"When in doubt, throw it out" = NOT sure of the expiration date? No problem. Throw it away. Let corporate sort it out later.
"Life's a bitch" and so are some of your female patients. But then there's a few that make it all worth while.
"Separate the men from the boys" -- see "This too shall pass" above.
"Open your heart" = Try not to think all Oxy 30 #180 scripts after 5pm are fake. Yeah, it ain't easy.
"If the shoe fits, buy it." Whoa! Hold on there, Cowboy! There's a lot more to it when you're going to be standing up for 8 to 14 hours. You need to consider more than whether it fits or not!
"Make out like a bandit" = This simply means you went through your pharmacy day without getting screamed at by someone on Medicaid (there I go again, picking on Medicaid people).
"A leopard can't change its spots" but people change insurance all the time. No matter how many times you hear the words "Nope, same insurance I've always had" when you get a rejected claim, stay tough in asking for their new card.
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder" -- No, what it does is brings people to the pharmacy asking for us to fill their prescriptions on the fly... and usually that's during the dinner hour on Monday.
"Show me the money" -- Actually, we'd prefer you show us a valid prescription.
"Fake it till you make it" -- Well, we all know a pharmacist or two who missed out on the opportunity to get a PharmD. They usually counsel "take this with food" for everything. They'll retire eventually. Until then, enjoy the fact that they know what Banesin is...
"Save the drama for your mama" Complaining, whining, making excuses for early refill. We've heard them all!
"Everything in moderation" -- except for Vicodin or Oxy 30. In that case, TWO is always better than ONE. Just ask all your narc patients.
"Love many, trust few, but always paddle your own canoe" -- or in other words, CHECK EVERY PRESCRIPTION no matter how much you trust the technician!
"Money is the root of all evil" -- Ahem! That's why Goofmart Pharmacy is PURE EVIL! Money is the only driving force behind the absolutely STUPID decisions from management at my company. Probably yours too.
"Money makes the world go round" AND pays for a lot of unnecessary projects, software enhancements, flu shot and Shingles advertising, gift cards for transfers... it goes on and on, BUT apparently doesn't cover things like NEEDED TECH HOURS!
"Time is money" --- That explains it then... TECHS require HOURS!
"A fool and his money are easily parted" --- or rather, a CORPORATION and THEIR GREED for all SHINGLES SHOTS and the corporation's money are easily and QUICKLY parted...
"Another day, another dollar" -- but 30 less scripts per week means you lose 25% of your tech hours.
"Love is blind" -- Just ask the Levaquin Lady...
"All's fair in love and war" BUT insurance rules the world.
"Unlucky in cards, lucky in love" -- more like UNLUCKY with your INSURANCE CARD means you're SCREWED...
"Misery loves company" -- this is why preceptors don't tell pharmacy interns the TRUTH. We want you to suffer with us!
"You only hurt the one you love" -- Naw... there's a WHOLE BUNCH of aggravating customers I do NOT love and I'd like to poke them with my finger and say "HEY, WAKE UP, IDIOT!"
"Laughter is the best medicine" -- According to the computer, Percocet is the best medicine.
"A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down" -- Unless you can't swallow like a lot of the over-indulged brats in my pharmacy neighborhood. In that case, you need the liquid version of the medication.
"Don't push your luck" -- Just because you filled a fake Oxy 30 with us before doesn't mean we're going to fall for it again!
"If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all" = If you're a pharmacist, the only luck you know about is sometimes pouring out a perfect "30" on the counting tray or getting TWO bites of a sandwich before being called away from your lunch. Other than that, luck is limited.
"Diamonds are a girl's best friends" -- Only if they're in the
"We are known by the company we keep" or by the company we work for. Uh oh.
"A friend in need is a friend indeed" especially if that friend is in need of a Vicodin.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" -- And the faster you fill their script, the more beautiful you appear to them!
"Beauty is only skin-deep" but order that expensive face cream for me anyway, Pharm boy... I'll pay CASH!
"One bad apple spoils the barrel" -- and one bad patient can set your mood for the whole day. Don't take it out on other patients.
"An apple a day keeps the doctor away" -- Unless you have Medicare... then the doc will be happy to see you EVERY day...
"There's no such thing as a free lunch" -- In retail pharmacy, there's no such thing as a lunch, period.
"Footloose and fancy free" -- It's kind of like the motto for Medicaid now that I think about it...
"Free as a bird" -- See above...
"If you love something set it free" -- which explains why I'm still at Goofmart Pharmacy.
"... and that's the way the cookie crumbles" -- the explanation why it's two minutes until closing and a mom with a sick baby comes up to the window with an Rx for the baby and she looks at you with those puppy dog eyes and then you hear a little sneeze or cough from the baby and before you know it you're leaving 30 minutes late...
As a 58 year old with a B.S. degree, I might have to take some offense at your "Fake it till you make it" entry. Considering the Bull $h!t an average pharmacist, sorry, Doctor of Pharmacy, deals with every day, it appears that a B.S. degree just might be a little more appropriate. And I have no effin' idea what Banesin is either...sonny.
ReplyDeleteI encountered some of the attitude you display (I KNOW you are being funny) toward narcotics scripts a few months ago.
ReplyDeleteI wan in a car accident. I had a Bennett fracture and the ED sent me home with an Rx for Norco and an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. I filled the hospital Rx, and took what was prescribed as directed.
It helped the pain. Thank you.
After surgery, my doctor wrote another script for Norco.
This one was on an as needed basis. I didn't fill it right away as I was doing well and I still had some Norco from the previous script.
Well, the pins in my hand worked their way out. I did not know that, but knew something was wrong. I contacted my doctor's office and as it did give me some discomfort, I filled the Norco script.
When I went to pick it up, the pharmacist walked me over to the conference area and proceeded to give me a bad time about a legitimate Rx. He said I was the umteenth person that week who came in with an Rx for Norco. I showed him the cast but he saif anyone could get one.
This was a Saturday, but I told that so-and-such that I'd wait 'till Monday, if he would make it the first order of business to verify the prescription with my doctor.
He backed down. I got the script, I needed another operation, and I will never go back to that pharmacy again.
I know there are drug seekers. I know that you have to be careful. But for the love of everything holy and good, there are people out there in pain who need that scripts and do not need to feel little and small for getting them.
While I would love to believe that everyone holding a Rx for controlled substances truly needs it, the fact remains that patients like Ms Donna are the exception rather than the rule.
ReplyDeleteThe 'attitude' comes from the constant vigilance that pharmacists have to maintain in order to avoid filling a fraudulent Rx. I've heard all kinds of excuses and seen all kinds of bogus Rx's. Sadly, I've also been burned a few times by some very clever addicts. Pile on top of that the unreasonable expectations of both the general public and corporate middle management and you've got some of the reasons why your average community pharmacist is weary of constantly trying to weed out the 'true patients' from the neighborhood junkies.
Opioid abuse is one of the worst problems in healthcare today. I challenge anyone that reads this blog that is not involved in the day-to-day world of pharmacy or healthcare to read up on it. Trust me when I say, it will make you sad when you realize the impact on the average joe and it will infuriate you when you see the over-prescribing by some providers and the predatory marketing by Big Pharma.