The Old Switcheroo Trick

A patient comes to the register and asks to pick up his medication. I look in the will-call and there's nothing there for him. He says the computer called him, but then reluctantly admits that it was sometime last week. I tell him that we return things to stock after nine days (but didn't mention how my pharmacy manager pumps up his numbers a little by reprocessing prescriptions at nine days when no one is looking. Yeah MICKEY, I know what you're doing!). 

So I look at his profile and tell him it was probably his Lipofen. He says maybe it was his generic Flomax. I tell him the dates don't work that way and that I'll fill his Lipofen for him. So I do it in 3.5 minutes, he pays $25, and he's out the door.

Me, being the lazy crazy pharmacist that I am, I leave the empty bottle of Lipofen on the counter. I'm alone at the pharmacy today and throwing it in the trash would have meant me taking an extra step, so what the heck, it can wait until later.

A little while later Mr. Lipofen appears at the window with the bag, the receipt hanging out, and a labeled bottle of Avodart. He wants to know why I filled his AVODART when he needed LIPOFEN and he wants a REFUND of the $60 co-pay. Somehow Mr. Lipofen thinks that I'm going to fall for this voodoo and give him a $60 refund. 

"Uh, no... I filled your Lipofen." I show him the empty bottle of Lipofen on the counter. It was $25. At first he tries to argue with me, but then looks at the receipt and realizes it says $25. The only thing I can surmise is that he thought he would somehow fool me into giving him a $60 refund when he paid $25 before.

Nice try, but the old RxMan couldn't be fooled today. Being lazy paid off.