Lies part Duex

True story. Happens all the time where I work.

you're a much "nicer" person than i am...i would have called the prescribing physician's office and spoken to him/her personally. when alerted to the fact that they have (most likely, unknowingly) aided someone in their addiction, the doc usually would ask me to confiscate and destroy the prescription. no one likes to be lied to and no one likes their kindness taken advantage of - or their time wasted.

it was always a pleasure to shred one of those confiscated prescriptions. i did post-doc research and education in substance abuse - i understand the power of addiction - i just couldn't stand being treated like an imbecile by someone using my professional existence as a means to get high. as a pharmacist i am the gatekeeper of medication, the doctor can write for whatever - but i also get to use my judgement on whether or not a patient should receive it. otherwise, i wouldn't be liable for checking when docs mess up scripts and write for unbelievably idiotic drugs and/or sigs. and i don't believe that preventing drugs of abuse from reaching the hands of addicts is beyond my scope of practice.

and also, in a very passive-aggressive way, it makes me laugh internally to see someone caught in their own lie and then freak out. i'm a bad person.

Let them lie to walgreens? Aw, come on. I don't wanna deal with them any more than you do. We've got enough of them as it is...we've even got our own little report telling us who's trying to get their soma and vico-dans filled early. >__<

Why Tylenol #4? Are people that desperate for a little Codeine?

I am in Canada, land of milk and honey, and let me tell you, our insurance providers are looking to you guys in the US of A for guidance! We get too early, or duplicate drug ALL the time. Which is good, if it's the case, and patients lie lie lie about it. They decide to take double, and wonder why their insurance is pissy about paying?? We also have BIG problems up here with the DIA's (department of Indian Affairs). Their RX's, especially for anything with an abuse potential is always...too early, filled at other pharmacy. Then I call the other pharmacy, they confirm, and patient tells me, "but I never picked it up", so i tell them, well somebody did, so now you can't have it again! Dumbass../.

There is a part of me that thinks "Let the addicts string themselves out till they aren't bothering anyone." Then I remember the cost to society as a whole when we have to take care of the aftermath. Bravo!

I have been prescribed Tylenol 3 a number of times and have never completed a bottle since I had 3 wisdom teeth pulled when I was 12. No pain like dental pain.

Of course, I am allergic to ingested alcohol and corn and have to take Tylenol 3 to get codeine to stop coughing if I get a really bad respiratory infection. Usually takes between 2 to 5 pills to get the coughing back under control - unless it is a bad infection. Emergency inhalers all have alcohol in them now that CFCs are illegal. I HATE the way they make me feel. I truly do not understand why anyone would want to be that spacey.

Pax,

MLO

I need some advise from the other side of the counter. I have a local pharmacy that has has my wife in tears at least twice. We finally switched to a city 20 miles away and recently had to go back becasue we are leaving on a trip and didn't have time. Tears again. Basically my son takes one of the ADHD drugs and becasue he is 12 sometimes loses them or double takes them when he is half awake and even drops them down the sink. Over the last year we are probably a months worth short. Our mistakes yes. The Pharmacy acts as if they are the nazi drug police even after talking with our doctor, treates us like criminals and are overzealous with neopolitan complex attitude.(yes he is short) What recourse do we have? I don't want my son to go on and off unnessarily. Even when in the past they have relented and filled the script they sheepshly slowley slide it over the counter as if to quickly pull it back if we seem too eager to reach for it as if we are some types of addicts. I completely understand the problems in the world with illegal transfer of drugs but there must be some compasion or some recourse for medicines that get lost in everyday life without making a 12 year old boy go on and off his meds because of an overzealous pharmist. Pharmasists please let me know my recourse or tell me if I am being completely unreasonable. Sometimes they give us excuses about it being to early that the insurance won't cover it and when I say I will just pay cash and forget the insurance they they come up another excuse. Thank you for your blog space. David

I am with Rebecca. I would have busted them with the doctor and then called all the other local stores to let them know she was on the way.

David--
My son also takes ADHD medication. A couple bits of advice:
#1- supervise him! He's only 12 after all!
#2- Use a weekly pill box (and keep it with YOU so he can't get into it. Aren't you the least bit concerned about him taking a double dose???
#3- Why why WHY is he taking pills right over the sink??? My son takes his medication at the table.
Even if you are willing to pay cash, I know the stuff I get is approx 100 bucks a month, why on earth would you want to pay that? Are you made of money?
We hear excuses all the time. This is common sense. It's not a matter of you being unreasonable, it's a matter of you using your head.

David your 12 year old isn't responsible enough to be in charge of his medicine, if he is double taking it, losing it, etc.

Assuming of course

a)Your wifes not taking the meds.
b)Your sons not just selling the shit to his friends at school.

It is YOUR responsibility as the parent of this child to make sure he is taking his medication properly. If your consistently showing up at my pharmacy too early for the insurance company I'm gonna send you away in tears as well

Dear David Dolata,

YOU IDIOT!!!!

What parent allows their 12 year old control their own medicine.

If he is losing his meds or taking to much....THEN GIVE IT TO HIM YOURSELF!!!

He's only 12 years old for Christ SAKE...He should be worrying about getting dirty not about his meds!!

This story doesn't make sense and if it doesn't make sense it isn't true.

Which means either you are taking the medicine yourself or your selling it.

Even if your not--YOU are depriving YOUR son of much needed medicine.

You Make ME SICK!!!!

Gravelpit

Hey now!! I work for Walgreens! I'm not bitching cause I love your rants but you must have some shitty pharmacists out your way wherever that is because our pharmacists at my store and the ones around me always call on suspicious characters! We right in big bold print RTS and the date we've even been told by some dr's to rip up the script and toss it. I'm sorry that you have to deal with crappy walgreens people!! Much love from the walgreens in Canton, Ohio!!!

I agree with Rebecca and Skippet. I call the MD that wrote the Rx and the MD that had prescribed the med filled at the other pharmacy. I also gather all the info from the state's controlled substance monitoring program and call all the physicians at that point.... this process does a few things... 1. makes me happy 2. stops them from getting their fix 3. stops them from coming back!

I can't stand to be lied to!! and I certainly can't stand them talking to and/or treating me like and idiot....

RED FLAGS:
1. I'll pay cash, you dont have to run it through my insurance.
2. This is for my back, the other one was for my foot.
3. It was stolen.
4. I dropped it in the toilet.
5. The other one hurt my stomach or didn't work.
6. "My body can't break down generics"--yes an actualy quote!!
7. I want the MYLAN brand.
8. I need this filled, but I want the white ones not the pink ones!
9. I forgot or lost my ID. (or they bring in an ID from 1990--it has been expired for 17 years--this happened this past weekend!)
10. I'm going out of town/on vacation. (We were told 3 weeks ago that there are no pharmacies in Hawaii, which is why they needed their Ambien, Lortab, Xanax 3 weeks early)Apparently, Hawaii is the fountain of youth!

Those jerks are almost as bad as the meth addicts that hop from pharmacy to pharmacy buying pseudoephedrine--but they are always buying it for their "grandmother"...We have a meth/drug abuse hotline and believe me--we use it!!! I have actually seen quite a few on the local news being arrested.

Its great, everyone should try it!

Oh.....I would have written on the front of the Rx ..."got 125 filled on such and such a date at other pharmacy". These people think we're morons. Wish I had a quarter every time this happened....and they wanted to then pay cash. Wake the hell up, druggies!

Reading these comments makes me laugh . . . I, like Rebecca, get so much pleasure from ripping up scripts! I am the drug nazi at my pharmacy . . I do not hesitate to call doctors, other pharmacies, insurance companies, whatever it takes to find out about someone acting suspiciously (you can almost always tell when they're lying to your face). I had one script for Oxycontin 80 a guy was dropping off for his sister who "had no insurance" and "needed" brand name only. It was going to cost him over $800. We had never filled anything for this lady before, so I called a pharmacy in her neighboring town to find out she did indeed have M'care D. I got the info, billed the insurance, and BAM she was 22 days early! I called the doc and was told to rip it up. I had so much fun telling that guy that I had good news and bad news. The good news . . his sister does have insurance so he needn't pay all that money . . the bad news I have to rip this up now because you LIED to me in so many ways and I caught you. Oh- good times, good times!

Most pharmacists call the doctor, but we usually see this problem after 6pm when the doctor's office is closed and we can't get a hold of the on call doctor.

I have known pharmacists to write "DENIED" on the back of the prescription and the reason why. I used to work with one who would always write in BIG BOLD LETTERS with a FAT BLACK SHARPIE marker! She would write on there where it was filled, when it was filled, the quantity and days of supply, the phone number of the pharmacy, and the date and time that she called the pharmacy.

Try to get that prescription filled now!

Hey now, my Walgreens has been around in my little town for almost 30 years, and is the small town pharmacy. We don't like dealing with liars any more than you do. Send'em to Walmart!

Not all patients that may appear to be drug-seekers are. Being diagnosed bipolar with primarily hypomania, so xanax is a life-saver for me. I also take adderall because I have trouble concentrating and staying on task, and 2 other medications. Apparantly, my pharmacist disagrees with my medications so I know how it feels to be treated like a drug-seeker. I assume this is due to the fact that my psychiatrist often calls in xanax when I run out early. What the pharmacist doesn't know is that there are those times when I need more than usual. My doctor may write my prescription for 4 a day but I have been on twice the dose up to six times a day in the past. After 5 years of taking this medication, he is comfortable with me judging when I need more (within a set limit). I wouldn't mind explaining this to the Pharmacist but there are always other customers standing around so for obvious reasons, I don't. I don't care if the Pharmacist calls my doctor when I come in with a hand-written prescription that is early. I expect it, although my Doctor gets irritated because per his requirment, I have used the same pharmacy for every prescription. It is embarasing enough to be bipolar and adhd without your pharmacist making you feel like a drug addict. I understand what you deal with and how many people abuse prescription medications and I am sure it gets old, really quick but for those who really need these controlled substances to lead a normal life, it gets old dealing with a Pharmacist with a mentality that most people getting these drugs have a problem. The last time I filled a prescription, I had for the first time, changed jobs and therefore insurance and though covered, I didn't have my contract number. I explained this only to have him turn around and try running it through my old insurance anyways and then asking me "why was I prescribed xanax?" I simply responded, "Because if I don't take it, I may harm myself or others." That is an exageration but oddly, he looked pleased to hear that response!

I am a patient and I see the other side of the story. Only 10% of people on pain medications are actually addicted to them and fewer than that are actual dr. shoppers and drug seekers. The rest of us, even if its ok by our dr. to fill our scripts early, cannot due so because of our insurance or some not very understanding pharmacist. If you'd all read up on pain you might be more sympathetic. Do you know when you red flag someone you are probably depriving them of much needed medication? Furthermore, only 12% of pain patients are actually adequately prescribed. Most of the rest of us muddle along with pain being mildly minimized because the physcians are so fearful of the new psychotic laws and I can't honestly blame them. Also, it's illegal to confiscate a script, so next time you do that, think twice. Try having a little compassion next time and you better hope that noone you love ever is in chronic pain.