chem girl speaks her mind

what? percocet's a narcotic?

2008-08-15T01:43:00.002-06:00

winner of doctor of the week:

today a lady who we have had a PLETHORA of problems with filling controlled substances at other pharmacies, trying to fill things early, etc., etc. came in today with a percocet prescription. here were the problems:
1. doctor's signature was illegible. he did provide his dea, but fat load of good that did me since we didn't have him in the computer. he didn't bother to print his name any where on the script.
2. the strength was for 5 mg percocet, but the 5 looked like it had originally been something else. what it was, i couldn't tell, i just knew the 5 looked funky.
3. the amount was originally #60 then it was written over to say #80. the doctor did not initial by the change, so i assumed (as an pharmacy would) that the patient had altered it.
4. there were 3 refills written on the script.

just like any other pharmacy would think, we believed the script to have been altered by the patient. the next 20 minutes i spent getting transfered from department to department in the hospital. first to the er, then to her usual doctor who told me that "never, ever, EVER would he write a script for percocet for her." he has obviously had problems with her in the past. when i finally got a hold of the doctor who had written the script, this was how our conversation went:
me: hi! this is the pharmacy calling. we have a question on a script you wrote.
dr: is it for the percocet?
me: uh, yeah.
dr: yeah, i wrote it. i was initially going to write it for 10 mg, then changed my mind halfway through and decided it was too high. so i changed it to 5 mg. but then i had to give her more pills since i lowered the strength, so i changed it from 60 to 80.
me: oh, ok. but this script also has 3 refills on it.
dr: yeah.
me: um, percocet is a narcotic, a C-II, we can't refill it.
dr: oh, well, then just ignore them.

gee, like i wasn't going to do that anyway. thank you SO MUCH for guiding me in the right direction. idiot. the scary thing is, this doctor has had his license for 2 years. i have a hard time believing this is the first time he's written for a narcotic. i wonder how many other pharmacies have had to explain the law to him. he must have slept through that entire part of medical school.

p.s. bad tech left about 4 days after he was hired. i just realized i never wrote about that.

why anda is the best wholesaler in the world

2008-08-10T00:21:00.002-06:00

a.k.a. "i am shallow and you can buy my loyalty." (to be followed by an entry titled "i love our benicar rep.")

1. next day delivery, including saturdays.
2. unlike cardinal, they always manage to correctly print their stickers.
3. also unlike cardinal, they actually remember to GIVE you your stickers.
4. their crazy packing makes me laugh (one box and 3 of those air-puff packs for one bottle of budeprion?)
5. our anda rep ROCKS. she called me back last night approximately 30 seconds after i finished leaving a message. she knew my voice when i answered the phone and didn't even bother with formalities, just jumped right in and started answering my question. she's extremely friendly and is so helpful.
6. that handy anda scanning machine. no entering item numbers to order stuff!
7. free stuffed pandas in our orders!
8. the fact that they carry oxycontin cr generic again.
9. they told me yasmin was going generic about a month before it actually was available. i checked andanet every freaking day for a MONTH. i practically cried with joy when i saw it was available to order.
10. the super nice rep at the ce conference. she was handing out free pandas!
AND BEST OF ALL....
11. they gave me a free ipod! technically i won it at the ce conference, but i secretly think the rep rigged it in my favor because i chatted her up.

proof that you CAN buy my love: i'm going to check every generic we get on monday and see if we can get it even a penny cheaper through anda (most likely), at which point i will then order 10 of EVERYTHING! not really. but i do <3 anda. i wish they would carry brand name stuff too. then i would never ever have to deal with stupid cardinal ever ever again.

the new tech

2008-06-26T00:44:00.002-06:00

so for a couple of months now, all the employees at the pharmacy have been begging the owner to higher a new tech. with both of our interns gone, myself going to school full-time, and only 2 full-time techs, we've been a little short lately.
now, however, perhaps being short on techs was the better option.
the owner hired the new tech 2 weeks ago. he started last monday. here are some of the amazing things we have had to deal with since:
-he likes to take off for 45 minutes to get lunch with his girlfriend, and not tell anybody when he leaves. i know by law we have to let him leave for a break if he asks, but all the other techs stay as a courtesy to one another. sure, it might be slow when you leave, but 5 minutes later, we could be slammed. such a thing happened last thursday, leaving 2 techs and a pharmacist to figure things out, without a clerk, as she left early as well.
-he conveniently forgot to subtract the half hour to 45 minutes from the hours he worked, and wrote down a full 9 hours on our timesheet.
-he charged someone $34 for a usually $10 prescription, and $99 for on that is $47. as an independent pharmacy, we have to watch prices very carefully. we also recently found out that the pharmacy he came from (another independent that was bought out by walgreens) had been getting reimbursed by medicaid only $150 for a $280 prescription. no wonder the pharmacy shut down. they were losing over $100 a MONTH on only one prescription.
-lastly, and most scary, he filled someone's robinul with ropinirole. unfortunately, the mistake got past our pharmacist and out of the pharmacy. luckily, it was a really good customer who is extremely nice. she called to let us know she received the wrong medication and we fixed it for her today.
i really am starting to not like the new tech, and i've only worked with him once, since he's only there to fill in the days that i'm at school. the few times our paths have crossed though, i have found him to be extremely arrogant and unwilling to listen to constructive criticism or instructions. if i ever get the chance to work with him again, i will be taking him down a few notches. just because you know how to work foundations, does NOT mean you are the best tech in the whole wide world.

sometimes doctors are retarded

2008-06-06T00:25:00.003-06:00

and sometimes they are amazing. i've dealt with a little of both today.

i went to a new general practitioner today as i've had some doubts about mine ever since she diagnosed me with prediabetes after only running one set of tests. bascially our conversation went like this:
me: my periods really suck. i don't know why.
md: well, i think your sister has pcos, so you probably have it too. and so you're probably prediabetic. let's draw your blood.
i was never told to go in fasting to that appointment, so what she thought was a fasting glucose level actually was not. now i can understand that seeing a "fasting" of 115-120 would be alarming. however, she also ran an a1c test, which i think she chose to ignore after having the following conv. with her nurse at a prediabetes clinic:
me: umm, my a1c is 5.1%. is that just okay?
nurse: whoa, no, actually that's great. keep doing what you're doing!
those test results were from october. i talked to the nurse in april. for 7 months i was on four 500 mg XR metformin once a day. when i finally got those original test results i brought them into the pharmacy and discussed with one of the pharmacists whether or not i should continue taking the metformin. we decided that i should try to go off of it and keep testing my blood sugars to see what would happen. guess what? there was little to no change.
so today when i went to see the new doctor, i brought in my old test results with my little notebook of all my blood sugars written down. as i was telling him all of this, he kind of gave me a weird look when i told him i had an a1c of 5.1% and almost freaked out when i told him about my metformin dosage. i am glad to say that i have been officially taken off of it and will continue with lifestyle changes for the next 6 months when i will be retested and we will see where i stand. yay for competent doctors!

pharmacy schools

2008-06-04T00:33:00.003-06:00

so this summer one of my goals is to narrow down where i want to go for pharmacy school (and figure out where will accept me...that's another story though). i know that some pharmacy people read this, so i want your opinions. tell me where you went to school and why you loved/hated/are apathetic about it. i'm looking at the northern u.s., specifically northwest. because i hate hot climates. well, not so much that i hate them, just that i'm in a perma-bad mood when the temp climbs too much above 72F. and the NW is still fairly close to the family. but basically i'll go wherever will take me. so yeah. give me some feedback!

sequins, sparkles, and all that jazz

2008-05-31T23:31:00.005-06:00

first order of business: highly recommended song of the day - the call by regina spektor. even if you're not a narnia fan, this song is still pretty awesome.

second order of business: people who proved their retardedness beyond a reasonable doubt today.
-extremely overweight woman decked out in sequins and beads with a hairdo that more resembled a fountain than hair. why is it that every woman who looks like this has an obnoxiously, high-pitched, girlish voice? and why do they think that it's cute and try to use their *ahem* girlish charms to flirt with male pharmacy staff? seriously. gag me with a spoon.
-another extremely overweight woman who blamed her swelling on the salts in her Klor-Con. i seriously doubt that the potassium chloride has anything to do with your rings no longer fitting your fingers. i believe a more appropriate culprit would be all the junk food you stuff in your fat, i mean, swollen face.
-man who tried to convince us that the doctor really did mean to write for ms contin 60 mg 6 times daily instead of qid. he sat in our waiting area for near 45 minutes, continually telling us "can't i just buy some until the insurance will pay? i mean, you have the prescription, you know he obviously wants me to be on it." um, except federal law prohibits us doing that. i think we would be the most popular pharmacy in town if we took every person's word on what their dosage was supposed to be. "well, your doctor only wrote for oxycontin 20 mg bid, but if you're telling me it's supposed to be 80 mg every 3 hours, well, okay. i'll go ahead and change it." honestly. the doctor's office finally called us back and told us to stick to the original directions. the man left and said he would come back when his insurance would pay. 5 minutes later doctor's office calls us again to okay 6 times a day. well, you win some, you lose some. i'd rather be on the right side of the law in this case.
-other man whose insurance was requiring a pa to pay for both his oxycontin 40 mg and 80 mg. i called and talk to an insurance agent who was actually competent and told me he could do one or the other, but not both. i tried to explain this to man, but he kept yelling at me telling me i needed to call the insurance. couldn't quite seem to understand that i had just done so.
-man (and his wife) who is on state medicaid. receives monthly oxycontin prescription for $3. but has no problem telling me to not run his percocet rx through insurance and will gladly pay the $90 for it. i wouldn't even pay $90 for a prescription, and i no where near qualify for medicaid. sometimes i hate my state.
-lady with 2 children, probably ages 8 to 10, with a rather ample chest and a shirt that would have been qualified as soft-core porn if it had been any lower. i don't want to see that. you might as well have been the breast-feeding lady.
-another "breast" related issue, another, younger mother with again 2 children, a boy and a girl, around the same age as above, at the kohl's. they go past the lingerie department when mom realizes she needs to get a bra. she tells her kids to look for the "ones with the wire in them." to which her kids immediately start asking what the wire's for. i booked it as far away as possible because i couldn't take any more stupidity today.
-stupid, squeaky shopping cart. not a person, but still annoyed the heck out of me.
-people who call up the pharmacy and say "fill everything we got last time." there will always be something they don't need. "what? why did you fill this?! i don't need this! take it back!" freaking a. how hard is it to call in a list of numbers? oh wait, your fingers are too "swollen" to actually use a pen to write down the rx's you need or to even pick up the bottle so you can read the number off to us over the phone. agh.
-so it's bad enough when you have people freak out at you, let alone when they're people you actually know outside of the pharmacy and know quite well. granted, this woman didn't get in to an all-out freak-out, but she was almost there. i would have lost it if she had started yelling at me, as she was practically like a second mother to me while i was growing up. apparently once you put on the white coat, you're no longer a human being. my favorite though is when people from our old neighborhood come in and no longer recognize me and act like total beasts. they always pull this line of "well, i know the owner and he ALWAYS does this for me." to which i want to reply, "yeah, well, i grew up in the same neighborhood and i know the owner too, actually have known him since i was pretty much BORN, but he's not here and i'm NOT going to do it for you."
-people, especially women, who call in with a question, but when they hear a girl on the line, they always instruct us to ask one of the 2 men who work there. my sweet, female pharmacist got that earlier this week.
patient: oh, well, will you just ask bob (not real pharmacist's name) what he thinks?
pharmD: actually, i AM the pharmacist, and here's what's going on....(proceeds to answer question competently)
i love how customers doubt our knowledge (well, mainly her knowledge as i don't even know 1/32nd of what she does) just because we're young and female. i get this a lot too in chemistry and math classes. my favorite is when it's other women doubting you. seriously, whatever happened to feminism? do you refuse to vote as well because that's your husband's domain? i just love it when i get these weird stares from boys (and occasionally girls) when i answer a question correctly in class that had all of them scratching their heads. yes, you can be smart, strong, AND feminine. WOW! it's revolutionary!

so that's about it. a day of rest and then back to the grindstone. whooo.

way to be a friend

2008-05-30T23:44:00.003-06:00

sometimes i think i'm still in junior high. tonight is one of those times.

i love how you can be friends with someone since before forever. yet when newer and supposedly "cooler" people come along, they push you aside like yesterday's garbage. and just what makes these people so cool? just because they'll drink and party and make you feel good about your bad and stupid decisions? whereas i probably wouldn't let you get yourself into trouble and would prevent you from being a total idiot, just because i care about you. i love how you only invited me to hang out with them once and proceeded to ignore me the entire time. way to be a true friend. after that, i never received another invitation. not that i would accept anyway. i prefer to hang out with people who have a collective iq that is higher than 2. way to pick friends who only care about their looks, drinking, and partying as much as possible. we'll see who your true friends are soon enough. who will still be there when you get married? when you have your first kid? when you have your first grandchild? i'm guessing not them, self-absorbed as they are. but me, who you treat like crap on the bottom of your shoe, who you ignore, will always be there, when you're ready to come to your senses. guess what? as soon as you start to settle down, go to the bars and clubs less, you'll stop being cool to them. they'll move on without you. i'll be here though. just like always. little reliable laura. always there when you're in a pickle. always run to me when life sucks, then ditch me when it gets good again. fine by me. it's the role i've chosen. but keep it up and sometime soon you'll find yourself falling flat on your face without me there to pick you up again. then you'll see how it feels to be abandoned.

happy memorial day!

2008-05-27T00:16:00.002-06:00

first off, thank you pharmLand for linking my blog! it's kind of funny to see how my pagecount has skyrocketed the past couple days.

it's days like today i'm glad i work for an independent. no work for me on memorial day! and bonus points for no work tomorrow as i have class. :) i feel sorry for all my fellow pharmacy staff members out there who have to deal with the nightmare that is a post-holiday-monday tuesday. i remember last year working that tuesday. it was my first real experience with how insane pharmacy work can be. ah, those were the days. back when i was young, and naive and believed that "no way would a doctor actually write for that high of a dose of oxycontin!"

on a side note, breast-feeding in public is gross. especially when there are boys sitting at the same table as you (the breast-feeder) who are between the ages of 16 and 23. and especially when i get flashed by you as you get ready to give baby his dinner. seriously. i'm all for breast-feeding. really. but not in public. why is it okay to show your boobs when there's a baby attached, but not otherwise? i'm glad you're using your child as an excuse to show the goods off to the entire restaurant.
/end rant.

i couldn't hear with your voice ringing in my ears

2008-05-25T00:15:00.002-06:00

that is from "make you smile" by plus 44, for those of you who don't know.
for once i have no stupid customer stories or anything to get off my chest that i'm angry about. mainly just bored. so to kill the next 20 minutes or so, i'm doing a survey. feel free to stop reading now, as you probably won't find it very interesting.

60 things you may not have known about me until you read this...

What is in the back of your car?
nothing in the back seat. in the trunk i have a blanket, tennis shoes, socks, an emergency kit, a reusable shopping bag for groceries, a jack, and other various tire-changing tools.

What color is your toothbrush?
pink.

Name one person that made you smile today?
alanna.

What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
tch. heck, i was still asleep! no work or school today!

What were you doing 45 minutes ago?
online shopping for day planners.

What is your favorite candy bar?
oooh. i don't know. probably a snickers.

Have you ever been to a strip club?
negatory.

What is the last thing you said aloud?
"that's cool!" - commenting on nico rosberg's 6th place starting postion at the monaco gp.

What is the best ice cream flavor?
ben and jerry's new york super fudge chunk or chocolate brownie.

What was the last thing you had to drink?
diet coke.

What are you wearing right now?
american eagle jeans, new pink shirt from steve & barry's, and a pink billabong jacket.

What was the last thing you ate?
winger's cookie and ice cream dessert.

Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
oh of course. i went shopping at steve & barry's and got 3 new shrits, a jacket, and some capris. also went to the wally-mart and got some cheap workout pants.

When was the last time you ran?
ooh, not such a big fan of the running. more of a biking kind of gal.

The last sporting event you watched?
in its entirety? a gymanstics meet.

What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?
carmel. or plain.

Who is the last person you sent a comment/message on myspace?
christina.

Ever go camping?
yep. used to go once a year. haven't been for 2 years or so though.

Do you take vitamins daily?
ha, when i remember and go on a sudden health binge.

Do you go to church every Sunday?
i should. do i? not really.

Do you have a tan?
i'm trying to get a fake tan by using that nivea tanning lotion. not working so hot though.

Do you like Chinese food over pizza?
ew, no.

Do you drink your soda with a straw?
depends. if it's in a can, no.

What did your last text message say?
"she abandoned you huh?"

Are you someone's best friend?
well, i think so. if not, i should stop hanging out with her, as she's awfully bossy when we go to the gym.

What are you doing tomorrow?
church, homework, reading, making haystack cookies.

Where is your dad?
in the room across the hall, on his computer.

Look to your left, what do you see?
a door.

What color is your watch?
silver. same old fossil i've had since junior year of high school.

What do you think of when you think of Australia?
"wtf, mate?"

Do you use chap stick?
not necessarily that brand, but yes, i do.

What is your birthstone?
topaz.

Do you go in at fast food place or just hit the drive thru?
i am the a-typical lazy american when it comes to fast food restaurants. i use the drive through. however, i NEVER use a pharmacy drive through. i'm much less worried about wendy's screwing up my order by having them work super fast than i am about the pharmacy screwing up by making them work too fast.

What is your favorite number?
6.022x10^23

Do you have a dog?
no. although my cat acts like one

Last person you talked to on the phone?
alanna

Have you met anyone famous?
i once knew the ex-drummer of good charlotte who is the current drummer for the summer obsession.

Any plans today?
today is now tomorrow. so, no.

How many states have you lived in?
1

Ever go to college?
currently going.

Do you dye your hair?
nope. my mother would kill me. and i know i'd never get it back to my original color. i've watched my sister go through that.

Biggest annoyance in your life right now?
my cat crawling all over my desk.

Can you say the alphabet backwards?
if i take my time.

Do you have a maid service clean your house?
um, i think my mom would get mad if i called her a maid.

Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
i try not to play favoritism with my ~~children~~ shoes.

Are you jealous of anyone?
psht. people should be jealous of me.

Is anyone jealous of you?
see above.

Do you love anyone?
love? we'll see. it's much too early to tell.

Do any of your friends have children?
ew, sick! well, not friends, but acquaintances. and by this, i mean friends of the same age as me. i do have older friends and colleagues who DO have children.

Do you eat healthy?
i try.

What do you usually do during the day?
either school or work.

Do you hate anyone that you know right now?
of course.

Do you use the word 'hello' daily?
yeah.

What color is your car?
white with some nice rust spots. which will hopefully be removed very soon.

stupid drug addicts pt. 2

2008-05-24T01:59:00.002-06:00

so a while back i wrote about the kid who came in to get needles for his "mom" but it was actually his "friend's mom," wait, no his "friend's mom's dog." i think we heard from him again today, judging by the intelligence of a particular caller.
*phone rings*
me: pharmacy, tech speaking.
man: uh, yeah, i have a family membe-well, more like a frie-well, he's like a really close friend and so he's like a family member.................and he has cancer. can i get his prescription filled for him?
me: that depends. what is it for? [as if i don't know the answer]
man: uh, oxycodone.
me: well, we're going to need you to bring in your license if you're going to pick it up.
man: okay. the other pharmacy said i couldn't fill it for him and he had to come in and get it but how's he supposed to get it? he's like really sick. he's like almost dead. [note: there was no choking up, no sadness in his voice. when he said "he's like almost dead" it was in a tone of voice that could have said "he's like wearing a green shirt." he continues on for a good two or three minutes telling me how his "friend" is "dying."]
me: let me put you on hold and make sure that i'm telling you the right thing.
so i put our crazy friend on hold, tell my pharmacist and we both know that he's lying. he's obviously stolen someone's prescription. so she decides that really the only thing we can do is tell him that we have to have positive ID for both him and his "friend." i get back on the phone to tell him this and all he says is "oh, okay, well.......i'll uh....have to tell my.... uhh.....friend. 'bye."

sometimes you need these people in your life to make you realize just how blessed you are to have more than 2 functioning brain cells.

also you need someone stupid like this to cheer you up after a fellow coworker (who is NOT a tech nor a pharmacist) has just reprimanded you in front of a customer (for something that was actually common sense if they had taken more than 2 seconds to think it through) and treated you like a 2-year-old.

if i had my own world

2008-05-19T23:59:00.004-06:00

i would ban oxycontin.

but that's beside the point and really has nothing to do with what i want to talk about. except that i really like the new angels and airwaves song "secret crowds." also i listened to mates of state for the first time tonight and think they rock. i will be doing further investigation to see just how much they rock. i also bought the new Ludo cd a couple days ago. i've only listened to it once and not very closely, at that. it sounds pretty good though.

so question for any pharmacy people who happen to read this. has anyone heard of adderall xr going generic? my pharmacist has heard rumors about it, but we haven't seen anything concrete until today when i went to fill a prescription through Community Care RX for adderall xr and rejected it, saying that the "amphetamine sr" was preferred. unfortunately CCRX was closed when i tried to call them, so i don't know what's going on. i checked our wholesalers and none of them are stocking the generic. so if you know anything about this, i would greatly appreciate the info.

lastly, the only person who really bothered me today was the following. a man called in today asking if a hormone replacement drug that we compound was ready. it was, and for some reason or another, his name stuck out to me. i remembered who he was a couple hours later when he came in to pick it up. because his name rung a bell, i also remembered that he had never filled this prescription before, and had never filled anything with us before. i made a point of specifically asking him if he had any questions for the pharmacist. he told me no and walked away. 20 minutes before we closed, we got a call from his wife. she said she had some questions for the pharmacist about his medication as he didn't ask for any literature and the pharmacist hadn't offered to consult him on his medication. to which i replied i remembered clearly asking him if he wanted to speak to the pharmacist and he turned it down. she then brushed it off with a "oh, well, that's just like my husband." i hope she yells at him tonight for blaming us for his not being informed and making her look like an idiot.

people who i wanted to slap today (and yesterday)

2007-07-04T00:12:00.001-06:00

weather: 73°F
reading: love @ first site

#1. the airport lady. seriously. if you can't survive the ONE hour plane ride from here to colorado without your ambien, you should have gone to the doctor YESTERDAY and gotten your script filled YESTERDAY as well. don't show up at 10:05 AM asking me to hurry it up when there are already 5 people in front of you. it's not my fault your plane leaves in 10 minutes.

#2. the clerk. your main job is to help customers, namely ringing up their scripts and collecting money. the techs and pharmacists are all busy trying to get those scripts ready and don't really have a lot of time to be spending working the cash register. that is what you are hired to do. so don't bite MY head off when i ask you to ring up somebody so i can fill the script for the other person that's sitting there waiting. and especially don't snap at me when the reason you aren't already up front helping people is because you're on your cell phone. for the second time that morning.

#3. everybody who asked me for a price quote on oxycontin. or a price quote period. from now on all non-controlled substances go for a flat rate of $500. CV to CIII's go for $800. narcotics are going for $1500.

#4. the armour thyroid lady. okay, while some say i may be lucky since my pharmacy doesn't have a drive-thru, i DO get a whole different batch of idiots because we do compounding. such as the following. this lady decides that she wants her doctor to prescribe her a compounded thyroid that is EXTREMELY similar to armour thyroid. the main difference? the compounded one is a capsule, the armour thyroid is a tablet. the whole reason she wants us to compound it is because she believes the capsule absorbs better. .....WHAT??!?! okay, who has been feeding my customers this load of crap? why do people assume that capsules magically make you absorb medicine SO MUCH better than tablets? they just absorb DIFFERENTLY, one is not superior to the other. and shouldn't your doctor tell you if something would work better, not you tell the doctor? anyway, so we run the script for her and the copay comes back as $35, about 7 times as much as normal armour thyroid. so the other tech tries to call her and warn her about the cost, but when the lady answers the phone she says "i'm really busy right now, i'll call you back." so obviously we hold off on filling it because we don't want to make something especially for her when she might not want it, and then we've wasted money AND time. so yesterday she FINALLY calls us back. then she starts chewing us out asking why it costs so much more. okay lady. armour thyroid is made by a MANUFACTURER who can make it in bulk, lowering the price significantly. we have to SPECIALLY make this dumb capsule for YOU and only YOU. why do you care how much your insurance is paying? let's put it this way. without it, you're paying more. got it? and, no, we are not going to just "go ahead and fill it" while you shop around. you just said that you might not come get it. then what? we've just lost money. i'm assuming she found somewhere else that would make it cheaper because she hasn't called us back.

#5. lady with the baby at the movies. need i say more?

no pharmacy today, but idiots still follow me...

2008-01-14T18:00:00.001-07:00

weather: 27° F
reading: the count of monte cristo

so no pill counting today. darn. but i did have office hours. here was my favorite call:

me: housing, this is laura. how may i help you?
man: yes, i'm calling about housing.
me: yes?
man: the university housing.
me: yes....(thinking, okay, do you have a question...?)
man: housing for the university of utah.
me: uh-huh. (seriously? didn't i just say this in that opening sentence?)
and he proceeds to ask me about why he can't get into his son's university email account.
i think i actually missed my crazy old ladies for a few minutes.

and my name is laurA not laurEN not laurIE not Maura not Dora and most definitely NOT Aurora. yes, i was called that by some random stupid drug rep. just one of the many reasons of why i don't like talking to them.

now off to anatomy lab! whoooo!

edit: i got called "clara" at anatomy lab. clara? in the words of pam "wtf, mate?"

best sign idea ever

2008-05-18T02:18:00.004-06:00

one more thought for today. i saw this when reading through the comments on an old news article:

"If you want your prescription filled instantly, please go elsewhere and have that pharmacist kill you."

if i end up going into retail pharm, and am not a corporate puppet, i will so be hanging that sign up.

another comment i thoroughly enjoyed:

"Well, America if you treat picking up a prescription like getting a #1 supersized big mac meal at McDonalds, then dont complain about the service.
Honestly, everyone makes mistakes and it is only right that they own up to it, but dont act as if you dont have a part in the system that allowed the mistake.
Can anyone tell me the difference between a Mcdonalds restaurant and a Walgreens pharmacy (well, besides the burger and fries)?"

i think next time someone starts asking me or a clerk "how much longer?" when only 2 minutes have passed, i'm going to start fighting back. well, maybe not. as i do actually enjoy keeping my job. one day though. one day. then i will reply "how come if you're starving, you're willing to wait 30 minutes for a meal at a restaurant or a pizza to be delivered, yet you can't wait the same amount of time for your cialis/ambien/lortab/oxycontin? i have yet to here of a case where someone died while waiting 5 minutes to get their narcotics filled.

oh how true it is

2008-05-17T22:04:00.003-06:00

so i've loved PhD comics ever since i worked in a graduate research lab for a year or so. i happened to be printing up some papers and noticed a comic about undergrads by jorge cham sitting next to the printer. and i loved it because it was so true. once again, he speaks words of wisdom:

i never thought i'd say this...

2008-05-16T00:19:00.006-06:00

...but obviously congress is LISTENING!

YES!

for the past few months we have been receiving several calls at the pharmacy regarding the FDA's ban of estriol-containing medications. since the FDA decided to follow the advice of wyeth (insert appropriate swear words here) and decide that they knew better than all of europe, where estriol has been tested and tried for YEARS, insurance companies have been refusing to pay for any hormone replacement therapy billed under an estriol NDC.

and our government is actually telling the FDA that they are wrong. i have since become even MORE excited to learn that the house's resolution has moved on to the committee on energy and commerce, of which my house representative is a member. my rep is ALSO a member of the health subcommittee. make no mistake, i will be writing to him immediately.

as for wyeth pharmaceuticals, can you say HYPOCRISY? so apparently estriol is dangerous for american women, but you feel quite happy about your decision to market not one but TWO estriol containing medications to european women? i suppose you're just more concerned about americans. that or you're all gigantic TOOLS. oh, and what was that other little thing? oh, that's right. wyeth is also the company that manufactures PremPro and Premarin which, unlike estriol, have been PROVEN to cause heart disease, strokes, and cancer. thanks for marketing THAT.

on the other hand, unlike wyeth's SYNTHETIC hormones, estriol has been found to not only be quite safe, but may actually make estrone and estradiol safer to use than if they are used on their own.

as you can tell, i'm a bit worked up. if you want to read up more about the estriol "controversy" (a.k.a. the FDA and wyeth having their heads shoved up their rear ends) i recommend the following sites:

The House Resolution

wyeth's amazing ability to be complete tools

Oxford study on safety and efficacy of estriol

our own NIH's research

a study done in california on estriol safety FIVE years ago

see if your representative is on the health subcommittee

now, do your research. become informed. and then tell your house rep that you don't want big drug manufacturers telling you (or the special women in your life) what you can or cannot take.

(oh, and as an added bonus, estriol might also help relieve symptoms of MS!)

if only commissioner von Eschenbach could change from a 67 year old man to a 67 year old woman suffering from hot flashes. maybe then he'd think twice before listening to ANOTHER middle aged man (bernard poussot, ceo of wyeth). trust me guys, i've seen 50 and 60 year old women when they can't get their HRT right then. they get mad. if i were you, i'd go into hiding.

last of all, a big DUH goes out to the study funded by GSK that showed people who have higher copays are more likely to be noncompliant with their drug routines. so when i tell my patient that they have a $50 copay for some new brand diabetic drug, i'll then tell them that the drug companies charge pharmacies an arm and a leg and those high costs are then filtered down to the patient. but don't worry! that $600 a year is going to research and funding studies! just like this one. next time GSK, just come ask me. i could have told you that in five minutes. and i would have only asked that you give me a month supply of one medication free, instead of spending millions to fund this "study."

an oxycontin fun-filled day!

2008-03-27T02:22:00.004-06:00

i want this sign hung up in my pharmacy.

"a lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

if you're going to come get your girlfriend's oxycontin filled 10 minutes before we close, i don't want to have to wait 10 minutes after we're closed for your brother to bring the money to pay for it.

and if you can afford $630 worth of oxycontin, surely you can afford to go see a dentist every once in a while. at least 2 of the oxy patients i saw today had less than 10% of their teeth remaining. both also smelled strongly of cigarette smoke.

on a note to the purdue drug-whores, i can't believe you had the nerve to even step foot in a pharmacy, let alone try and push your "new and improved" 60 mg oxycontin tablets on us. it's because of your addiction-causing drugs that i'm forced to stay after closing hours 99% of the time. and i don't exactly appreciate the type of clientele the oxy scripts bring into us. i hope you choke on your own tablets.

cardinal health = evil incarnate?

2008-04-14T00:46:00.002-06:00

i have long suspected that cardinal health was run by the spawn of satan. or complete imbeciles. especially since it seems that most of their employees are incapable of correctly loading labels into a printer and then matching those labels with the correct order, or even simply remembering to print labels. i seem to have been proven correct.
today while driving to my parents' house for dinner, i noticed a car i was driving behind had a license plate cover that said "Cardinal Health: Proud to be a Respiratory Therapist." the passenger in the car was smoking. that's one amazing respiratory therapist.

one week down....

2008-05-07T23:05:00.003-06:00

well i'm back to working full time again, now that school is out. it's been kind of insanse, actually. i forgot how draining working 3 9-hour shifts in a row can be. here's what's been going on at work:
the pharmacy was broken into last thursday morning, at around 1 a.m. we have surveillance tape of the robbery, but we can't tell who it is, as the person is wearing a mask. we know that they have been in the pharmacy at least once, however, as they went directly to the shelf that had oxycontin. luckily we have a gate and they couldn't climb over the back. however, they started randomly pulling ready prescriptions out of the bins and stuffing them in to a bag. they mostly got away with just compound hormone replacement therapy, but they also got a klonopin and a valium, as well as some pretty expensive non-controlled drugs. everything's back to normal now. we do have our suspicions on who we think it is, but no solid proof. so it looks like we'll just eat our losses and continue on.
there haven't been any extremely crazy patients lately. just a lot of picky ones. today in particular. especially with duragesic patches, it seems. one person wanted 2 boxes of one brand and one box of another. another lady's insurance wasn't paying us enough for one brand so we tried to substitute it for another, cheaper brand, and she freaked out. yet another lady told me i gave her the wrong lamictal, although i verified that we really did give her the strength the doctor ordered. she still didn't believe me and is going to see her doctor tomorrow and ask him about this.
apparently insurance companies hate lovenox just as much as i hate trying to make them pay for it. one man's copay came back as well over $500 for 3 boxes of it. another lady's insurance is raking us, her, and the doctor's office over the coals to try and get the prior auth done. the nurse told us the patient may just have to pay out of pocket. except i'm pretty sure her only income is her social security check, so i have no idea how that is supposed to work.
i love when people call me who already have a thick accent, then they have a lot of background noise, so their yelling at me. especially when i'm trying to get their information down so we can properly fill their medication and don't end up killing them. okay, so maybe that's an exaggeration. getting the wrong address won't kill you. but getting the wrong drug allergies might. regardless, it's still annoying. i'm not saying speak english flawlessly. i'm just saying, if you know you have an accent, try to go somewhere quieter and speak in a normal register so you don't have to repeat everything 20 times.
i also love when girls who are my age come in to get prescriptions filled and are obviously trying to look like they're still in junior high. not that i'm old by any means. i've just matured enough to the point where i know it's not okay to where a whole thing of glitter on your face. it wasn't even okay in junior high, but for some reason we thought we were hot.
stupid man at the gym is driving me insane. every time i go there, he asks me "your membership is up for renewal, can i do that for you now?" i've told him repeatedly that i might not be in this state next year, depending on pharmacy schools, so no, you cannot renew my membership until i know what i'm doing. and that won't be for a while, friend.
i think my brain shuts off once school is out. i mixed up 2 patients yesterday. it wasn't a big deal, no drug mix ups or anything. just told one person they were getting something delivered when they really weren't. luckily they were very nice about the whole misunderstanding. i also forgot to get a dr.'s DEA# about 5 times today while calling on the above lovenox PA. it was basically one of those days where you just want to throw in the towel and go lie down for a bit. we weren't even really that busy. i guess i was just having an off day.
the oxycontin filling has been pretty average this week. no crazy addicts to tell you about. they're my favorites. you always need at least one completely insane person each day to give you something to laugh about and get you through the day.
we did have one guy call us saturday who was speaking to my pharmacist and was very worried that we had given him morphine instead of his roxicodone "or roxicets, as they're known on the streets, in case you didn't know. that's a nickname for them." really. i totally wouldn't have known that. thank you for enlightening me with your druggie knowledge. i did open up the first bottle of oxycontin 15's this week. it actually made me kind of sad. pretty soon it's going to be like baskin robbins. "31 flavors of oxycontin!"
well, those are my exciting experiences for the week. pretty soon i'm starting summer classes, so we'll see how often i'm able to get on here and write.

PC - political correctness and physical chemistry

2008-04-29T23:22:00.003-06:00

two things are bothering me tonight.
1. it's 11:30 and i still haven't started studying for my 8 a.m. p chem final.
2. political correctness. being a student leader this year, i have had my vocabulary corrected time and time again. here are a list of things i CANNOT say:
-lame
-retard
-gay (as in "that's so gay")
-dorms (we need to refer to them as "residence halls." um, just because you call the dog crap on your lawn a "calling card," it doesn't make it smell any better)
and many many more. not only can we NOT say certain things, we can also NOT express our opinions or feelings. that is, unless you're not white. then go ahead. cry if you need to, blame whoever you need to. yell, scream, laugh, point fingers, whatever makes you feel better. i have known of more than one student leader this year who has been fired or threatened to be fired simply because of their paler skin and overactive tear ducts. and yet i have seen some of my latino/a friends, some of my african american friends, and some of my asian friends express the same emotions, only to receive a pat on the back.
now i agree that there are certain derogatory terms that should never be uttered by any human being. ANY. just because you have a darker skin color, you get to call others of the same shade a n*****, but if a paler person do it, they can be shot? that's like me calling my pale friends crackers but beating up anyone else who says it. i don't call them that because it is a disrespectful name and i actually RESPECT my friends. i've been called some very rude things in regards to my religion, so don't tell me i don't know what it's like to deal with prejudice. trust me. i know. if i go any where outside of my region, i will be ridiculed, i will be picked on, i will be segregated. does that mean i start crying to authorities that i'm being picked on? no. i correct those who i can. if they listen, great. if they ignore me, hey i tried. that's all i can do. just because someone has a stupid idea about a certain type of people doesn't mean it has to affect the way i live my life.
but i digress. i'm so excited to be out of my leadership position. i will be able to say whatever i want. i will be able to say "lame" without worrying about being lectured. yes, i understand where it came from. and yes, if i were to suddenly to become lame, i would still say it. i'd probably say it even more because i'd think it was funny and ironic.
i am so sick of reverse discrimination. one monday a month we had it drilled into us that white = evil and racits. you're straight and white? you're also homophobic. you're a straight, white man? start dying your skin my friend. for you are racist, sexist, and homophobic. until you get some ovaries, change your skin color, or start liking boys, well, sucks to be you. you will get passed up for job after job because companies have to fill quotas. i hate that. i hate that so much as a woman. i work hard so that i can EARN my place. i don't want it handed to me. if it came down to selecting a white, male student for medical school who was more qualified and a female student of color who was slightly less qualified but filled a "quota," i'd prefer you to take the man. i want the best of the best looking after me and mine. we already have enough doctors, PAs, NPs, and the like who can't even remember to SIGN a prescription. we need the best people we can get.
well, that's all for today. time for some p chem. maybe that's why i like chemistry so much. molecules and atoms don't care what color you are. they'll still build your DNA, the air you breathe, and the water you drink.

finals and freshman pt. 2

2008-04-26T23:31:00.002-06:00

i think this semester the freshman have an all new goal. instead of getting completely wasted and drinking for 72 hours straight, they're seeing how many of them will get kicked out of the halls before the school year is officially up. so far i know of at least one girl on our floor. and by the sounds of it, there will be 3 or 4 boys to follow. we have 24-quiet hours during finals week, and for the most part it's been fine. but apparently tonight some boys are playing hallway basketball. i'm just waiting for the ra to walk down here and tear them a new one.

learn what your name means day

2008-03-05T01:51:00.003-07:00

march 5th is also saint piran's day. if you're lame and don't know who saint piran IS (like myself), he is the patron saint of tin-miners, and also cornwall. so all you cornish tin-miners go ahead and take the day off. i wonder if there's a patron saint for irish/norwegian/english pharmacy technicians? hmmm...

yay for wikipedia! however often it may contain inaccurate facts, it is always there for me when i need to find obscure and random things.

there IS a patron saint for pharmacists. i give you SAINTS COSMAS AND DAMIAN! according to wikipedia, here's there sad story:

"During the persecution under Diocletian, Cosmas and Damian were arrested by order of the Prefect of Cilicia, one Lysias who is otherwise unknown, who ordered them under torture to recant. However, according to legend they stayed true to their faith, enduring a series of gruesome tortures that did not harm them, and finally suffered execution by beheading. Anthimus, Leontius and Euprepius, their younger brothers, who were inseparable from them throughout life, shared in their martyrdom.
Their most famous miraculous exploit was the grafting of a leg from a recently deceased Ethiopian to replace a patient's ulcered leg, and was the subject of many paintings and illuminations."

you know, all in all, it's not much different from the daily lives of many pharmacists. "under torture to recant" can be compared to "being yelled at for charging a different copay than last month when really it's the same." the gruesome, but harmless, tortures, sounds very much like staying on hold for a half an hour with an insurance company so some newbie insurance agent can figure out what an ID number is. beheading? oh, there are definitely days when i'm afraid some of those middle-aged women will cut my head off if they don't get there hormone replacement therapy ASAP.

so here's to you cosmas and damian. little known and probably underappreciated in the saint world, but you paved the way for suffering pharmacy staff!

uunnnghhh...freshmen

2007-12-09T02:36:00.001-07:00

weather: 28°F
reading: essential cell biology

freshmen+alcohol+finals week=angry me

especially when they stand in the middle of the hall screaming "F*** YOU MAN! I'M DONE WITH THIS! F*** YOU!" especially when it occurs at 1:30 AM.

but only 3 more days and i have a 4 week vacation away from the little hooligans. HALLELUJAH! however, if my final grades are suboptimal, there will be blood shed come january.

why i love the big bang theory (the tv show)

2008-01-15T00:47:00.002-07:00

weather: 25° F
reading: some lame p chem textbook

reason #1: the following quote

penny: whoa, a girl scientist
leslie: yep. come for the boobs, stay for the brains.

i'm voting this become the official ACCESS motto. i can just see it now.

ACCESS

Women in Science and Math

"Come for the boobs, stay for the brains"

oh yeah. that would totally rock.

2008-01-27T22:28:00.001-07:00

today is a day that will be stamped in my memory for the rest of my life. i feel like i've lost a grandfather. i feel like i've lost the foundation to my faith. i feel confused and unsure.

i will ALWAYS remember you, president hinckley. you will not be forgotten.