West Virginia Legislature plagiarizes The Angriest Pharmacist

Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as Education, Government, Lazy People, Me being a dick, Politics, Religion, Stupid People, Welfare

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Almost everyone that reads pharmacy-related blogs has at least GLANCED at my recent, “Letter to Obama.” It was published on February 8, 2009. It has been viewed nearly 5,000 times since then.

One of those 5,000 readers must have been Representative Craig Blair (R) from West Virginia. He proposed legislation that I have been pushed for as long as I can remember.

http://www.bdtonline.com/local/loca

l_story_049211701.html

I call bullshit on this unconstitutional crap. The United States Constitution was not written by our fore fathers with the intention that one day the government would hand out to the fat, lazy, and stupid (or even the handicapped — WAAAHHHH!!!). The United States Government was originally intended to do very few things: Protect the citizens (from the inside criminals and outside tyrants as well as the government itself) — yup, that’s just about it. The federal government was created to be small, minuscule, and only seen when necessary. I’ll go one further and even say that the government was never supposed to be in the business of schooling the people. That’s not what the founding father’s intended. They wanted the community to educated the children — along with the church in most cases — but not as a requirement. Now, you know that The Angriest Pharmacist could give a shit less about a church, but you can bet your ass that I’d rather pay to send my kids to a Catholic school than a free public school. Why? Because the government wants us to be dumb — that’s why they write the curriculum so our children don’t know shit. They want us to not know what the government is supposed to do — that way they can continue to increase their power and stranglehold over us. It’s working. You know how I know? Because someone is going to read this and be pissed. If you’re pissed at me for telling you the truth, it’s because you didn’t learn shit in 5th grade Civics.

But, I digress from the side rantss…

So, they call my amendment unconstitutional. I say them handing out money under the premise they are protecting the fat, lazy and stupid is outside the realm of what the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights intended. Therefore, I say they drug test these fucking people. If they want to get high of my tax dollars, fuck them.

The government should give out money to these people. The community and the non-profit groups should be charged with taking care of the weak, sick, and debilitated. The rest of these wastes of flesh should get a job. The community can do it better, cheaper, more efficiently, and even police the care of those that need it (seeing that someone isn’t abusing it). The government goliath is too big to do so.

“But-but-but, Mr. Angriest, how can the church or community afford to take care of all these people?”

If I didn’t pay 30 THOUSAND dollars a year in taxes (70+ if we count in The Angriest Bank Executive), I might be a little more likely to tithe or donate to the Red Cross more liberally. RIIIGHT???

To sum up, you’re fucking welcome West Virginia.

PS – I seriously doubt that my writing had shit to do with this law as I’m sure Mr. Blair had that in the oven for some time, but I would like to thank “Richard” for sending me the story.

Drugs are expensive – Call the WAMBULANCE.

Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as Blogs I like, Doctors, Drug Companies, Education, GUEST CONTRIBUTOR, Insurance Companies, Me being a dick, Money, Patient Education, Politics, Religion, Stupid People, Welfare

This post is a rebuttal to a post located HERE. I think the post is well written, and I think the blog author is probably a nice person (And I love the concept of her blog). S/he just doesn’t know some things about the pharmaceutical industry, and I am going to fill in the blanks…I’d like to thank ‘Odublar’ for sending me the link.

I am going to respond to each paragraph/thought individually and my comments are, of course, in bold as they are the most important…

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With prescription drugs, sometimes it’s a choice between going into debt or staying sick.

I’m sure this is not new news: Prescription drug costs are out of control. We are at the mercy of the pharmaceutical industry, insurance companies, physicians and druggists in the care of our own health. Yet, should we be in the business of making huge profits from the poor health of our citizens? As a community, shouldn’t we care and pay for our grandparents – and help our sick? Among us are cancer patients who cannot afford state-of-the-art treatment because the costs are prohibitively high. Instead, they must choose older or inferior treatments that fit their budgets.

Let me begin by saying that most pharmacists don’t make their money off of your prescriptions or pain at the register. I get paid the same amount whether I fill 100 or 1000 prescriptions.

Saying that healthcare profits from poor health is a fallacy. Poor health creates the market for healthcare while making the sick well is the service.

As a community, we ARE paying for our grandparents and MOST of our less fortunate — at least I am. You see, I pay 20 to 30 THOUSAND dollars in taxes that pays for MEDICAID and MEDICARE for the poor, elderly, disabled, and those that are a combination of all three. I would imagine you pay taxes as well.

It is unfortunate that a cancer patient may not be able to afford a state of the art treatment. But, as cold as it may sound, life can be a bitch. If that person were born in Mozambique, they would die of starvation 40 years before lung cancer (caused by a 50 pack-year history of smoking cigarettes) would have killed them.

Drug companies claim research and development are the reasons for such high costs of new treatments. Insurance companies – in the business to make profits, too – often limit the amount or types of treatment. In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, many of our citizens – even those with health insurance – have to choose the second-best care.

And the claim is true. For every drug that makes it to the market, there are 1000 that are discovered, patented, analyzed, and discarded — some make it much further. Did you hear about the recent AIDS vaccine that made it all the way to Phase 3 studies (the step RIGHT before hitting the market) to be scrapped because it may have increased the risk of AIDS? Life is also a bitch for the lowly researchers toiling away at this…

Part of the high cost of bringing products to the market is advertising. Drug companies spend $2 billion to $3 billion a year in advertising drugs to you and me. I can rattle off the names of drugs I’ve seen advertised lately with images of happy, healthy people. Your kids probably can, too.

The question of the hours is: why do pharmaceutical companies advertise to patients? We can’t exactly write our own prescriptions, can we? If our doctor won’t prescribe what we ask for, should we be allowed a refund and to seek a physician who will? I’m not so sure my doctor wants me to tell him which medications I should be taking (though I certainly would like to).

I completely agree. You have no business being targeted for advertising. I think these commercials are useless and can be dangerous. But, they are there to “spread awareness” — says the Industry. In actuality, they are hoping that patients are overly pushy (which some of them are) and that some doctors are pussies (which some of them are). If a patient urges strong enough, some doctors will buckle just to shut them up and get them out of their office — I know you don’t want that to be true, but it is.

Advertising is propaganda. Instead of spending so much on advertising to the public, drug companies should reduce the cost of prescriptions. This way, more medications can be accessible to a greater number of patients.

Advertising is propaganda? A new doublethink phrase? Let me try: Marriage is divorce.

Anyway — you are right. Advertising should be cut or limited to those in healthcare, but do we KNOW that this will decrease the cost of the medicines to the patient? Hell no. It will decrease costs for the Industry, but will that force them to lower the price? Nope. They may well still charge the same price. All we’ve done is increased their profit margin by decreasing overhead, kept some patients from inquiring about the drug (who may or may not benefit from it), and made more money for Pfizer.

Or, if we really think patients should be the target of advertisers, give them control of the market by not requiring prescriptions for anything but narcotics. Do we really need prescriptions for birth control pills or allergy eye drops? Indeed there is a certain amount of risk and guesswork involved in medicine, and doctors rely mostly on the subjective recounting of our symptoms to diagnose. Can’t we, as individuals, research medications, accept the responsibility and, if we wish, ask for the guidance of our physician in making our own choices?

I know you’re just thinking ‘out loud’ here, but you must know that you are completely full of shit. Even your birth control pills come with some serious side effects and adverse drug reactions that can be fatal. Other medications, which are essentially over the counter in your scenario, require continued monitoring by a physician. So, the patient that thinks  they are treating their Diabetes with Actos turns into a liver failure patient in your world.

Let me also say this for everyone — If your doctor is GUESSING and relying on MOSTLY SUBJECTIVE RECOUNTING to diagnose, he needs to have his fucking medical license revoked. Do you want your MD to guess when treating your infant? Do you want him to merely listen to your child’s breath sounds (subjective) or perhaps draw a little blood (objective) to check for infection? I thought so…

I also realize that you are an intelligent person. Your site says you’ve worked as a college instructor and are a social worker. You have a college degree. Therefore, you are in the smartest…ohh….10% of the nation? Hell, that number maybe even lower than that.

I’ve been recently working on some handouts for patients — pamphlets over diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia. It has been one of the most difficult endeavors in a while, and I recently saved a life.You know why? Because I (a person with a doctorate) have to write them at a FOURTH GRADE LEVEL. That’s the reading level we can expect from the average United States adult. I’ve been testing them out on a neighbor’s kid.

So, you want to put PRESCRIPTIVE AUTHORITY in the hands of a person that doesn’t know the difference between accept, clear or cancel? You also want these people, who can’t read the vast majority of a newspaper (less the Funnies), to treat their pregnant spouses and young children — and ask their physician if they cannot handle.

I know that you know this will never happen — I just want to make doubly sure that you know how insane it sounds. To hammer this point home, I had a guy call in today and tell me his Phenergan SUPPOSITORIES tasted horrible and made him throw up even more. I pulled up the script and I, in fact input the sig as, “Unwrap and insert one suppository rectally every four to six hours as needed for nausea or vomiting.” — Yep, let’s let the average American prescribe themselves antibiotics.

For fuck’s sake, the majority of licensed physicians in this country need my size 15 boot shoved up their stupid, lazy asses for contributing to antibiotic resistance (which they both know and understand). If we gave the script pad to Joe the Plumber, we’d have a superinfection kill us all within 10 years.

Adults should be free to choose or to allow someone else to choose for them. Sure, some people will be concerned about lawsuits and people taking the wrong medicines, but consumers can find a great deal of information about drugs on the Federal Drug Administration’s Web site. We would all benefit if the FDA had an expanded, more comprehensive role, especially when it comes to the largely unregulated market of supplements – which most of us have taken here and there. An independent testing company, ConsumerLab, found excessive amounts of lead in a children’s vitamin. It also found that 25 percent of products do not contain what the label states. The FDA should be the individual’s “homeland security.” Everything that we consume should be tested for safety, efficacy and quality control.

If you only knew how many INSANE questions I answer because people have access to all this information on the internet but LACK the ability to accurately INTERPRET it. Meaning the person with a bacterial infection calls in freaking out because she’s been using “the contraindicated product HYDROCORTISONE — it says on web md that would be dangerous omg I’ve been using it on my itchy mosquito bites all day am I gonna die omg omg!!!!” — Find out for me, with all this info you have at your fingertips on the FDA website, why this caller is full of shit.

I’m sure you know this as well, but the FDA is the most underfunded agency since, well, ever. They are expected to police and inspect “100%” and have funding for about “15%.” Are you willing to help foot the bill? It may cost you something somewhere else.

As far as vitamins and herbals — they aren’t tested for efficacy. Hell, they aren’t really tested for safety. They are pulled from the market after they harm someone. Yes, that’s right. We have to prove them unsafe.

Now, here’s something I find fucking hilarious. You want everything we consume tested for SAFETY, EFFICACY, AND QUALITY CONTROL. Are you serious? Do you see the hilarious irony here? You bitch about the costs of medicines and healthcare — so you want to cut a couple billions in advertising costs and in the same post you are telling me we need to add 10 billion in expensive product analysis in vitamins and herbals.

I’m not an economist or a lawmaker. I have degrees in the liberal arts and a desire to see our elderly free of the burden of high prescription costs and cumbersome, confusing Medicare prescription drug plans. I’d also like to know that my neighbor can afford the latest and greatest in cancer treatment. I’d like to be captain of my own health care. And I’d like to know one thing for certain: Companies cannot profit from the poor health of our citizens or offer state-of-the-art treatment only to the wealthiest few.

I want people to have access to healthcare — especially my neighbors. I really do. I don’t want people to die because they can’t afford the basics which we’ve had around forever. But, at the same time, I fucking refuse to accept and be happy with paying for healthcare (as well as groceries) for some fuckwad that sits at home on their ass mooching off the system.

I’m proud of you for being the captain of your own healthcare ship — but far too many Americans won’t take responsibility for their own crotch spawn, much less their own wellbeing. People want everything handed to them on a platter. They aren’t responsible or respectable like you. It kills me to say it, but far too many Americans are fucking worthless. They are worthless because the system makes it too easy to do nothing and profit/prosper.

As far as profit, that’s what drives discovery and results in a capitalist society. In Canada, everyone has access to healthcare. It’s affordable. But, they have to wait months to get in and be seen. Do you think they have access to state-of-the-art treatment? Not quite.

More Christmas BS

Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as --Not Pharmacy--, Me being a dick, Religion, Stupid People

You may remember one year ago to the day, I published a classic — my analysis of a few phrases we hear over the holidays that people spout out just for the sake of saying. They certainly do not mean them. The original are as follows:

1. “Go on and make yourself a plate. I like to go last.”
2. “No, you sit at the table. I’ll sit over here on the arm of the couch and rest my plate on my knee.”
3. “What does everyone want to drink? I’m getting myself a soda.”
4. “I told you not to get me anything!”
5. “I’ll make my plate after everyone else. I ate earlier so I’ll be fine to wait.”

This year, I’m adding the following phrases to CHRISTMAS BS — the shit people say this time of year that means nothing and completely pisses me off due to all of the incincerity.

6. “Let’s say grace…”
7. “It’s so good to see you!” / “Call me some time!”
8. “You look so good!”
9. “Let’s not even exchange gifts this year — to save money and all.”

6 – You go to church once a year (on easter). You pray at one (or two) meal(s) a year. With this prayer you call yourself a good [insert religion here]. Awesome. I’m proud of you.
7 – Ahh yes, the holidays. We all get together, and you see that random relative you spent a lot of time with earlier in life — but you went your separate ways in high school or different colleges. Seeing them takes you back – it makes you feel good. You want to rekindle that relationship, but it’s futile.  You’re different people now. It may be good to see them, but you’re not really serious about it. You just look like a dick when you don’t follow through…
8 – No, you don’t. Each year the average American fatass puts on 10 pounds during the holidays. Do you think they lose it after the first of the year — NOPE! So, you’re Aunt Kathy doesn’t look good or thin — unless you are comparing her to a walrus.
9 – This pisses me off because I’ve fallen into this trap before. I made this type of arrangement with my aunt, uncle, and cousins (whom I was close to) while I was in college. I show up with nothing, I go home with a nice DVD Player and several DVDs. Boy, they made me feel awesome — even though they continued to say it was no big deal. So, if this ever comes up again, I’m going to have a ton of presents in my trunk that could become gifts for family or presents to myself.

There you have it. That’s it and that’s all. It is what it is.

Please do your best to ensure that you don’t find yourself reiterating these stupid fucking phrases. If I hear any of my family say them this year, you can bet I’m gonna call ‘em out.

More irrationality from the christian King of the USA

Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as Disgusting, Laws, Me being a dick, Religion, Stupid People

I don’t need to explain this much. But, I’m going to speak at length.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cecile-richards/bushs-parting-shot-underm_b_152336.html

When this was first put on my plate, I didn’t get it. I didn’t give a shit. I’m definitely not a christian, and I’d never refuse service to someone because of any belief I may or may not have. That’s ludicrous. Don’t get me wrong, I have refused service plenty of times — and any time I do it usually ends up on this blog. Seeing as how I’m NOT in Illinois, I have the right to refuse. I throw assholes by the wayside all the time — but never someone because of a belief. Never because of faith.

Because faith is where this all comes from, right? The people that want this resolution turned into law (or saw it through) are, most likely, christian. They believe that Jesus is their [our] personal lord and savior, that he died for the sins of man, arose from the dead, ascended to the sky to be with his Father (also known as himself in some religions), and live in heaven providing unending happiness to those that believe in him and accept him as their savior. Some day he will return to earth and ascend with all those worthy ones into the sky leaving us sinners down here on earth. [Note: If this happens, I contend that, at that time, heaven will actually be *on* Earth as irrational thought will leave our land] At some point, all the sinners may die or go to hell or something. Right?

So, the same people that believe a zombie and an infinite, omnipresent, Great Sky Father (term stolen from Rob), are dictating policy concerning healthcare in the United States of America. The same people also read the book known as the Bible — the one that takes about talking snakes, smiting of various peoples, separation of large bodies of water, enslaving of nations, beating and the mistreatment of women, raining of fire and brimstone over certain hedonistic cities — to just name a few things. They are supposed to believe in all this too…right? And they are dictating American Policy. Riiight…

Now, what’s got their panties in a bunch over this is that damn Plan B. Honestly, I think it’s great. There’s been many oopsies in your life — it may not be related to a condom, but you get the idea. Why are we punishing oopsies? I think the issue is with terminology. Plan B will not terminate a pregnancy. Plan B will not kill a baby inside a womb (but it’s probably not good for it). Plan B is not an abortion pill. Plan B is not an abortion pill. Plan B is not an abortion pill. Plan B is not an abortion pill. Plan B is not an abortion pill. Plan B is not an abortion pill. Plan B is not an abortion pill. RU-486 is not available in the United States.

There’s also a fair share of religious wackos out there that would refuse birth control because of their Catholic upbringing. I’m sure their 8 brothers and sisters are proud of them. Why the fuck did they get into healthcare if they were going to force their beliefs onto others? They aren’t Baptists. I mean, why should I suffer and not get a medication that a licensed physician has prescribed me because YOU think differently than ME. If I saw the world and believed as you did, I wouldn’t have gotten this damn prescription in the first place!

Rural areas are going to be hardest hit by this. That’s a promise. They have a lower cost of living, lower average wage, lower education level, and increased belief in god and all this other wacko shit about babies, abortions, and birth control pills. Someone in BFE is going to tell a random high school girl that he will not sell her a Plan B. Unfortunately, he’s the only pharmacy in town and she’s fucked. It’s 8:45pm. The next town with a pharmacy is 20 minutes away and closes at 9pm — and they might not even sell it to her.

So, what’s this poor girl gonna do? I’ll give you the two gravest scenarios.

1. She has the baby. She didn’t want her. She was already poor and in want, now the baby is going to have less because the money is just not there. Because of the baby she didn’t graduate high school. She doesn’t have the time to get a GED. College? Yeah right. She’s just lucky to be able to afford the baby sitter when she goes to work her shift at the Steak and Shake. There’s no parental structure because just as high school boys do, he never called her again — he ran away, essentially. While she may be able to barely make ends meet, teen pregnancy begats teen pregnancy. All of this is because a pharmacist told her, “I’m not selling you this pill because it’s against my religion, and I don’t have to.” — As a pharmacist, would you really want this to be because of you?

2. She hunkers down and mopes her. She may tell her parents and they may accept it and help her. They may become enraged and beat her. Most likely, she will keep quiet. She’s heard you can wait until right before you start to show and use a wire coat hanger to pierce the ’sack’ that the baby is in. So, she tries it in her bathroom. She may hit an artery or something severe, lie in that bathroom and bleed to death. She may be successful and initiated a miscarriage right then and there. — All of this is because a pharmacist told her, “I’m not selling you this pill because it’s against my religion, and I don’t have to.” — So, this question is for the refusing pharmacist, ‘Do you want to be DIRECTLY responsible for one death, or two?’

I’ve never met a pharmacist that would refuse these prescriptions…not one person in my class that I am aware of. Maybe this is some sort of change that happens after a pharmacist graduates, who knows? Irregardless, while I think pharmacists should not be forced into filling any written prescription, I sure as hell don’t think that a pharmacist should be able to hide behind religion while refusing to fill ANYTHING.

If a pharmacist is going to use this bullshit claim, he’d better be a deacon, non-drinker, non-smoker, non-gambler, never lied, cheated or stolen, gotten in a fight, uttered swears, lost his patience with a fellow human being, taken his lord’s name in vain, stepped on a bug, worship any other gods, boned outside of marriage, bore false witness against his neighbor, or coveted any-fucking-thing.

tl;dr IF YOU REJECT A PRESCRIPTION BASED ON FAITH, YOUR FUCKING ASS BETTER BE IN A CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY. YOU’D BETTER PRAY BEFORE BED. YOU’D BETTER BE THE PERSON YOU ARE PORTRAYING TO THOSE THAT YOU ARE REFUSING SERVICE TO. YOU HAVE THIS SHIELD, FOR NOW — IF YOU USE IT, YOU’D BETTER BE A FUCKING SAINT. IF YOU MISUSE IT, YOU WILL HEAR FROM ME. EXPECT IT.

PS- Please spare the Plan B as birth control schpeal, we can all agree that that is bullshit and unsafe.

*Thanks to Rob for bringing me to my senses and Jennifer for pointing this story out.