I’ll have my daily dose of free today

I’m going to go off on my own little banter about the same stupidity that has recently plagued The *Angriest* (because the *’s make it not like my site) Pharmacist.

People on the state tit getting free OTC stuff

Comments #

Comment by indietech on 2008-02-24 23:43:56 -0800 #

actually, it’s 6.022×10^23 *’s/mole angriest pharmacist.
i work in a independent pharmacy located in an upper middle class predominantly white city, so i don’t see much in the way of moms with multiple children milking the welfare for all it’s worth. my problem is those people who are addicted to oxycontin who get well over $1200 worth of the pills for free. i’m not here to pay for your addiction. unless the state would like to start paying for my addiction to chocolate. free ben and jerry’s for everyone!

Comment by The Angriest Pharmacist on 2008-02-24 23:50:49 -0800 #

Avogadro’s number?
I haven’t even HEARD that since 2nd year! Holy crap…
You’re right. I laughed so hard I think I peed a little.

Comment by Enrico on 2008-02-25 00:36:35 -0800 #

OK, I’ll bite and be the geek all the readers shake their head at…it’s 6.022×10^23. You can spot an extra 10 *s, that’s cool though. 😉 I just wouldn’t want AngriEST getting one up on ya.
Oh and I know this would never pass, but IMNSHO, if you are on *welfare* (not just temporary food stamps/WIC or even Medicaid–I’m talking the FREE AND CLEAR CHECK), Depo Provera or the like should be mandatory. You want to go have more crotch-spawn when you can’t afford the ones you have (without giving up the Blackberry data plan), CPS asses the possibility of foster care–YOU DON’T JUST START CUTTING A BIGGER CHECK. Does that cost the state money? You betcha, but at least the state knows where that money is going, and 99.9% of the time it isn’t for new rims. I’m actually politically liberal on most issues, but I don’t take kindly to REWARDING waste and sloth.

Comment by http://openid.aol.com/blastoff2them00n on 2008-02-25 04:03:08 -0800 #

Mr. The Boss – Please give TAP a raise! He’s earned it!
Mr. AP – I wish I could sympathize on this one, but my medicaiders and their children might get 1 box of benadryl in a given year… I wish you could experience it; it’s wonderful.
Also, Avogadro’s number is 6.022×10^23. I’m a chem major so this is important to me. I hope this doesn’t come off as anal.

Comment by rph3664 on 2008-02-25 05:01:10 -0800 #

The state where I worked in retail paid for Pedialyte, Tylenol, Motrin, and also ferrous sulfate for pregnant women.
My old manager, the one who would make them wait an hour even if it wasn’t necessary, refused to fill them and didn’t want me to do it either. Too bad – it’s legal! Karma’s probably gonna bite him in the a$$ because he was a type II diabetic who didn’t take care of himself.

Comment by tom on 2008-02-25 08:12:49 -0800 #

Avogadro’s number is 6.022 x 10^23 😉 (I only remember this because my high school chemistry teacher alwasy threw a party on October 23rd)
Yeah, OTC prescriptions are damn annoying (especially since half of them don’t have NDCs printed on the boxes so you have to try every freaking bottle of saline nasal spray ever made before Access will cover it), but what’s even worse is their mother coming in with a prescription for 1 large box of condoms (with spermacide), 4 bottles of Delfen foam, and Plan B WITH REFILLS.
Hell, at this point, even the government is telling these ghettoettes to stop pumping out the children.
Watch the movie “Idiocracy”, TAP. I think you of all people will love the sheer brilliance of it.

Comment by retail whippin’ boy on 2008-02-25 10:02:58 -0800 #

TAP, Nice rants, but let’s tie a few of these together. The welfare system is designed to provide, not for the benefit of the needy, but for the benefit of the bureaucrats and the politicians. The more you promise, the more votes you get from those who would benefit, i.e, the “truly” needy, and those who work in the system, and those who want to get their brothers-in-law a job in the system. (see The World Hates Poor People)
The problem is not just the freeloading scum who nurse at the state tit, the larger problem is that society decided that the government is the answer to what ails them, hence the need for ever expanding social programs and their attendant layers of bureaucracy. When FDR signed social security into law, 65 years old was chosen for retirement age because so few people at the time lived past 65 years old. The program was meant to make us feel good, but not cost too much. The average life span increased but I guess the program still wasn’t big enough for the politicians and their sinecure-seeking relatives, since it has grown to become the largest federal boondoggle in history. It expanded to include SSI. This gives rise to “disablity” checks for those suffering from such severe maladies as Generalized Anxiety Disorder. That’s right, if you get a doc or two to write that you are “too nervous” to hold down a job, you get a government check in the mail EVERY MONTH! By virtue of this diagnosis, you automatically qualify for housing, food stamps, medical coverage, walking-around-money, EBT, parenting classes, child care, heating fuel assistance etc., etc., etc. (see I’ll Have My Daily Dose of Free Today)
The more larvae the scum produce, the higher the monthly benefits, and the bigger the apartment they qualify for. The kids are nervous, too? No problem. Get a diagnosis and the benefits go up! (See 14 and Pregnant – The Saga Continues)
Now, if I may, I’d like to introduce a related (but mentioned only in passing) topic: illegal immigrants. Supporters of the illegals say they are in this country to “do the jobs that Americans don’t want to do.” I’m willing to bet a month’s pay that if we ended the government give aways to all the malingerers with GAD,and other dubious illnesses, and proposed that they could get a job or starve, the people with true GAD (as opposed to the fakers with GAD, although I know that’s redundant) would be the most efficient fruit pickers in the orchard! A little extra adrenaline would help them along, no? Now we’d have an army of US citizens who both WANT and NEED a job, as starvation seems a lesser alternative. The illegals can go home and try using the emergency room in their backward hell-hole third world country for their primary care while seeking “in-state tuition” for their kids’ college education.
Like all reasonable people, I don’t want to see the truly disabled or babies dying in the street. The government can build orphanages for the children whose parents don’t give a flying fuck about nurturing and raising them in such a way that they’ll be better off than the previous generation. There’d be plenty of money to build and staff these facilities and to take care of the profondly retarded, etc. when the bums are removed from the states’ mammaries. Is it better for a child to be raised by the staff of the orphanages, or by a crack addled mother and a missing father? Unfortunately,any politician who proposes such a platform would be consigned to defeat! Therefore, my paycheck, and yours, is consigned to shrink, as our Uncle takes more and more to provide for those who will not work.

Comment by The Vexed Pharmacist on 2008-02-25 12:55:25 -0800 #

Amen to the above!!

Comment by ER Provider on 2008-02-25 13:55:36 -0800 #

Had a patient come in and wanted OTC for all of her spawns. I’m guilty – I wrote the Rx.
Fortunately, the Pharmacist balked at all that nonsense and declined the opportunity to fill it.
Mom calls me up (undoubtedly from her fancy cell-phone) and wants me to ORDER the Pharmacist that they HAVE to fill the Rx. (Yeah, right, I’m going to screw that poor schmuck, particularly when I agree with them).
I politely but firmly decline. I point out that the Pharmacist is able to make the decision about whether they will fill OTC, and that this is really a financial, not medical issue. (Reminder to self – keep words monosyllabic when the listener’s IQ is below room temperature).
She then wants me to call around to other pharmacies to see who will fill it. She’s quite put out when I politely decline that opportunity, also.
I think she was still yelling at me whilst the phone was settling in its cradle.
From what I’ve seen on your blog, we’re seeing the same people….

Comment by MrHunnybun on 2008-02-25 14:07:20 -0800 #

It’s 6.022×10^23 not 6.022×10^24. Isn’t it?
Or is it different in the UK? 🙂
Ok, I’m anal, show me an unanal pharmacist..
Same problem here. People will make an appointment and waste everybody’s time for 100ml of Acetaminophen and some aqueous cream. Total cost to them=zero. Medication costs=<$1. Cost in pharmacist and doctor time=$50+
Utter foolishness. Because their time is worthless they consider our time is too.

Comment by SuperTech on 2008-02-25 17:14:44 -0800 #

It sucks for you guys. Where I work, medicaid does not cover OTC products. Most of the patients don’t get it if it’s not covered like Prilosec or Flinstones Vitamins. Nice blog.

Comment by AssBustingTech on 2008-02-25 19:45:14 -0800 #

Can I just share a little story that makes me keep going back day after day… Girl walks in with her little rug rat hands me a RX for Childrens Tylenol Liquid (grape flavored… yeah ok) Knowing damn well its not going to be covered I did it anyway and informed her it would probably not be covered. So wouldnt you know it TAADAAA. DENIED OTC’S NOT COVERED… “I’m sorry your insurance doesnt cover over counter meds, the cash price is $3.49” to which she replied “ITS NOT A OVER THE COUNTER ITS A PRESCRIPTION FROM HIS DOCTOR BECAUSE HE IS SICK AND NEEDS IT THATS WHY HE WAS GIVEN A PRESCRIPTION!” (well thanks for the explanation I must have lost my mind for a second I wasnt aware that due to the fact it is written by a doctor it was a prescrpition and no longer considered a OTC.. I’m sorry WWWHHHAAAT)
“I’m not refusing to fill it, but your insurance doesnt cover it” (ie: I’ll fucking slap a god damn label on it if that will make you feel better and shut the hell up)She replied “You people (which is my favorite line of all…. YOU PEOPLE!!) never fill my prescription right away give it back I’ll take it somewhere else” yeah you do that thanks for stopping in today, and you HAVE A GREAT DAY!!—– Boy she brightened my day. :O)
Thanks for letting me share that. I always feel better after visting TAP!!!

Comment by miranda on 2008-02-25 20:22:32 -0800 #

Wow, you are incredibly unsympathetic to other people’s troubles. In my opinion things are not as black and white as you seem to believe. Don’t get me wrong, I get frustrated with people’s stupidity too, but if you are like most pharmacists I know then your life has been a relative cake walk. Most pharmacists have no frame of reference for how difficult life can be when one thing after another is piling up and your options are limited. I’ve lived both ways and let me tell you that life as a pharmacist is worlds away from a life struggling to make ends meet. I hope that somehow your life becomes less angry, cold, and (I’m just guessing here) lonely. Good luck.

Comment by Shari Ann on 2008-02-25 22:40:35 -0800 #

I love you, you’re hot, I think you’re super cool. Now please please learn that “would of” is really “would have”. (Used with a past participle to form perfect tenses.). Thanks!
“…your holier-than-thou “clinical pharmacist” attitude crap you would of gotten the picture.”
I’m still lovin’ you…
“If you would of read my post, you would of gotten that…”
ARRGGGGG double ‘would of’! But my love is staying strong, baby.
Looking forward to more!! Shari Ann

Comment by jendaltonpharmd on 2008-02-26 09:37:02 -0800 #

Miranda…most pharmacists do know what it’s like to have things piling up with limited options. And most of us are very sympathetic to those who really need and deserve our sympathy. I believe that AP is talking about those who abuse the system that was set up to help them. The women who can’t seem to figure out how pregnancy happens or how to prevent it…the ones who have 4 kids with 4 different men. The people who go on SSDI because they are too fatigued to work…try filling 300 rxs (or more) per 8 hour shift and see what fatigue feels like!
I see Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, WIC as temporary assistance to help someone through a difficult time, not something that you pass on to your children! I see multiple generations in one family every day on state aid…I refuse to believe that not one of them is capable of working. They just don’t know any other way of life! These types of aid need to have a time limit and to encourage people to get off them…maybe a slow taper-down of benefits over a specified period of time.
Chill out, Miranda. I’m sure that AP is very sympathetic to those who really are in dire circumstances.

Comment by retail whippin’ boy on 2008-02-26 10:11:57 -0800 #

Not that TAP needs me to cover his ass for him, he seems fully capable of dishing out a bitch-slap (PRN), but I’ve got to jump Miranda’s shit right here!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, right! The whole fuckin’ world is unsympathetic, uncaring and unfeeling. Cry me a river, will ya? The welfare scum, to which I’m exposed on a daily basis, are looking for EVERYTHING for free. They view this as their right, and the money to pay the bills as my obligation.
You don’t know me, or probably anyone else who reads this site, so don’t give me the liberal-guilt-trip-shit that someone else’s life has been a slice of the shitpie while another’s has been a “cake walk.” Your lack of knowledge on the socio-economic backgrounds of annonymous readers and contributors to TAP’s blog disqualifies you from having an informed opinion.
You obviously believe that because some of us are pharmacists, we have had a life of priviledge and leisure. You seem to think that those who “need” charity from the state are simply “victims” of circumstance, or the malicious intent of others.
Take a look at the choices people make generation after generation of the same families! The formula is simple! Don’t want to live in the ghetto, don’t want to rely on the charity of the government, don’t want to be reliant on others for your subsistence? Then stay in school. Study. Get a job. Keep your job. Get off the streets. Stay out of jail. Practice birth control until you can support your kids…then god-damn it, support YOUR kids!
Or keep playing the victim, milking the system, giving away your dignity (along with that of your children’s), and hold out both hands for your freebies. Just don’t get your bowels in a fuckin’ twist when I look down on you and your gullible enablers. Got it?

Comment by AngryPharmacistGirl on 2008-02-26 18:06:00 -0800 #

During a stint working as a tech at a super chain, I had to check (in the “real” part of the store) people when things got slow.
I’ll always remember the time a grandmother came in with her 18 year old looking granddaughter and took the gran-baby through the steps of using her brand-new State Issued “Everything Is Free” card.
“Just push in that code. There you go. Now tell the nice lady thanks.”
Gramma looked at me like, “Isn’t she the greatest? Aren’t you proud?”
Proud? No. Sad? Yeah. I feel bad for the third generation girl being taught how wonderful and warm and fuzzy welfare is by her grandmother.
It just makes me sad or something…or something. It’s when those little kids are getting taught to use their “Free Cards” on their 18th birthdays, it makes my brain hurt.
’nuff said. Oh, and I love Shari Ann. PLEASE! It’s WOULD HAVE, not would of! Sanks.

Comment by AssBustingTech on 2008-02-26 18:42:04 -0800 #

Hey TAP and retail whippin’ boy, do you need a tech? I’m your girl!!

Comment by retailrph on 2008-02-26 21:19:10 -0800 #

Mds need to stop writing rxs for OTC plain and simple. Miranda, you don’t seem to realize the impact of this problem. We’re going to go through a health care crisis in this country whether you like it or not. It’s stupid thing like this, unnecessarily medical need, that are going to drive up medical cost. Instead of these people buying a simple otc drug that may cost $3 to $4, they would go to an ER to obtain the prescription so that they won’t have to pay for it. This is a total waste of tax payer’s money, all of this just for an otc product. Wait until you see how much your medical insurance will cost when you retire. Because it’s free for these people they don’t realize how much money is going into filling these otc products. I don’t think we’re being mean or unsympathetic when we criticize these people. It just doesn’t make sense.

Comment by indietech on 2008-02-26 23:33:30 -0800 #

miranda,
excuse me, but at one time or another i’m sure most pharmacists found themselves in a very similar situation as many of these “poor” patients. i myself am going through it as we speak, trying to go through college and feed myself while maintaining decent grades so that i can go to pharmacy school and eventually make a decent living for myself. the thing that separates me from the welfare abusers? somehow i manage to keep my pants ON and not blow my money on ridiculously unnecessary items. i’m still driving my 1989 toyota camry that i’ve had since sophomore year of high school, and yet my oxycontin-addicted, welfare-abusing customers are driving brand new escalades. cakewalk? ha. i think not. but neither is my life angry, cold, and lonely. in fact, it is only in rare instances that i see such stupidity that i feel so angry, so cold towards my fellow human beings, and so lonely in a world full of ignorance.
so please, before you accuse US of judging others, make sure that you aren’t doing the exact same thing.

Comment by IDATECH on 2008-02-27 11:48:01 -0800 #

Luckily, Idaho Medicaid will only pay for certain OTCs like Loratadine and Ferrous Sulfate, so it’s not that big of a problem here. I do have an observation about folks that get 18-20 different meds every month on our dollar. Do they really need all of this stuff? What I find interesting, however, is that when they suddenly become ineligible for state aid for whatever reason, their need for all of these meds is decreased to a mere fraction. Funny-it’s like they are cured!
Another irritating fact is that many of the precribers really have no idea how much the meds they freely write for actually cost. Then they wonder why they have to mess around with the whole prior-auth process.

Comment by Vtech on 2008-02-28 00:01:22 -0800 #

What’s funny is when they come in and go
“I’m going away I need my meds right now” I go “okay ..what insurance do you have?”
Welfare whore: “medicaid”
Me “uhh ..medicaid doesnt pay for vacation supplies”
Welfare whore: “but I need my vitamins”
yeah ..really.

Comment by RxTechKim on 2008-02-29 20:29:13 -0800 #

I always love the “I am going on vacation and need a vacation override” from the White Visa Card carriers. Ummm….you can’t afford your meds, but you can afford a vacation? A cruise no less? And here I am, busting my ass working full time to support YOUR sorry ass and pay MY bills?
Something is really really wrong with this system.

Comment by Juniper on 2008-10-02 17:29:50 -0700 #

“When FDR signed social security into law, 65 years old was chosen for retirement age because so few people at the time lived past 65 years old.”
Wait a minute, isn’t that why Otto von Bismarck picked age 65 for another retirement program decades earlier?
“the people with true GAD (as opposed to the fakers with GAD, although I know that’s redundant) would be the most efficient fruit pickers in the orchard! A little extra adrenaline would help them along, no?”
I thought many of the people with true GAD already have jobs (hence the mental health services in campus clinics at some Ivy League and equivalent schools for them on the way to those jobs).
“I refuse to believe that not one of them is capable of working. They just don’t know any other way of life!”
Then there are the ones who do but get shouted down by the rest of the family and a whole bunch of others (“you’re uppity,” “you think my life’s not worth living,” “you’re selling out,” “you’re genocidal [if you don’t want to give your race another baby at age 13],”) when they try to prepare to live those other ways of life. 🙁
“Luckily, Idaho Medicaid will only pay for certain OTCs like Loratadine and Ferrous Sulfate, so it’s not that big of a problem here. I do have an observation about folks that get 18-20 different meds every month on our dollar. Do they really need all of this stuff?”
…and do they give any of it back to society? A healthy person may not need ferrous sulfate to stay healthy and may want it to qualify to give blood that other people really need:
http://www.redcross.org/services/biomed/blood/supply/back10.html
“…A low red blood cell level is the most common reason for a potential donor to be temporarily deferred, and it can be caused by several factors. Some donors naturally have a lower red cell count—not a serious health problem, but a condition that unfortunately prevents them from being eligible blood donors. Other donors are slightly anemic (meaning that they have a slightly lower than normal red cell count). The most common cause of mild anemia in healthy people is a low level of iron, which is needed to make red blood cells. These people may be able to boost their red cell count by eating iron-rich foods or taking iron supplements. Frequent blood donation and monthly blood loss in pre-menopausal women can also contribute to a low iron level…”