Monday, November 15, 2010

No! We don't have Oxycontin 30 #180

We keep getting calls at my pharmacy for Oxycontin 30 mg #180 or #120. We do not have it, and I cannot order it. We do not keep it in the safe, and we never have it on hand. Do not ask for Xanax, Soma, and then for the Oxycontin 30. Yes, Roxicodone and Oxycontin and oxycodone ER are the same drug. Do not ask for either one. Definitely, do not call! People are calling every day, sometimes 2 to 3 times a day from the same person. Now, they are actually coming into my pharmacy and requesting their fake or legit scripts to be filled. We have caught one drug dealer and addict, already. Do NOT come to my pharmacy, or any pharmacy! Maybe a 24 hour pharmacy or hospital pharmacy can fill it for you.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Bringing Back Medication to the Pharmacy!

A couple of days ago, I had a lady came into the pharmacy to return a medication.  What in the world makes you think you can return medication?  If you pay a copay of $10 or $25 or whatever the pharmacy loses all of the money for the medication as well as the services of filling the medication and paying for the pharmacist and technicians.  Let's say the drug costs the pharmacy $100, and you pay $25 copay with your insurance.  You pay $25 and the insurance company will pay us $85 dollars for a total of $110.  The pharmacy will receive $10 for the pharmacist, the technician, and all the operating costs.  If you return the medication, the insurance company doesn't let us keep the money it gave us, and you get your copay back.  We can't return the medication to our supplier because it is damaged.  We have no idea what you did to the medication even if you did not open it.  You could have left it in you car in the extreme heat or something else.  We cannot dispense it to another person because it is against the law.  She tried to return Voltaren Gel.  She was prescribed too much from the doctor and wanted to return the unopened packs.  I politely declined.  She was so upset, and said she would complain.  My district manager said she had my back, but the patient never called.  We would lose about $200 if I took it back.  Even today a young lady called me and said her doctor called in the wrong medication.  She wanted to return it and exchange it for the correct antibiotic.  I said we could not refund her the money, but she needed to get her doctor to pay for the wrong medication.  You all know how that would go...nowhere.  The best thing to do is question your med at the pick up window.  If it is not what you want, take a moment and call whoever you need to...the doctor, your mom, the patient you are picking up for.  In all cases leave the medication at the pharmacy.  We can usually hold it for 13 days per insurance.  Oh, I know.  You are in such a hurry for a wedding, a flight, a party, or work.  Call ahead of time or set it up on auto refill.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Cobra Insurance. The Greatest Government Program Ever!

Cobra is one of the worst government agencies ever.  I have patients come in everyday saying, "I'm on Cobra, and I paid an ungodly amount of money.  Why is it not going through?"  I had this lady come in and say she was on Cobra.  Her husband had lost his job, and they were paying $1000 a month for insurance through Cobra.  He needed a $150 medication, and Cobra would not pay for it.  She started to get very irate.  She called Cobra and started cussing them out about not paying for her husband's meds.  She saw on her bank statement that they cashed her check, and she wanted her insurance to work.  They kept giving her the run around and finally came up with this doosy.  Cobra said that it takes a few months for it to be processed through and insurance to work.  Please keep your receipts, and you will be refunded the money you spent.  I just don't get it.  Pay $1000 and for all your meds and MAYBE we will pay you back.  Awesome, Right?!

Friday, October 1, 2010

Update Your Insurance!

The other day I had this crazy old man come into the pharmacy complaining about how much his prescriptions (Rx's) were costing.  He was saying that he had been paying way too much for his meds.  I asked him if there were any changes in insurance the previous ten times he had come in, and he had always said no.  We kept billing the Wellpoint insurance he had.  When he finally called his insurance, they said they had changed his plan to Anthem, and he was supposed to have received a new insurance card in the mail.  His previous insurance would still go through, but it only gave him a discount.  The new insurance gave him lower copays.  Anyway, he lost about $10,000 dollars because he never updated his insurance.  He is in the process of trying to get all those claims backbilled through the new insurance, but we all know how much health insurance companies suck!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

The law is the LAW!

Today, Sunday, I had a lady patient call me complaining that her new pharmacist would not dispense her lorazepam refill.  She wanted me to transfer her prescription to my pharmacy and fill it for her.  Lorazepam is a schedule 4 medication.  It is a controlled substance, and you are not supposed to have it filled early unless something has changed.  Something like the strength or directions.  She kept telling me her life situation over and over and over.  If I tried to interrupt her she would take offense, and say she is going to a higher authority over me to get the prescription filled.  She kept telling me that she was not psychotic even though she is on Seroquel.  She needed her Ativan now, and we needed to work with her to get her the medication.  She then said that one of her doctors told her to take 3 instead of 2 pills a day.  I said the only way you could get it filled is to call the emergency line and get the on call doctor to call you in a new script with the correct directions.  She had not thought of that and thanked me for reminding her of that option.  20 minutes later, I was finally off the phone.  I called the other pharmacist, and he had spoke with her for 30 minutes and gave her the same advice.  We never filled her Rx, and this lady is crazy.  Every time she calls she has to tell you her life story about being a top rated nurse and caregiver to her 97 year old mom.  Her mom is more legit than she is and probably takes care of her.  Oh yeah, she has crazy high blood pressure, 200/100, but she is thin.  She is so stressed over nothing all the time.

My First Pharmacy Story

I had a customer come in the other day and start screaming at me at the top of his lungs.  I could not even understand what he was saying.  Of course, being in the retail setting this is all to common.  I began to decipher the yelling in to something about receiving the wrong medication.  This is very serious in the pharmacy world.  We do not take this lightly at all.  He received the drug Levitra.  This medication is for erectile dysfunction.  He became very quiet, and said he was supposed to receive Viagra for the same thing. I pulled his prescription, and it was written for Levitra.  I showed him the Rx, and he was still upset.  He did not want Levitra.  He wanted Viagra.  I said that I would need a new prescription in order to fill that drug for him.  He then remembered that he told the doctor it only worked sometimes and that the doctor was going to change it.  I then filled his Namenda and Aricept which are for memory loss or alzheimer's.  All that screaming and craziness for nothing.