Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Why your pharmacist looks miserable...

Yesterday a Vet's assistant called to phone in an Rx for some monster dog weighing 155 lbs. The dose called in was higher than usual, even for a dog at that weight, so I questioned the assistant to make sure I was getting the right dosage.

She snapped at me telling me "that's how it rolls" in the Veterinary world. So I finish getting the info and as a parting comment I said, "I sure hope the dog lives..." then I hear <Click>.

Five minutes later I get a call from the Vet herself who starts berating me for such unprofessional behavior, questioning the dosage and making such a snappy remark about how I hope the dog lives.

So I reply: "Dr. Sensitive, my job as a pharmacist is to protect the patient whether he or she has two or four legs, and verifying the dosage with your assistant was appropriate. As for my comment, it was completely misunderstood. I was thinking that since the dog needed such a high dose of antibiotics, she must really be sick and I hope that she lives. If your assistant had not hung up on me, I was going to finish the sentence with 'She must really be sick.'"

The Vet, finally catching on, laughed and apologized. Moral of story: Just fill the medicine, pill boy... keep your pie hole shut.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hahaha! Is that a pic of a hugely obese dog or a polar bear?

Gwen said...

It is hard to interact with people when they think of you only as the "pill boy". Good luck next time!