Turkey Talk

I worked Thanksgiving in close proximity to a "Quick-Check-Urgent Care" walk-in clinic type of place ---- surprisingly, most of the patients pretty much needed to be there. Lots of antibiotics were flowing. Not too many people wandered in on Thanksgiving Day to have that rash checked that they've had for 3 weeks, or to get a handle on that blood sugar that's been out of control since last Thanksgiving. So that was a pleasant surprise.

I did get several people who wanted me to 'guarantee' that their prescription would work.
Like, the person getting a Z-Pack (I know, who doesn't get a Z-Pack?) who said in reference to their ailment, "And this will TAKE CARE OF IT, RIGHT?" Or the woman who demanded to know if the phenazopyridine would work IMMEDIATELY for her UTI. As I opened my mouth to answer, she said NO, I MEAN IMMEDIATELY !!!

I can't guarantee that prescriptions are going to work. Prescribing is as much an art as a science. Every so often someone tries to return something because it "didn't work" or they just didn't like it and we have to explain that legally we can't take the medication back and re-sell it again. I had to explain to a customer once that "you wouldn't want me to dispense medication to you that had already been taken home by someone else, right?"

On Black Friday afternoon a customer brought in a prescription for an anti-nausea med for pre-treatment of chemo. The (naturally) expensive medication wasn't covered. We asked when the chemo treatment was scheduled.... "Monday morning." Date of the prescription: 1 week ago. Doctor's phone goes to voice mail. Possibility of getting a prior authorization on Friday afternoon? Slim to none. Moral of the story: bring those prescriptions into the pharmacy ahead of time. I sure hope they figured something out on Monday.....