[Jill-O]

Just goes to show, my dad is right. There ARE more horses' a$$es in the world than there are horses.

[stocktonsux]

.....what it's actually like to work in a pharmacy. I am a pharmacy student within one year of graduating and becoming a full-fledged pharmacist. What most of you are missing is the fact that the blog you read is a way for TAP to get out all his anger, instead of yelling at the patient!

He's not talking about those of you who take care of yourselves, he's referring to those who eat what they want, don't take their medications and blame the pharmacist when they run out of strips. The pharmacist gets blamed for EVERYTHING!!! No matter what happens, no matter whose fault it is, the pharmacist gets the brunt of the complaints.

We love people that know what A1c is! We love people who take an active approach to their own care! I bet most of you in this forum DO NOT qualify as the type of patient TAP is referring to.

The great majority of phone calls I get go something like this "I need to know if my doctor ok'd my medications." No hello, no "my name is xxxxx," nothing. 95% of those calls are for Soma or Vicodin. When someone like the posters here calls and asks a question that causes us to even remotely use our brains, we jump up and down and scream!!! OK, well, maybe that last part is an exaggeration, but you understand what I'm getting at.

I don't know how many people are aware that a pharmacist goes to school for a minimum of 6 years (the majority go 8+ years) and learn much more about drugs and how they work on the body than any MD does. Chances are the pharmacist in your local pharmacy has a Doctorate of Pharmacy.

In the end, don't take everything TAP says so personal. You probably wouldn't believe the stories we get in the pharmacy because people have no common sense. I wish you all good health, both now and in the future, and feel free to drop me a line if you disagree with me!

[ant hill]

First of all, Are you a diabetic Stocktonsux?

[Rebecca]

My mum is a type 2 diabetic (I am a type 1). My mum also tests thrice daily (that is three [3] times a day).
Even though she is on oral sulfonurea's (glipizide), she also fluctuates, just like I do. She can go from a normal of say 110 down to 50's in minutes, just like I can and do. She tests when she wakes up, either before lunch or dinner (different days, different meals) and bedtime.
For a type 2 to test 5 times a day, I would highly think that the type 2 would be on insulin, for if you are on insulin, you should test a minimum of 4 times a day to see how your body is dealing with the insulin, and if the insulin dose is sufficent, ect.
I have several patients (<18) that are type 2 diabetics, and test upwards of 10 times a day, but then as one of their primary diabetes docs, I bypassed oral medications, and put them directly on insulin. Not due to my non-acceptance of oral medications, but due to their age, weight (one is under weight by about 10 pounds, but c-peptide comes in at 8.3, HbA1c last was 10.3).
I honestly think, that no matter what type of diabetes you have, it is easier to see which way your sugars are going by testing more.
Some insurances (hence medicare) will only pay for 1 test per day for a type 2 on oral medications, unless you jump through their red tape and hoops, and proove that you are testing more than the alloted amount before they will pay for more (my insurance allows 5 per day, but I jumped through their red tape and hoops, and I get enough to test 12 times per day, and then I also am friends with one of our local reps for a meter manufacture, and he gives me a additional 5 tests per day in addition to what insurance pays for I have been known to test hourly aroudn the clock when sick with one bug or another).
re...
1. Does he question the overuse of antibiotics as vehemently as he does test strips?
2. Why are something as easy to make and so necessary as test strips so expensive?
................
1. I would like to know this answer too. Some docs will just prescribe antibiotics to their patients if they or their parents (if the patient is a child/adolecent) just to get them off their backs.. mostly when they (encluding parents) will not listen to the doctor that it is a virus, and antibiotics will not help.
2. Yes, strips are easy to make, and they are honestly extreamly inexpensive to make (a vial of 50 sells for $54.99, yet it costs about $0.75 to make), but just with any other disease, chronic or not, the manufactures are extreamly money hungry, and they know that they will get the money, so thereby they will sell them for as much as they can legistically can get them for.

JUST A FYI...
I know that this is kinda off this subject, but #2 has me thinking.
There IS a meter manufacture, that DOES have a PPA programme.. Abbott. Abbott Laboratories: Leading Pharmaceutical and Medical Research.
They are the only meter manufacture that helps out uninsured diabetics.
You will have to call them (tech support) and ask for the patient assistant programme person.
They will send you a form and a form for your doctor to fill out.
They will require you to show proof of insurance, and if you have none, a denial letter from your state medicaid programme, and your income statis (W2 form that the goverment sends you for your taxes, paystub, bank statement, ect).
Then your doctor fills out his or her part.
Then they will determin if you meet their guidelines. If you do, Abbott will send you the amount of strips and lancets (1 strip + 1 lancet) that your doctor has prescribed, and also a Abbott branded meter (Freestyle or Precision meter) on the first shipment, and then every 3 months there after another shipment of the strips. Will have to undergo this process yearly.

[solox316]

Originally Posted by stocktonsux

In the end, don't take everything TAP says so personal. You probably wouldn't believe the stories we get in the pharmacy because people have no common sense. I wish you all good health, both now and in the future, and feel free to drop me a line if you disagree with me!

Sorry to say, but I agree with this post here... There are a lot of flaws in the medical industry, as well as a lot of stupid people. There is something to be said about "test just to test..." If one is not attempting to make changes with their care or lifestyle, then why is one even testing multiple times a day.

If you are offended by his blog, don't read it. I wouldn't go read blogs supporting war in Iraq, teacher bashing, etc...

[stocktonsux]

Originally Posted by ant hill

First of all, Are you a diabetic Stocktonsux?

No, I'm not, and I fail to see what that has to do with my comments? I'm saying that if you NEED to test because your BS fluctuates so much, then by all means, test hourly if you need to.

My complaint (as well as TAP's) is the people that DON'T take care of themselves, yet test constantly. Yes your BS is going to be sky high! You don't take your medications and think a couple doughnuts are sufficient for breakfast!

Obviously the big posters on this site know a heck of a lot more about diabetes than I do. I would be happy to have any one of you walk into my pharmacy and ask a question. I'm sure it would actually be worth taking the time to answer. Instead, I get "when can I get my Vicodin?" To which I answer "in three days, like I told you on the phone an hour ago."

There is nothing a pharmacist loves to see more than people who actually take care of themselves, instead of the lazy scourge of society that infest pharmacies day after day.

[Dewey]

Stockton, I get what you're saying and agree that there are some who do not take the proper care of themselves. I totally get that and actually sympathize with the frustration of dealing with those who refuse to take proper care of themselves, and being frustrated with people hooked on Vicodin, etc.

Thanks for coming here & explaining. I think many here are more receptive to you, because of the delivery of your post.

Originally Posted by solox316

Sorry to say, but I agree with this post here... There are a lot of flaws in the medical industry, as well as a lot of stupid people. There is something to be said about "test just to test..." If one is not attempting to make changes with their care or lifestyle, then why is one even testing multiple times a day.

If you are offended by his blog, don't read it. I wouldn't go read blogs supporting war in Iraq, teacher bashing, etc...

Scott, I too, agree with what was being said (I re-read it, though)....it was the way TAP was saying it that puts people off. As a result, things can easily be misread. Whether it's online or in person, if someone feels like they or loved ones are being attacked, they shut down almost immediately & really don't want to hear what the other person has to say (regardless of how true it may be). I think it's easy to say that many of us were put off by the tone of his blog & the way things were put across, regardless of the truth.

[Real4]

Originally Posted by morrisma

Second, diabetes is a progressive disease (unlike smug stupidity)

I beg to disagree. Stupidity is certainly a progressive disease!

[stocktonsux]

Dewey - thank you for the kind words. I'm happy to see that you understand where TAP and I are coming from. We're not trying to be @$$es about anything, it's just the nature of the business.

Again, if 90% of our patients were like you and 10% like the druggies, the angry pharmacist website likely wouldn't exist. If it did exist, it would be in a form greatly different from it's current state.

As it is, the ratio of intelligent patients to druggies is almost exactly opposite (or so it seems!), being 10% to 90%, respectively.

Just yesterday I had a customer that dropped of a script for 4 items:
1. Zithromax (antibiotic)
2. Vicodin
3. Benadryl
4. Robitussin

Can you guess what's coming next? She said she didn't want the Benadryl or Robitussin because they were over the counter, and she only wanted to pick up the Vicodin right now. She didn't want the antibiotic, which would be the best one for her to get! There's nothing like announcing you're a druggie to everyone in the pharmacy!

Believe me, it's extremely frustrating.

[stocktonsux]

Originally Posted by Real4

I beg to disagree. Stupidity is certainly a progressive disease!

This is from the movie IDIOCRACY, written by Mike Judge (Office Space, Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, etc). This is one of my favorite movies of all time. It explains how we ended up where we're at now!

YouTube - Intro Idiocracy (IN ENGLISH)

[birdyland]

I have not read the article.... but I almost want to start my own blog and call it the Pharmacist's Angry Patient!

I have switched pharmacies FOUR times, yes, count them FOUR times in the last year because nobody seems to be able to get my SIMPLE presccriptions right! Each one that I have left has left me HIGH AND DRY for one reason or another. Wrong pills, wrong amount, lost something, stopped carrying something very SPECIFIC and didn't bother to tell me until I show up to get it and of course I'm OUT, switched brands without asking.... and EACH of the ones I left, had more than one offense.

Argh... It is because of this that I can't even bring myself to read TAP's article.

Anyone know of a pharm in San Diego that actually knows how to do their job?

[Scrabblechick]

When you can find them, I love the hometown pharmacies. My family has had an account with Valley Drug for 35 years and I wouldn't go anywhere else. They even deliver!!

I can totally sympathize with pharmacists, and anyone who deals with the public all the time. When Stockton won't give them their Vicodin three days early, per their doc's orders, they call the newspaper, whining about how mistreated they are and how that pharmacist just doesn't care if they're in pain, and will tell every sob story known. AAAAUUUGGHHH!

A good pharmacist is worth his or her weight in solid platinum because he or she is usually more "up" on newer drugs and possible interactions than the average MD. Problems also tend to crop up when people fill their scrips at several different places, thus defeating the "drug interaction" computer system most pharms have in place.

Pharmacy is like any other business: good eggs and bad ones. It also seems that, like other businesses, it only takes one bad egg to ruin it for all the good ones.

However, I also sympathize with those who have had bad experiences with pharmacies. As I said, sometimes one bad egg stinks up all the rest.

[stocktonsux]

Originally Posted by Scrabblechick

When you can find them, I love the hometown pharmacies. My family has had an account with Valley Drug for 35 years and I wouldn't go anywhere else. They even deliver!!

You'll be finding less and less independent pharmacies as time goes on. The government is trying to reimburse pharmacies an average of 36% UNDER the cost of the drug. Hmmmm, let's see. I buy the drug for $10, go through all the dispensing, etc, and Medicaid/Medicare pays me $6.40? Yeah, that's a great way to keep a business going! Talk to your local independent pharmacy owner and tell him/her you support them!

[notme]

I know this is a change of subject, but my guess is we will all be getting our drugs at Walmart and through mail-in Pharmacies in the next few years. Very sad. We won't have the advantage of knowing our pharmacist and we will all be treated like drug abusers on the phone.

To get back on subject Stockton, I agree and disagree strongly with you. I totally agree that more people should know about their care and also how their insurance works. I think the guy that wrote that blog was rude and condescending. Anyone with a brain would be insulted by his post.

But you know, we are all entitled to our own opionion on how things are written. I just disagree with this method.