Tuesday, February 21, 2017

I'll Be Back

That's what she said: "I'll be back."

But why will she back?

Because she agreed with me that the prescription for Adderall she tried to fill looked like it had been photocopied. It was clearly photocopied and then signed by the someone. Maybe it was the prescriber, I don't know. 

We don't fill photocopied prescriptions.

Of course, that wasn't the only problem. The first thing she did upon handing me the prescription was tell me that this is a cash pay. 

"Oh?" I said, perked up. This is the first red flag that immediately gets our attention.

I noticed the photocopied state of the prescription right away but I wanted to see what would happen if the prescription was submitted to her insurance. It did go through the insurance which made me even more curious why she would want to pay cash. The co-pay was $10. Cash price is $55, which she didn't even slightly blink at... another red flag.

At this point I'm really amusing myself. I have no intention of filling a photocopied prescription for cash when the patient has active coverage that will pay for the medication. It was just all too interesting.

Instead of fighting with me about not filling it, she agreed that it looked photocopied but that she had "another" prescription at home to bring in.

"I'll be back," she said.


That was two days ago.

I'm still waiting.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This.

This is why most pharmacists are automatically suspicious of controlled substance prescriptions. Personally, I've been burned by a few addicts who were clever enough to figure out a loophole to get whatever it was they were craving. If your average pharmacist drops vigilance for just one Rx, it'll be that one Rx that gets them fired. Yes, my precious little snowflakes, FIRED.

I know there are some people that actually, legitimately need stuff like #180 Oxy 80s or a 60 dram vial filled to the brim with Adderall 30mg tabs. I understand. But don't give me attitude when I take the time to double check that everything is good to go (i.e. - not early, not filled elsewhere, etc). I get it that you 'need' those medications but I also have to do my job. Again, I can get FIRED if I screw up.

Seriously, for every customer (not a patient, because most folks don't treat us like we're healthcare providers so I don't treat them like patients) that has an actual need for megadoses of controlled substances or has active Rx's for every class of controlled substance, there are 99 junkies out to scam the pharmacy. These include people that try to fill their Rx's a few days early because 'the other guy fills it early' all the way up to scumbags that'll forge Rx's just to get their fix.

We are required by our bosses to accommodate your every need while still doing our job. However, we are NOT required to break the law just because you're hooked on Xanies or Oxy or whatever.

Sorry, but not sorry.

May I help who's next?

Anonymous said...

Hi Crazy. I know you mean well and part of your job is to look out for drug abusers. However, I'm here to politely request that when a patient asks you to not run something through their insurance that you respect their request. Here is why. Oftentimes people are on an ex-spouse, spouse or a parent's health insurance. Just by virtue of getting their insurance through someone else's employer, it allows that other person to access all of their personal health information that the insurer has. If a college student gets birth control through dad's health insurance, dad can see that she got birth control. This is particularly important where two people in a relationship might have different views on anti-depressants or anti-anxiety meds or even prescribing ADD meds for a minor child.

Anonymous said...

To the insurance company giving information about a covered individual's health conditions letter writer. No they don't. You may get notification that services have been provided, but that notification includes no detail whatsoever with regard to the type of service provided of prescription that has been filled. Also, if a claim is submitted and then reversed? No notification whatsoever. Nice try though. Signed- a divorced dad who carries dependants on his insurance.

Anonymous said...

To divorced Dad. This might vary by state or by insurance company. I'm on federal blue cross as my husband is a federal employee. He gets an EOB for every service (not prescription) that I get and it states the procedure in the EOB. Further, at one point in time, I don't know if it was when we were on my husband's insurance or my own, we could log in and see every prescription purchased on the plan and what our co-pay was for that prescription. I agree that a reversal would not show up.

tbunni said...

So this explains the surprised look on my pharmacist's face. My hubby had been to the ER w/horrible back muscle spasms so sent home w/small oxy rx. I took script in not knowing I had to have his driver's license to drop off, so I said, "I'll be back." Went out to the car (pharm is on way home from hospital, just a few blocks away) and came back in. She got the biggest surprised look. She said no one ever comes back, that's what they says when they are trying something illegal. Who knew?