Friday, June 20, 2008

Quickies, since there's downtime in 10 minutes.

Seriously, I am starting to wonder if people were born in barns.

I cannot count how many times a day people interrupt myself or one of my fellow staff members while waiting on another patient. It pisses me off to no extent. You are all important. Stop being an asshole and interrupting while we give these patients (potentially) vital information, and go away. Thanks.

Also, if you're planning to transfer your stupid freaking prescriptions in and out of a zillion fucking pharmacies, EXPECT that at some point the refills are going to be incorrect. You've fucking transferred in and out and in and out EVERY MONTH. I can see this in your profile. I can pin down where it most likely happened. Stop being an ass and bitching me out. Figure out who you had originally fill your script, and go bitch at them. Thanks.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Sometimes I hate work

I've been in this funk lately. I've had all these things happen that make me think "Hey, this would be a GREAT experience to blog about!", but then 5 minutes later I'm in a stupor because Mr. So and So can't understand WHY his Viagra is too soon, when he just got 8 pills 3 days ago, and his insurance limits him to 8 per month.

I'm going to try to sum up some of the best stories now, and try to start writing down some ideas for here.

  • This guy came into my pharmacy at night one night. He had a script for Vicodin HP. For 300 of them. It was a legit script, despite the fact that the doc didn't sign it. I called the office, spoke to the doc in question, had him speak to the RPh on duty as well, and we gave the guy a partial. When we got the full amount in, we discovered that he'd had it filled somewhere else the week before. I called that opposing Chain Pharmacy, and spoke to a friendly RPh who told me he'd personally filled her script -- first as a partial, then as a completion, FOR THE SAME DRUG AND QUANTITY, A WEEK BEFORE. How you could blow through 300 Vicodin HP's in a week blew every single one of our minds. I spent that day on a crusade. Between the insurance company (WHO I HATE), the doctor (who apparently is doing a drug test on the patient, which I applaud!), and the other pharmacy, we found out that this guy really isn't trustworthy, and needless to say, our PIC told him that we won't be stocking that drug anymore. He was pissed, but he knows he's been caught. He does not know that the doc is waiting on drug test results. A little more digging turned up that he's been on Suboxone and Naltrexone before. Clearly those drugs didn't work for him.

  • A lady came in who insists we order her Percocet brand. We know, from one of our RPh's being friends with people in other pharmacies who deal with her, that she sells these drugs. We have finally had it with her, and we are finally pushing her out the door. I am just thrilled we don't have to stock brand Percocet anymore!

  • The week preceding the full moon was a disaster. We had floaters in and out because we got a sick pharmacist. We had new patients transfering lists and lists of drugs in, many of which were too soon. Then, even though the pharmacists at the other stores said nothing was in their bins waiting, the patients insisted that they were, and they were right. I spent half a day rebilling for someone.

  • We discovered after a week that our Vicodin HP patient's doctor had previously had rx pads stolen off of him. Not the best news to hear, but at least that person is done with.

    It's been a crazy time in the Pharmacy, but all these good stories that I know I was planning to write up have fallen out of my mind. I'm bummed.

    One last thought:

    I've got another two fuck you's to issue: number one, to our dear friends at Actavis Totowa again, because all of their freaking drugs are being recalled, and my shelves are rapidly becoming devoid of drugs I have cranky old people on. Fuck you number two goes to my dear friends at Procter & Gamble. I am so fucking TIRED of your drug reps coming in and wasting all our fucking time with all your new fucking ACTONEL PRODUCTS!! If it wasn't enough to have the once weekly Actonel 35, and the Actonel plus Calcium, now you give us twice a month Actonel 75, and, the best news yet ... ONCE MONTHLY ACTONEL 150!! I forgot to mention the 30 mg Actonel and the 5 mg Actonel as well. These drug reps come in and interrupt me as we're dealing with an onslaught of waiters, always without fail. Do me a favor, and just fucking quit bugging me. I'm not going to tell people to go beg their doctor for a drug that's likely a higher tiered copay, and I'm not going to waste my time giving out the millions of coupons you'll give me for a drug that probably won't catch on at my pharmacy. Nobody wastes their time with Boniva due to the price. Everybody loves Fosamax now, since there's generic alendronate. So stop bugging me. I'm busy.
  • Wednesday, June 04, 2008

    Wondering

    I've been checking in with my SiteMeter every once in awhile, and I've noticed I've actually got what seems to be some fairly regular visitors. I know I don't post nearly enough -- in fact, I'll probably have to start bringing a small notebook into work so I can keep track of things to work on, just so I can update more. But I want to know who's reading me, especially those regulars.

    So, if you could -- please leave me a comment and let me know you're reading. It appears some of my regulars are actually from my home state, so it's nice to see that some of my audience lives nearish to me.

    If you have anything you want me to write about, too -- feel free to ask. There are a lot of subjects you can touch opon while writing about pharmacy life and such. I know I could never touch all of them.

    I'll have a real post probably tomorrow. I've got major plans involving a certain place I like to call my Second Home, and a big event there.

    Sunday, June 01, 2008

    Crossing the Line

    There are fine lines with ethics, rules ... basically, most things that can go on in a pharmacy have lines you may find people crossing.

    Lately, our PIC, John, has been wayyyy overstepping his boundaries. John is a Catholic man. Many of us at our store have different religious beliefs, and for some reason, lately, it seems that they are not good enough. John has asked many of us to question our beliefs, and to even welcome his into our lives. He has crossed the line there.

    One of my technicians has very different values, and for some reason, John has specifically marked her as one to work on. My tech has not spoken very much at work lately, and when I finally got her to talk, she told me her family is not very comfortable with John's religious talk. They are not the only ones. We have had countless discussions on how to handle this. After conferring with Pharmacy Chick, it seems like we finally have options. There has to be a clearer line than the one we have been drawing, but he is going to have to save his opinions for at home.

    Also, I found out John has been lying to my face. I'm not going to get into specifics, but it does deal with some of our coworkers, and some of them have been angry with me over things he has apparently "forgotten" to discuss with them. I feel like crap, physically and mentally. Here I was, laboring under the opinion that he's sorted out these workplace issues, then I find out that nothing's been solved! Some of my staff wants to leave over this issue. I am alongside them in that one. It is disappointing to find out that someone you are supposed to trust is lying to your face. You rely on your pharmacists ... or at least, we do. We have always had a great relationship at our store, but it almost feels like that's falling apart.

    I've given applying to another chain a lot of thought, yet in the past week, I've never had the guts to actually fill out the application and send it in. Maybe in the next week I will find the cajones, and do it. For now, though, we will see how the next week goes.