...on a narcotic you just filled 21 days ago!
I am the Crazy RxMan, your local pharmacist... smart enough to be a pharmacist, insane enough to work retail!
I am the Crazy RxMan, your local pharmacist... smart enough to be a pharmacist, insane enough to work retail!
I see this is a reoccurring feeling that you like to post about. Don't you ever find yourself being a little pessimistic towards the majority of your patients because you have to deal with some addicts? From your posts it sure seems like you lump everybody into the same category.
ReplyDeleteNow I for example was just staying at a hotel for work and when I left I either forgot my shaving kit or it fell out of my bag or something and when I got home I came to discover it was missing. I called the hotel and of course they couldn't find it. So I lost my prescriptions, 2 antidepressants and trazodone for sleep and then my xanax.
I called my Doctor and explained the situation and she called the pharmacy and ok'd that I fill them early. The pharmacist didn't have any issue with filling them but it seems like you would be the type of pharmacist to cause a whole big issue out of it and not allow it. Or is this some how a different situation then what you typically describe in your posts?
Thank you!
@DB
ReplyDeleteWithout knowing the full scope of your refill habits, I believe most pharmacist would not balk at that situation. Most pharmacists have issues when someone, month after month, comes in and wants their controlled substance early. They will provide a bevy of "excuses" as to why they MUST have it after only 21 days. There are several governing bodies that actually monitor a Dr's prescribing habits and pharmacists' filling habits. As a matter of fact, in my state, we have access to a patient's ENTIRE controlled substance filling history. If they went to pharmacy A yesterday and didn't use insurance to get Vicodin and came to my pharmacy today to get another Vicodin script, I would know. Some (not all) abuse their prescription medication. It's a fact. As a result, pharmacists must be diligent and monitor filling habits. If not, one (or more) of those governing bodies will have a talk with us and possibly reprimand our licence.
Reprimanding a license can also happen for failing to care for a patient...
ReplyDeleteIt's a case by case thing.
We pharmacists can get too judgey, but we also have heard variations on how only certain medications are repeatedly lost. No one ever drops their hydrochlorothiazide down the drain and calls me in a panic. Maybe it's because the mood altering drugs are more essential to normal functioning than hypertension medication, at least psychologically.