Tripple WTF

[WishfulSpirit]

Ok so I stop by Walgreens to get an Rx filled (I'm on steroids...yea!) and while waiting to pick it up, I encounter the first of two WTFs in the last few days. A female (wouldn't call her a lady) is arguing with the pharmacist. She wants to...get this...return a prescription. For a refund. After she took it home and brought it back.

Hell No.

I can't think of anything that's sold in this country that has more potential to be swapped out for a fake and then returned, while the original is kept and sold through less reputable channels. From what I could overhear, this Rx medication was a lotion, so they couldn't even check pill stamps. I didn't hang around for the whole argument, but I do know she was told "no" at least 4 times by two different staff members and it wasn't getting through her noggin. She may not have been doing anything illicit, she may really have accidentally had more filled than she needed (miscommunication with doctor maybe, it's not unheard of for them to write for 90 days instead of 30, for example) but those rules exist for a reason. Shut up and let me get my medications so this tooth the dentist can't fix until Monday can stop hurting, OK?

While we're on medication, that brings us to WTF #2. On Friday evening I had Hubby's highly-controlled pain pills transferred to a pharmacy closer to our home so I wouldn't have to go as far with my throbbing tooth. The tech said they had the pills and let me know they couldn't transfer the Rx again. Fine. I get there, they're out of the pills, and since state law doesn't allow another Rx transfer, Hubby can just be SOL (and in a lot of pain) for the weekend. Doc is closed, and they don't get another delivery until Monday. We can't call in the Rx any sooner than 3 days in advance. Which we did, but it was at the other pharmacy I didn't want to spend an hour on the bus getting to. All I got out of them was "so sorry, so sorry."

And finally, WTF #3. Hubby is taking the dog for a potty walk when he finds a COUCH upended on the lawn. It had very obviously been thrown from a balcony. Just when you think life in the big city can't get weirder. I'm hoping this was a breakup-induced HULK SMASH moment by a tenant and not the complex staff who have to clean out an evicted apartment getting lazy again. Last year they (said staff members) decided that throwing bricks and boards down onto the sidewalk (where tenants have to walk to get to their doors) was an acceptable alternative to using the freaking ELEVATOR to move things, you know, like they're being PAID to? They wouldn't even have to go down stairs for chissake.

Ok I'm done, thanks for letting me vent.

[EricKei]

it's not unheard of for them to write for 90 days instead of 30, for example

I've had the opposite issue more than once, actually. With the same doc x.x Ends up costing me more $.

[wolfie]

On Friday evening I had Hubby's highly-controlled pain pills transferred to a pharmacy closer to our home so I wouldn't have to go as far with my throbbing tooth. The tech said they had the pills and let me know they couldn't transfer the Rx again. Fine. I get there, they're out of the pills, and since state law doesn't allow another Rx transfer, Hubby can just be SOL (and in a lot of pain) for the weekend.

Pharmacy tells you they have the pills, accepts the transfer, and then finds they're out of stock - and now they can't transfer it to someplace that DOES have stock? Sounds like malpractice to me - they should have checked BEFORE accepting the transfer. Definitely something to report to corporate, and to the governing body. You do NOT torture your patients.

[Minflick]

I work at an animal hospital/clinic. I'm a Vet Tech, and we now sell a drug for pets with skin issues. New to us, and we're still working out how much stock we need to keep on hand. Client comes in and visits us, transferring over from another clinic where he'd had the same meds. It's a maintenance rx, he'll need it for the pet until the pet dies. Stuff is NOT cheap. Dr prescribes a bottle. Buuuut, we don't HAVE a full bottle to give him. So, we give him 2 weeks worth. 2 weeks go by, and he comes in for his bottle. We still don't have a bottle to give him... I explain the situation, apologize, and sell him 1 weeks worth, and PROMISE I will have a bottle for him next Tuesday, but please call first to make sure our shipment came in! I order the stuff myself, bypassing the person the job was taken from me and given to, and ta dah!

Tuesday rolls around, and we have 4 (FOUR) bottle of The Rx which means we can sell the man his damned bottle of stuff for his dog. I had made a note in the dogs file about it, so somebody comes up to me and asks what's up with this. I ask if they have read my notes in the file? Yes. I tell them verbally what I have written in the file. "Oh, OK, I just didn't understand." (Same exact words, yo!)

I have now been given back the weekly inventory and order job! Because I AM medical personnel, and I DO know what we need one bottle of vs. what we need 6 bottles of, so we can meet our clients needs without gutting our inhouse stock. Turns out the job was taken from me because it was also taken from somebody who has NO concept of how to order stuff, and got some supplies in that are still sitting on a back shelf 3 months later, and will expire before they are used. She's NEVER allowed to do the weekly order ever again... Me? I do it right, even if I sometimes go over the weekly budget we're given (which I don't see... and which varies week to week) but I keep the meds in stock which means the Drs and clients are happy with my order skillz!!!

[wolfie]

I do it right, even if I sometimes go over the weekly budget we're given (which I don't see... and which varies week to week) but I keep the meds in stock which means the Drs and clients are happy with my order skillz!!!

If you order enough but not too much (i.e. clinic doesn't run out before the next order comes in, but stock doesn't sit around long enough to expire), why does it matter if you sometimes go over the weekly budget? After all, the stuff you ordered gets used or sold. Also, how are you supposed to stick within a budget if you never see it?

[Minflick]

I have voiced those thoughts..... I never get an answer, but I keep getting handed that particular job, so they must like how I do it! Every time they hand it to somebody else it's awful and they hand it right back to me....

They're going to be SO hosed if I ever find another job!

[Smapti]

Pharmacy tells you they have the pills, accepts the transfer, and then finds they're out of stock - and now they can't transfer it to someplace that DOES have stock? Sounds like malpractice to me - they should have checked BEFORE accepting the transfer. Definitely something to report to corporate, and to the governing body. You do NOT torture your patients.

It might not be something they have control over. If it's an opioid painkiller, which it sounds like it is, the state federal regulations are super-strict these days - the prescription has to be on paper instead of electronic, the doctor has to write out a new prescription every month instead of ordering refills, and so on.

[wolfie]

It might not be something they have control over. If it's an opioid painkiller, which it sounds like it is, the state federal regulations are super-strict these days - the prescription has to be on paper instead of electronic, the doctor has to write out a new prescription every month instead of ordering refills, and so on.

It's something they DID have control over. Since it was a prescription that could only be transferred once, rather than giving a cheery "We've got them in stock" and accepting the transfer (leaving the patient with no way to get their medication), they should have checked, and on finding they were out of stock told the patient "We are out of stock, and since it's a medication for which the prescription can only be transferred once, if you transfer it to us you won't be able to get the pills until our next order comes in. Do you still want to do the transfer, or would you rather keep it at the pharmacy it's at now, so you'd still have the option to transfer it to another pharmacy?"

[WishfulSpirit]

It's something they DID have control over...

This. Exactly This.