I really didn't want to turn this blog into just another pharmacist bitch fest but sometimes the idiocy that we deal with has to be talked about.  Usually it's the customers doing the stupid stuff. Sometimes, it's me.  Physicians and nurses are pretty bright for the most part so if they pull something stupid they usually have a good reason for it.  Not the case this time.

A mom brought in a prescription for :
Augmentin ES 600mg
disp 200ml
sig: 3.5ml BID X 10 days

Now, me being a frugal sort of person, I did some math and decided that there was no need to dispense a 200ml bottle when the 10 day course required only 70ml.  So I prepared a 75ml bottle, wrote a note on the hard copy that I dispensed only that amount and counselled the mom accordingly.  Refrigerate, shake well, take with food, etc. and sent her on her way.

The following morning, I got a call from the mom saying that she didn't think that little bottle was going to be enough medicine for both of her kids.  I told her that the Rx she brought in was only for one child and there was plenty of medicine in that bottle for the full course of treatment and if measured out properly (I gave her a dosing syringe at no charge) she should even have a little bit left over at the end of ten days.  I told her that if the doctor intended for this drug to be given to a different patient as well, that patient should have been given a separate prescription.  Mom agreed and said she would call the doctor's office and request a prescription for the other child.

A short time later, my tech tells me there is a very irate physician on the phone demanding to talk to the pharmacist immediately.  I answered the call and proceeded to get an earful from this pediatrician (my third least favorite physician specialty, by the way - more on that later) about making a dispensing error on her order.   She told me that her intent was to save mom a copay by prescribing a large bottle that could be used for both kids. (Yeah, by this time I think I figured that out.)  She went on for a while about me not knowing what her treatment plan was and she didn't like when I pointed out that I knew exactly what her plan was because she had written it on the prescription which, by the way, is a legal document and should be treated as such.  She really didn't appreciate when I dropped the F-bomb on her.  Fraud.  I told her that as a pharmacist, I am required to take annual training on the topic of Fraud, Waste and Abuse.  I asked her if she might also be required to take such training since the large medical group she worked for was a Medicare/Medicaid accredited facility.  The icy silence was like a dagger in my ear.

The next words out of her mouth were an order for kid #2:
Augmentin ES 600mg
disp 75ml
sig: 3.5ml po BID X 10 days

I felt a wave of satisfaction wash over me.