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

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

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

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.

best sign idea ever

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

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...

...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."

one week down....

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.