SCARY as HELL

Jesus, Walgreens!

http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drugtopics/Modern+Medicine+Now/The-4-second-Rx-review-Who-benefits/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/716700

Drug Topics

I was flipping through drug topics and came across a couple things I would like for my fellow retail slaves to read.

In My View by Charles Phillips MD on page 18 of the May 2011 issue

The Perils of Pill-Splitting

http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drugtopics/Modern+Medicine+Now/The-perils-of-pill-splitting/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/721902

and

Final Word by Tom Hanson BS Pharm on page 62

It's Always Been About The Staffing

http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drugtopics/Modern+Medicine+Now/Its-always-been-about-the-staffing/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/721899

Both pieces are in line with thoughts I have had for a very long time and all I have to add is Amen Brothers!

In Case You Wondered What I Want For My Birthday...

** Severed head of patron saint of genital disease goes on sale **
The severed head of the patron saint of genital disease goes on sale in County Meath
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/uk-northern-ireland-13522546 >

Poojama Jeans

I Threw Them Away

So I get a phone call on 4/14. A lady is looking for refills on hydrocodone. I took a look in her profile: #56 tramadol 50mg on 4/12, #200 hydrocodone/APAP 10/325mg on 3/29, #160 hydrocodone/APAP 7.5/325 on 3/28, #60 tramadol 50mg on 3/8, and this repeats twice a month for the previous three months and once a month for two months prior to that. I asked her what happened to the hydro 7.5/325 and she told me she threw it away.

It seems we have a problem. She has repeatedly been getting both strengths of hydro and now she is lying. It is another case of pain patient turned addict. I hate this. We are manufacturing junkies because we have a great selection of pain pills from many manufacturers, multiple physicians that will write for anything, and pharmacists that just fill them because they don't care/don't have time to bother with it. This needs to stop. I am asking everyone in the medical system to be vigilant about addictive pain med prescriptions. These pills can kill just as easily as a loaded gun in a room of five year olds.

There is also a trend of prosecuting everyone in the case of overdose. The laws are being enforced and pharmacists and physicians can be brought in on criminal charges. We took an oath to do no harm and the way things are going we need to take that to heart no matter what the patient says.

Everything Is Better With Bacon

I wonder if we could get children to take medication with bacon flavor? I know dogs and cats love this selection of flavors. I also have had parents tell me that some of the fruit flavors we use are gross. I know every child I have encountered loves bacon, even if it is turkey bacon. There is just something delicious and magical implicit in the word bacon. Hell, I even have a close up of the crispy bacon bottle as a screen saver because everything, even computers, is better with bacon.

Existential Dilemma

A few weeks ago my mother passed away. She didn't believe in going to the doctor and was adamant on not using medications if she didn't have to. Hell, we joked around about which nursing home she wanted to live in and what would she do after dad dies because statistically men die younger than women and my dad's father died in his mid fifties. She had a long family history of heart disease, multiple cancers, and Type 2 diabetes through several generations.

When her father went through his fight against heart disease and diabetes she watched him go through multiple doctor appointments, surgeries, and medications. He had heart bypasses, arterial plaque removals, and 2 strokes. The strokes left him unable to use the right side of his body without severe difficulty and a lot of physical therapy. He died in his sleep in his mid seventies from a ruptured aneurysm.

Her mother had a long hard fight with COPD that resulted in oxygen use, multiple daily breathing treatments, a ton of medications, a ton of doctor appointments, lung cancer, and eventually an untreatable brain tumor that finally killed her in her early eighties.

My mom died in her sleep from a ruptured aneurysm at the age of 61, peacefully, with eyes closed and no suffering to the great beyond. This leads to my dilemma. For all the good we think we do with surgical intervention, medications, and other therapies are we just making death painful and prolonged? Aren't we all supposed to go peacefully in our sleep instead of kicking and screaming to the very end?

How can I look at people and tell them the statistics and what to expect from treatments when all I want to say is that you will have many more years to suffer before you die a painful death? The healthcare industry is the patron saint of sadism that promises eternal life and wonderous results but only succeeds in torturing those who seek salvation and are willing to pay any price for any small glimmer of hope. It has become what snake oil salesman have preyed upon for years except now we take your money, give you the tonic, and poke you with a stick repeatedly until you finally die. I love modern society!

From the Makers of "Fukitol"

When I saw this Mother's Day card at Target, I immediately thought of Dr. Grumpy and Fukitol brand medication.

You know I had to pick this up for my MIL.