The *Angriest* Pharmacist You want your prescription filled when? Eat shit…

Fills deez fer me

Posted on February 23, 2008

I filled 9 scripts today for three different kids.

Jimbo Jones -- Flintstones Vitamins, Iron Drops, and Rondec DM
Jackson Smith -- Flintstones Vitamins, Iron Drops, and Rondec DM
Cameron Sledgehammer -- Flintstones Vitamins, Rondec DM, and Augmentin

Several things piss me off about this situation:
1. This mother was pregnant again (likely with a 4th man's seed).
2. Five of the nine prescriptions are OTC Products (Flintstones x 3 and Iron x 2)
3. All of these children were on State Aid - meaning part of my taxed wages paid for these five prescriptions.
4. The cost of these 5 OTC prescriptions is negligible (Generic Flintstones cost $4-5 bucks for 100 of them and Iron drops cost $3-4 for 2 ounces -- total cost: $23 or $9 if the kids shared the bottles).
5. Reimbursement on these types of scripts is absolutely pathetic because it's OTC. It's something like cost + $0.50 -- And there's always problems with submitting and getting them to work. So, you have to transmit several times at like 15-20 cents each to get it to adjudicate.
And WORST of all:
6. The prescriptions were dated 2/13/08 ---- TEN FUCKING DAYS AGO!

Are you fucking kidding me? The kids probably aren't sick anymore and don't need the Rondec or the Augmentin, YET she still took these little kids to the doctor (again, on my dime) and got the scripts. So, I'm filling prescriptions for NOW healthy babies. She wasted the time of the doctor since she didn't get the scripts immediately filled. She wasted my time (as well as my tech's time) because I'm filling scripts for babies that aren't sick. She's obviously neglecting the children to some extent since she failed to get the scripts filled in a timely fashion (which, in my opinion would be within 24 hours -- preferably 12). They were sick enough to take to the doctor, right?

So, again I ask: Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?

I say another government baby is exactly what this chick needs.

As always in my posts - there's one final thought that ties this all together -- that makes my points really hit home -- that makes the reader go "what the fuck" -- that makes me want to cringe in disgust.

She works [part-time] in the grocery store CONNECTED to my pharmacy. I'm sure she'd been there more recently than 10 days post-doctors-appointment.

Filed under: Disgusting, Lazy People, Stupid People, True Story, Welfare No Comments

Okay I Screwed Up

Posted on February 23, 2008

I was discussing the USA Today Article with a local insurance salesman yesterday. We were talking about the ramifications of the article for pharmacy, insurance companies, and patients. I also gave him my take on the article and how increased volume (not decreased volume as Walgreens would tell you) inherently leads to more prescription errors. I then explained the error that lead to the child's premature puberty and the infant that was given five-times the acceptable dose of Amoxicillin (which I doubt the whole "writhing in pain" statement - UPDATE: The Angry Pharmacist Debunked this).

The salesman and I parted company and a lady that was standing behind him in line approached to pick up a prescription. She said, "Hi. I'm here to pick up my infants Amoxicillin prescription."

"Oh my gosh - I'm so sorry! I wasn't intending to scare you or anything."
"It's okay. My stomach is up in my throat right now."
"You have nothing to worry about. Our dispensing system has several places where quality control checks are made. Our computer checks all doses and drugs for interactions, and every prescription is personally verified by a state-licensed pharmacist."
"How do you know and error is not made?"
"Well, when the human element is incorporated into any process, we can never be 100% sure that errors are not made, but pharmacy and especially pharmacists pride themselves on perfection. I treat every prescription like I'm filling it for my own child's use." [No kids yet - but she smiled]
"Would you check it again to be sure?"
"Absolutely. That's my job." [I went and checked it all again: verified the handwritten script, the dose, allergies, etc.]
"Everything looks great. Ya know, the article we were talking about was exploring the premise of high volume leading to prescription errors. The infant that got the incorrect dose of Amoxicillin was filled in a CVS that filled more than 400 prescriptions that day."
"Oh yeah? How many have you filled today?"
"About 75 -- and we close in about an hour. We'll be lucky to fill 80."
[I then proceeded to give the most personalized counseling session ever. 'Shake it up. Keep it in the fridge. Dispense 2.5 mL twice a day - morning and evening. Here's the line for 2.5 mL and you can keep this syringe. Be sure to give this for 10 days only then pitch the rest. You shouldn't notice any problems. If a rash develops, call the doctor's office. If the baby develops any stomach problems, try giving the dose after feeding her. Do you have any questions for me?']

I felt about 3 inches tall. I was shaken. I now vow to never talk about anything edgy to non-pharmacy staff again. I should've known better. I was trying to put down CVS and WAG to the salesman, but I failed - extremely.

Anyone else had a situation similar to this? Eating crow for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? I'm still full from my meal.

Filed under: Education, Errors, Me being a dick, True Story No Comments

OCD makes no fucking sense…

Posted on February 16, 2008

I went into the facilities tonight to make a liquid deposit. As I entered, I saw a guy washing his hands. He was completely giving them hell. He had a huge amount of lather built up, and I could hear him scrubbing the shit out of them. I assumed he was headed into surgery As I was finishing up, he had rinsed them off and began drying them -- he used about 15 paper towels drying them off. I came over and washed my hands, and he had stepped back and finished wasting all our paper towels. I guess his hands were sufficiently clean. Note: I checked his hands out. They were BRIGHT RED. It looked like he had gloves on, and the contrast between his pale skin and red gloves just looked awkward. He'd obviously been scrubbing his hands for a long as time. Maybe he got poop in them.

I stepped over and started drying my hands. I was kind of waiting for him to leave. What did he do? What do you think he did? Leave right? Wash them again? Not even close.

This motherfucker grabbed another paper towel, blew his nose, threw it in the trash, then left the bathroom.

He totally defeated the purpose of washing his hands for ten minutes. He totally negated his hard work and effort. He completely forgot his affliction for germs and aversion to spreading disease to the rest of the public.

Sometimes people just make no sense whatsoever.

Filed under: Disgusting, Stupid People, True Story 1 Comment

Funniest. Message. Ever.

Posted on February 15, 2008

I got a REDONKULOUS message today left on my voice mail. I couldn't believe it. I had to listen to it twice. You've GOT to read this. This is EXACTLY what it sounded like. Note: The (...) typed below represent actual PAUSES in the message.

Hello. This is Dr. Houston. I'm calling in a prescription for...uhh... Angela Edwards from myself, Dr. Houston. It's for Amoxicillin 500mg 30 of them taken po TID, and this is Dr. Houston. I also want to call in a prescription for Angie Edwards for...uhh...uhh... Promethazine with Codeine...one teaspoonful po every 3 to 4 hours. Give her...uhh...4 ounces. And this is Dr. Houston. So once again that is for Amoxil 500mg po every 8 hours and promethazine with codeine every 4 to 6 hours. This is Dr. Houston for Angela Edwards. Her date of birth is January of 1976, the first. Uhh... My name is Dr.Houston. My call back number is 555-5555 and my DEA number is AE111-1119. This is Dr. Houston. Thanks.

Holy shit. Wow. He said his name 7 times. He's sure proud of this name of his. I could understand that if his name was something cool like Dr. Sledgehammer or Dr. Whoopass. Anyway, everything was out of order. He gave me different directions on both prescriptions when he repeated them (Granted that TID is the same as q8h). He even said the 'DASH' in the DEA number (there's not really a dash in DEA numbers, it's NOT a phone number). I thought for a second it might've been a fake call or something - but no one calls in antibiotics and promethazine on fake calls. If it woulda been a farse, it would've been 10/650's an Xanax. I know a doctor I'll never go to now...

Here's how the call should've sound for those of you reading along (or not in pharmacy and not seeing any problems with the call). First, he should KNOW what he's going to prescribe a priori... Second, he should call like this:

Hello. This is Dr. Texas Houston. I'm calling in a prescription for Angela Edwards. Date of Birth January 1st, 1976. Prescription is for Amoxicillin 500mg po TID #30 and Promethazine with Codeine - one teaspoonful by mouth every 4 to 6 hours as needed - 4 ounces. My office number is 555-555-5555 and my DEA number is AE1111119. Thank you.

And that, my friends, is how you do it. 2 minutes versus 20 seconds...and the 20 second version is easier to transcribe. The first version needed translation...:-)

Filed under: Doctors, Education, True Story No Comments
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