Patient’s say the funniest things….

A typical day in a pharmacist’s life is often colored with some fanciful patient comments that are simply unexpected. Love to hear yours..

These are some of my most recent favorites:
Subject: Drug not covered
Pharmacist: “Unfortunately, your physician prescribed a drug that is not covered by your insurance.”
Patient: “I understand but what would I pay if it was covered?”More »

From year 1994 to 1995 I reported many cases of illegal drug trafficking in the small community where I live in a city (in the southwest of the country) to the state law enforcement and public safety authorities.(At that time, illegal drug trafficking was the number one industry in that state.) My reports cost me highly. I was retaliated with very dirty and ugly bigotries by the drug traffickers. These dirty and ugly bigotries had been smeared and spun further day after day over the city, the entire state and even over the whole country. In no time I was defamed and I became a questionable pharmacist/person. (One of the drug traffickers could become a felon if my lawyer had sued him. He moved away all of a sudden.)More »

Having practiced now for 18 years both in the U.K and in the USA, I have often found myself wondering what we really do to earn our salaries. In a time when the practice of pharmacy has become more and more automated and patient contact continues to diminish, it is easy to stand back from the counter and wonder what kind of a difference we are really making. The role of the pharmacist continues to evolve, albeit not at the rate we envisioned in our halcyon days in pharmacy school. We have seen Nurse practitioners’ numbers triple, Physician Assistant schools multiply and various other allied health fields spring up and yet, it may feel as if we still spend most of our days folding paper, counting pills and scanning our lives away, especially in retail.More »

I found out I had cancer last year, my heart stopped. My wife was sitting right beside me. My doctor told me I had a large mass on my kidney and that I should get a urologist's opinion. She referred me to a cancer research center here in San Antonio. I work in the 24 hour pharmacy in the hospital. I was in shock, but I knew I had to keep faith.More »