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How can you be that stupid?

·1922 words·10 mins

I saw this happen twice today, so I figure that I had better make the issue known.  Plus it really really pissed me off.

Both patients came in within the past 2 weeks with new Rx’s in hand.  One was for a change in Lantus (dose cut in half), the other was for a change in Atenolol from twice to once daily.

The both “knew” that there were changes, they spoke with the doctor and got a new Rx issued.  However, 15 days later now they both come and want a refill.  Turns out that even though I TOLD THEM there was a direction change, I made a HUGE HIGHLIGHTED REMARK on their Rx receipt (which they saw, it had their copays on it) and their DOCTOR TOLD THEM THERE WAS CHANGES, they (of course) ran out early because they were taking the OLD directions and not the NEW directions which are STARING THEM IN THE FUCKING FACE.

Seriously, Lantus I can see, you don’t look at the label, you just open the box, inject, and dont notice the change.  However the moron with the atenolol is another story.  She obviously had to look at the label to find out WHAT THE PILLS WERE and didn’t notice the huge change in direction note? It would take a fucking neon sign, and me standing next to her saying “Uh, its once a day now” to have her fucking take her medication right. 

I wish being dumb caused pain instead of more children.

Comments #

Comment by Nhat on 2008-05-30 09:02:40 -0700 #

So what did you end up doing?

Comment by PharmGamerKid on 2008-05-30 09:36:49 -0700 #

“I wish being dumb caused pain instead of more children.”
That’s going on my Facebook.

Comment by kmsmaverick on 2008-05-30 11:44:57 -0700 #

I’m surprised they didn’t call you to carp about only getting one vial. “last month i got two vials! Why did i only get one vial this time? are you sure you did it right? I always get two vials of lantus. The doctor writes for me to get two vials of lantus, can you check that for me?”
seriously, lantus is so powerful, if their dose needed to be adjusted so drastically, they were probably almost dead on the initial dose.

Comment by Done With Retail on 2008-05-30 12:00:32 -0700 #

I feel for you. I experience this stupidness on a daily basis. My recent experience: A woman called first thing in the morning wanting a few refills for her son. I told her one hour (looked like I was going to have insurance issues, but after I hung up, I realized I didn’t). She copped an attitude about the long wait, but I copped one right back. 5 minutes later, a woman came through the drive-thru with 2 new scripts. I told her 30-40 minutes. This one had a nasty attitude about the wait, too. (Mind you it was the day after Labor Day and I was working alone this early in the morning.) I later realized…this was the same person!! Why on earth would you cop an attitude about 30 minutes if you already knew the wait was close to an hour?!?!?!? At that point I wanted the building to catch on fire.
LOVE THE WEBSITE. I truly know I’m not the only one out there…

Comment by No Drugs For You on 2008-05-30 17:01:43 -0700 #

I used to work in a busy store and this happens quite a bit. Fortunately (in this case only), it is easy for customers to peek in and see the BIG pile of prescriptions (anything less than 60 is a light day). I simply show them and told them that these people called in before he/she and I need to get these done before. First come first serve except emergencies (i.e. ABX, albuterol, NTG, and ped meds–I always place ped meds in front of the line). One look at the pile shuts up 90% of the customers. Hey, at 500+ a day (I work for a chain, i.e. not my own business), I can lose those 10%.
Everyone’s been told that patients play an integral role in their overall healthcare. I wonder if anyone told the patients that???
Just found out about this website and show some of the rants to my wife. Now she knows why I have very little patience for stupidity.

Comment by http://openid.aol.com/robyn671 on 2008-05-30 19:30:26 -0700 #

OMG! This happens on a daily basis. Today we had a customer who didn’t know Ativan/lorazepam were the same thing. And don’t you know she’s on state medicaid. TGIF!!!

Comment by wanna_be on 2008-05-30 19:47:21 -0700 #

will you be my baby daddy?

Comment by Tech Beck on 2008-05-30 22:10:57 -0700 #

Dude, just accept it. Your fault. Always. You were supposed to drive to their house and administer the doses yourself, would have solved the problem easily.
p.s. I bet your looking forward to their next visits 15 days from now. 😉

Comment by one_angry_tech on 2008-05-30 22:17:22 -0700 #

I’m a CPhT now.
Which won’t mean shit to anyone, especially customers, because all they care about is why it takes so long, or why their viagra isn’t covered, and yeah, their doctor told them to take it once daily, but they take it twice daily if they feel like it, or feel stressed, so that is why they are trying refill their Cymbalta 15 days early, also.
I feel so whorish, taking that exam and filling 2 identical prescriptions for Xanax, 1 mg, TID in a 5 minute period.

Comment by Pharmer John on 2008-05-31 01:24:13 -0700 #

I just wanted to give a rant that hopefully you will comment on in the future.
I would like to tell chain pharmacists to stick with their “licking, sticking, counting, and pouring”, and please, PLEASE stay away from niche services like compounding, immunizations, MTM, etc.
As an independent pharmacist, it is increasingly difficult to make a profit from ordinary Rx services.
(Side note: despite what some companies like Walmart might tell you, profit is not evil. In fact, companies that have healthy profits can GROW, and create more JOBS, and are less likely to suffer during downturns in the economy.)
Luckily, there are niche services such as compounding, MTM, and immunizations that can increase a pharmacy’s profit margin and help the bottom line. These are PROFESSIONAL SERVICES that require training, knowledge, and expertise above and beyond what a typical retail pharmacist needs to do a typical retail job.
My problem with chain pharmacists providing these services is that not only are they whoring themselves out to their companies, but they are not demanding additional compensation from their employers for providing these services. I know of chain pharmacists who do immunizations, and only get paid an hourly wage for doing so. And compounding pharmacists who do the same. What a bunch of morons.
If they were smart, they would go into private practice and offer these niche services themselves, and therefore get paid PROPERLY for their PROFESSIONAL services. Now I know business ownership is not for everyone, so how about they do the next best thing and provide these services through an independent pharmacy. I know staff pharmacists who do MTM programs for independents, and the pharmacy owners give ALL MTM proceeds to the staffer who runs the programs, on top of the hourly wage they’re making!!! Or how about the compounding pharmacist who makes a percentage off of all compounds he makes at the independent pharmacy he works at!!! Sweet!
Alas, the chain pharmacist douche-bags who provide these niche services are undermining the rest of us, and doing their whole profession a disservice.
Imagine if dentists or orthodontists all decided one day to accept an hourly salary to ply their trade at Walmart. There is absolutely NO LARGE CORPORATION out there that can adequately pay a dentist or orthodontist for their professional service, unless that corporation would give said dentist or orthodontist a “piece of the action”, so to speak. The same must be said about chain pharmacists who provide niche services. You get paid well to lick, stick, count, and pour. Stick to that, if you’re bound and set with working for a chain pharmacy.

Comment by nobody on 2008-05-31 10:01:31 -0700 #

You expect far too much from the general population. There are no thought processes involved. I know this chick who is supposedly “aware” and alert to the goings on of the world–she had a script for basic penicillin and stopped taking it once she felt better and then wondered why the infection came back later. She argued that cranberry juice (complete with refined sugars, no less) was the answer, not following the simple directions.

Comment by JenRPh on 2008-05-31 10:20:31 -0700 #

Of course if you had tried to counsel these morons they would have given you a nasty look and said “I’ve had this before. I don’t need you to go over it.” You can’t win either way!

Comment by Steph on 2008-05-31 10:37:46 -0700 #

Check this out, TAP.
Another way for the chains to denigrate our professional image:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/28/BAJC10U9GB.DTL&hw=health+care&sn=025&sc=305
We look like whores. Even those of us who don’t work for chains. All painted with the same brush.
Nice.

Comment by Christine on 2008-06-01 11:06:50 -0700 #

I think I might be in love with you.

Comment by Ryan Frank on 2008-06-02 08:28:15 -0700 #

Wow, I am a bit curious on the Lantus myself… my doctor tells me to adjust my lantus intake my 10% at a time at most if it seems to be giving me trouble. You would think that if they needed to half the lantus dosage they would’ve had a lot more complaints about lows.

Comment by tee-chur on 2008-06-03 20:54:25 -0700 #

As a college-level teacher, I would like to say that I’m doing EVERYTHING I can to diminish the flow of dumbasses to your counter.
However, if you think they’re stupid now, you should’ve tried working with them when they were 20 years old.
Trust me – I have lecturing + handouts + A.V. presentations + bullet-lists + face to face talks on my side – there is NOTHING you can do to get some people to pay attention.
But then, for each of them, the rest of us who are generally aware of the world around us suffer as pharmacists and others treat us like slow children, just to be safe.

Comment by Butters on 2008-06-08 14:56:51 -0700 #

Or what about the people that decide to self-medicate with OTC products and then call you wondering why the Dulcolax suppository they SWALLOWED isn’t working!! SERIOUSLY…it didn’t happen at my store but it happened at another pharmacy within the same chain and they shared this with us just for laughs!

Comment by rphwgreatrack on 2008-06-19 16:20:56 -0700 #

,
A phone conversation overheard in the pharmacy:
(true story)
patient(with heavy middle-eastern accent):
“I need refeal on arrrgh, eeeecks, 123456”
RPH:
“Come again?”
patient:
“arrrrGGGGH, eeeCCCKSH, nAAmbAA, 123456!”
RPH:
“Say again?”
patient:
“My muhtherrrrr’sh herrrrtwurm medication!”
RPH:
“You mean omeprazole?”
patient:
“Yesh!”
RPH:
“Well, there’s no refills on your mom’s heartworm medication, ma’am, *stifled giggle*
we’ll contact the vet to get your mom more refills on her HEARTWORM *giggle* medication, ok?”
patient:
“Yesh, tank you. My muhtherrr need tuu pickup toot-day because she can’t get ride toot-m’row. She can’t drivvvvv-A.”
RPH:
“Sure, I understand.”
Patient hangs up. RPH turns to her fellow RPH (who’s ROFL by this time),
“OK to advance the omeprazole if vet doesn’t call back. Mom can’t drive. Lack of opposable thumbs, you know.”