best on the market. We should put them in the water supply, and we’d all be skinny little white bitches,” you would have been tickled pink. But, I burst your bubble with knowledge, common sense, and suggestions of an alternative, but you didn’t care. Too bad so sad, thanks for the $36 dollahz YO!

-

This is the beginning of a series of posts.

Things Your Pharmacist Won’t Tell You About Pharmacy (but TheAngriestPharmacist Will!) — PART ONE!