A Ghost of Christmas Past

Last Christmas I was in south Florida and we were in the hype, fear, and reality of an H1N1 flu pandemic. I was compounding Tamiflu suspension in 16 ounce batches each and every day. Roche was killing with the sales numbers as Tamiflu was going so fast we couldn't keep it in stock. Every child that had a sniffle or cough with a fever got Tamiflu suspension just in case it was the sinister and potentially fatal H1N1.

Today I stare at the gallon jugs of cherry syrup patiently waiting for their turn to be useful and the boxes of Tamiflu capsules seldom prescribed. They have been rendered unnecessary for the time being by vaccinations. This isn't a bad thing, although I hope Roche is still making Tamiflu for the next viral pandemic, but it proves the value of vaccinations.

As Novartis, Medimmune, and Sanofi-Pasteur reap the financial reward of flu vaccination I hope people realize the value of vaccination programs in general. We can prevent horrible fatal diseases and not as horrible hospitalizing diseases with vaccinations. As the world becomes more densely packed with people and people live with their farm animals, diseases will make the crossover from infecting animals to infecting people. Add in a huge amount of world travelers to act as carriers and we see it more and more often with many fatalities.

It is through science and technology that we are able to isolate, study, and prevent if not eradicate pathogens so that more people survive pandemics. For those people who refuse to vaccinate their children out of fear and misinformation, I hope your children are never infected with a vaccine preventable disease so they do not have to suffer irreparable physical/mental damage or death due to your stupidity.

Vaccines do not cause autism. The amount of thymersol used as preservative in a very few vaccines would not even kill a parakeet, lab mouse, or a goldfish. Stop beating that stupid dead horse and get with the program! You have probably used more thymersol in over the counter eye drops than you ever got from a vaccine and statistics show that rates of autism have multiplied greatly for years after thymersol was discontinued in childhood vaccinations in the early 90s.

Perhaps autism is happening because people are so ready to pump developing infants full of medications for every little sniffle, sneeze, or cough. "The baby's fussy so lets give it an antibiotic and some Motrin!" I hate dispensing prescriptions and OTC meds for young children. They are still developing and their bodies cannot process these chemicals as effectively as adults. Unless the child has a fever (above 102 you should take them to the ER because they are at risk of seizures and brain damage) or a physician confirmed infection you shouldn't be pumping them full of medications. I also DESPISE people who pump their kids full of antipsychotics, antidepressants, and ADHD medications. Children are hyper and jumpy because they are children. They have lots of energy and have to touch, see, smell and taste everything because it is part of the human condition and how children learn about their environment before they know how to communicate on a speaking level. Stop vegetating them with drugs!!!

Perhaps it is all the fat-free and preservative/additive full crap you feed your kids with and ate during pregnancy. That is where my bet is. Children do need a certain amount of dietary fat for proper neurological development but when your "food" contains a list of barely pronounceable ingredients maybe you shouldn't be eating it or feeding it to your kids. I liken that to drinking or smoking formaldehyde....it preserves dead flesh, so gee whiz, it is gonna do the same thing to yours Johnny smartass. I can't wait for studies to prove that food preservatives are toxic. Go science!



**Apologies, sometimes I go on a idealogical rampage.

Last Minute Gift Ideas When Everything Else Is Closed

It's time for those last minute Xmas gifts because you didn't want to shop with the crowds at the mall, you waited too long for Amazon.com to ship Drug Monkey's book before Xmas, or you had an unexpected gift, or you just plain left someone off your shopping list. Here are some ideas from McDruggie's to bring holiday joy to those you love.

*Gift cards for mediocre chain restaurants like Applebee's and Red Lobster

*Cameras that use 35mm film because they are one of the few places that still carry it.

*35mm film for the aforementioned cameras for family members that fear the future of digital photography.

*Cha Cha Cha Chia! Chia pets.

*Clap on! Clap off! The Clapper.

*Digital photo frames for those who embrace technology.

*Sony Blue-ray DVD player for those who don't own a Playstation 3.

*A speaker set or radio to plug an iPhone or iPod into for listening enjoyment. This is also a great gift for pharmacy employees who tire of hearing the same 50 songs and ads over and over and over and over...

*Candy, candy, candy.

*Liquor because "Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker!" (disclaimer: only some stores have an actual liquor department, other stores only carry beer and wine)

*Tons of Toys! (Be sure to buy some extra toys for Toys for Tots! Some kids may not get presents otherwise and what a crappy Xmas morning that would be.)

*Kleenex, hand sanitizer, antimicrobial hand soap, etc for your favorite germaphobes.

*Illicit Drug test kits for nosey/concerned parents of teenagers.

*A breathalyzer for your favorite alcoholic.

*Laser pointers for your cat or squeaky toys for your dog.

*OTC medications for all your sick relatives.

*Flu shot gift cards.

*Shake Weight! You've seen the commercials now own the legacy!

*Anything from the As Seen On TV collection.

and I saved the best for last...

*It's a pillow, it's a pet, it's a pillow pet! (Yes I have been psychologically damaged by hearing that ad on the muzak over and over and over to the point I can't help but make it my greatest and last recommendation!...stupid suggestive selling ads...)

Shameless Product Endorsement

I had the worst sore throat ever yesterday. I went to see a band and it hurt so bad to scream or sing that I thought I was going to lose my voice. After the show I went to McDruggie's to get some throat spray and there was a wonderful surprise: Chloraseptic Max.

This magical concoction was so much better than the crappy tasting alternatives and previous formulations that it was love at first spray. It has 1.5% phenol for anesthetic/analgesic purposes, 33% glycerin to coat the throat, and a berry flavor that makes phenol tolerable. It has been my new best friend for two days and my throat feels a lot better.

Thank you Chloraseptic Max! You will be one of my new recommendations for sore throat from now on!

Holiday Cheer!

I had a lady call to request a refill on her Darvocet-N 100. I explained to her that it had been discontinued so we would need to contact her physician to get a suitable replacement to treat her pain. She was terribly irate and felt the need to make it my fault that she could not get her medication that she so desperately needed, even though her last refill was 6 weeks ago on a thirty count prescription. She made it sound like I was kicking puppies and drowning them in a bathtub for shits and giggles.

She proceeded to whine and complain about how we mistreat our patients and maybe we should take better care of people. I apologized for her inconvenience (which I should not have done) and this Scrooge then had the nerve to say hatefully "Nobody ever apologizes for anything anymore! You should apologize to me!" I then said "I just apologized to you for something completely out of my control and you are the one being hateful about it. We will contact your physician in the morning because they are not in the office at 7pm." She then had the nerve to repeat herself on how nobody apologizes so I just told her we would call her doctor, said good night, and hung up on her.

I was pissed off. We were doing the work of 20 people with 5 staffers and her attitude was not acceptable. Some people are just inconsiderate assholes! I took the high road and faxed her doctor anyway even though my first instinct was to wad up the request and throw it in the DPI box. I am just too committed to the job sometimes.

I bet she is a miserable old hag and has forgotten what it was like to have a happy holiday. I pity her and hope that none of you are insufferably hateful during the holidays no matter how busy it gets!


***DPI boxes are where we put all patient info for destruction.

Thankful

Another Thanksgiving is rolling through and I want everyone in the United States to think about a few simple things.

1. No matter how much you complain about copays and having to sit in a waiting room for an extended amount of time to see your doctor to get a prescription be thankful that you have access to health care and medications.

2. In the event that something goes tragically wrong you can dial 911 and have police, fire, or emergency medical support in a matter of minutes (in most areas).

3. Public sanitation, indoor plumbing, and water treatment facilities all prevent disease by taking away waste that can contaminate your living environment, drinking water, and draw pest infestation.

4. Despite the punditry bullshit you hear about this being a "Christian" nation on television, you have the freedom to practice any religion that fits your spiritual needs but does not encroach on the freedoms or well being of others.

5. Routine vaccinations protect you from horrible diseases. You may not think this is important because we don't see these diseases on a regular basis but with world wide travel and shipping we are going to be exposed to these diseases and have had incidents of preventable disease run rampant in unvaccinated populations.

6. You have access to unlimited amounts of almost every food you could possibly ever want to eat and more. My aunt and uncle had a Russian foreign exchange student living with them. He wept openly the first time he walked into a grocery store. There is more food in each single supermarket here than most people see in a lifetime in other countries.

7. You have the right to keep a gun in your home and pop a cap in the ass of any douche bag that thinks he/she can snatch your stuff with no consequences.

8. You can type or speak or peaceably gather to let the powers that be know your frustrations and opinions on what they are doing.

9. Our welfare people live better than Chinese factory workers.

10. We have lower income taxes than most industrialized nations.

11. If you have a roof over your head, a job, money in your pocket and money in the bank then you are in the upper 8% of the wealthiest people in the world.

12. Our library system gives you tomes of entertainment and education information just for being a resident. It is free unless you forget to return the book in its allotted time...those fees add up...

13. Each and every one of us is guaranteed up to a 12th grade education. You can use this opportunity to better yourself or just piss it away. It is entirely up to you.

Thank you America! Even with all our problems you still f*cking rock when it comes to quality of life and being the land of plenty and if I was a citizen of another nation you can be f*cking sure I would be an illegal immigrant by any means necessary just to peruse your grocery stores!

For all of my holiday travelers, don't forget to pack medications in your carry on luggage!!! For all of my diabetic patients, please try not to over do it and make sure to have extra insulin on hand because you might need to go a little higher on your sliding scale this Thursday if you do.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Follow Through

I posted a comment for the "Darwin Award of the Month" blog entry that apparently pissed someone off. Filet didn't want to post it but I am going to comment on it because I laughed my ass off when I read it. For those of you who didn't read the post it was about a pharmacist who failed rehab and was busted passing fake rxs for narcotics for personal use. My comment was as follows:

See...rehab doesn't work 99.9% of the time. I just call junkies Lindsays...as in Lindsay Lohan...and damn that douche bag to hell (if there is one) for besmirching the title of pharmacist. I hope someone in prison shanks him!


So someone using the title Peacemaker had this to say:

Big & Tasty...What a lame screen name...You would be popular in the prison system. You are full of yourself, intellectually stunted at best, and write things that at least should get YOU shanked for stupidity, and at best are not even the least bit humorous. I would say that before you start quoting %'s about drug rehab, you should reread your code of ethics as a pharmacist. Assuming you are one, I am guessing that you probably sell weed out in the WalMart parking lot, and therefore consider yourself a pharmacist. I would begin a battle of whits with your dumb ass, but as the saying goes, it would be unair as you are clearly unarmed.



My response:

1. Big & Tasty is a fun name for a blog called FAST FOOD Pharmacy because it is an item off the McDonald's fast food menu. You also probably didn't read our blog mission statement.

2. I would be extremely popular in the prison system because I have double D's and can do some fun tricks with my tongue.

3. I have found different rehab centers have different statistics for failure. Once an addict, always an addict. Rehabs just train you to exchange your "bad" addiction for a "socially acceptable" addiction such as methadone, benzodiazepines, cigarettes, alcohol, macrame, suboxone, etc.

4. I follow the Pharmacist's code only when I wear the white coat and fight the good fight at the Pharmacy. When I am in my civilian life I can say and do whatever I want. When I blog I still leave out names and places for patient privacy but like to vent about the situations and people I deal with on a regular basis rather than "Go Postal" and pop some caps in some asses.

5. I think junkies are the shit of the earth falling somewhere below welfare scammers and somewhere above child molesters.

6. I have a Bachelors in Pharmaceutical Science and have passed all examinations necessary for licensure in two states. I am a legitimate pharmacist, not a hustler.

7. I do not expect people to like me or find my thoughts humorous. I expect people to take what I say with whatever gravitas they want it to have. I am neither savior nor comedian, only one voice amongst thousands of bloggers. I like to read all commentary, especially if it is critical or asinine.

8. I feel the battle of wits would be more humorous for me as I rarely take people seriously when they lash out with hostility. I do wonder if you are Mr. Maister from the article or maybe a close associate of his? It would explain the hostility or maybe you just wanted to audition to be the "Jenny tail" for my human centipede?

To quote a really crappy movie for all who like to comment "Bring it on!"

Well this hits home

WOW!! Too true! Makes me kinda sad that others get the same abuse I do-daily!