I Have Caught Cvs And Other Pharmacies Lying About Not Having Oxycodone Is Stock, Shortage 2012

http://www.medschat.com/Discuss/I-have-caught-cvs-and-other-pharmacies-lying-about-not-having-oxycodone-is-stock-shortage-2012-230863.htm

Well today I officially caught a cvs here in Ga lie to me. A friend of mine filled his Meds yesterday. I go in, having a history with cvs, a recent one, and am immediately lied to. The pharmacist comes over and tells me they haven’t had them in stock for months, without looking at his book or computer. At this point I stated an employee I know the name of told me shipment came in Thursday. He lied again. I then told him friend had filled yesterday morning. He said it was impossible. I then said I saw the bottle with my own eyes, it had their address on it, and even told him what brand they had since my friend just filled his there. Pharmacist lied to me yet again. I then asked him why he wad lying to me and that I am tired of being treated like a criminal because I am 30 with a handicapped tag and a four page long mri report for my neck, mid, and lower back. I just found out I have central and foramina stenosis in my lower back, yea!! He then asked me if I had been having trouble filling. I said yes, it seems a lot of pharmacies are lying about not having it in stock. I said it is easy to tell on how they look at you, treat you, and if they check their logbook which is required for all schedule two Meds. I then gave him a chance to not lie and said “so you mean you filled the last of your stock yesterday.” Since he lied to me again I decided it was time to call his district manger. The info I told him was correct but he decided to lie so its not my fault if he gets fired. U am going to let his district manager know the whole story, and let them know that if something is not done I will contact the news about discrimination against a legit pain patient for them not to get their Meds and have a normal life. They won’t want bad press that is for sure, esp since I have a handicapped tag. I am in their system for filling the exact Meds I brought in, they have my discount card on file also, and my whole family uses their pharmacy so these ate the thongs I will tell district. Any other pharmacies who lie I will do the same thing to. So it seems the shortage going on here in Georgia and Florida are manipulated by the pharmacies and the distributors. Mckesson isn’t shipping them out to rite aid, wal mart, sams, and Target. They are afraid of getting fined like a few years ago or getting in trouble like cardinal, cvs, walgreens, publix, and krogers distributor. Cardinal is still shipping from Mississippi and north Carolina, but not from Florida atm. The rest of the country is not having any problems, just Florida and Georgia. Since I have a lawsuit going against Allstate from my car accident(not my fault) and we are going after a doc who read someone else’s mri to make his conclusion and type a bogus report to my insurance so they will not reimburse me anymore, we ate going after him for slander or defimation of character since he wrote I sell my Meds, maybe I can add cvs for pain and suffering and descrimination. This is absolutely rediculous these days. Sorry for the rant but people selling them ate making a killing these days and legit patients are going broke from price gouging or gas prices just so we can live a somewhat normal life. Makes no sense how out system works.
This pt.. only put the word lie/lied  SEVEN TIMES.. in describing his/her interaction with a CVS Pharmacist over getting a C-II Rx that he/she had been filling at this particular store previously. How long before we are down at the end of the list with members of Congress and Used Car Salesmen ?

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/rx/cvs_rx.html

At about 6pm on March 2nd, I came to the store to use my 20% off coupon. There was a 2ft high ridge of hard-packed snow between parking lot and the rear store entrance with a narrow cleft in the ridge of snow. I maneuvered through the cleft w/o falling and complained about the hazard as I entered and requested action be taken. Asst. Mgr. Carly ** said she needed a work order to work on the snow. I shopped and paid for almost $25 worth of items. I use a shopping cart for balance in icy conditions and noticed that the hazard was still in place and that my cart couldn’t get through the narrow cleft. After complaining again, I took their snow shovel and shoveled a path through the snow and ice after 10-15min.

When I had finished taking my purchases to my car, I went back to return the snow shovel and complained that it looked like there were at least a half-dozen prior snows in the ridge I shoveled through. As I left, Carly and another female employee walked behind me and taunted me with comments like: “Is everything ok sir?” “Did you find everything you came for?” After initially leaving, I came back in to answer their taunts and said I was going to report this to the head office. Carly at that point said: “I don’t like the way you’re talking to me. I’m calling 911! I’m getting my phone right now and calling the police!”

At that point I walked back out and went home. Less than an hour later, someone claiming to be Northville Police Officer called, apparently given my # from the CVS data files and after asking me to describe what had happened, said she was charging me with Trespassing at CVS. I wasn’t sure she was really a police officer, but I got an official Trespass Notice a few days later which said I would be arrested and prosecuted if I went to that store or its parking lot within the next year. The CVS District Mgr. Jonnie ** supported the Trespass charge and a Northville Police Captain told me there’s no due process or hearing for the accused.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northville,_Michigan

Northville is an affluent city located in and divided by Oakland and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. The area is a suburb of Metropolitan Detroit. The population was 5,970 at the 2010 census

Recently I posted about the DEA and the rationing of opiates to pharmacies  http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=4893

DEA throws healthcare professionals under the bus !

and a quote from that post from a DEA spokesman..

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is not trying to limit or ration access to opioid painkillers, according to a DEA spokesman who says “nothing should stand in the way” of a patient getting a legitimate prescription for pain medication filled.

“We’re not doctors. We’re regulators and enforcers of the law. If something is prescribed for a legitimate medical purpose, we’re certainly not going to get in the way,” said DEA spokesman Rusty Payne.

Then last week I listen to a webinar on the war on drugs presented by an attorney who formally worked for the DEA.

I you wish to listen to the whole 59 minute presentation plus Q&A   http://www.medispan.com/videos/controlled-substances/

If you don’t… here is one screen shot from his power point presentation..

Notice the heading of this slide… and notice one of the “tactics” is allotments/thresholds reduced

So who is telling the truth.. the current employee.. protecting his job ?

or .. a former employee of the agency.. who does not have to worry about his job with the DEA ?

You can come to your own conclusion

Pharmacist slain in Beach robbery was much beloved

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/04/pharmacist-slain-beach-robbery-was-much-beloved

That headline should have read ANOTHER PHARMACIST SLAIN BY DRUG SEEKER

Bet you won’t see the DEA doing a press release on this “death by drug”… in fact … they will probably ramp up the war on drugs because of this.. which will just contribute to more deaths of  those working in Pharmacies.

Our government is so hypocritical … it is illegal to maintain a addict’s addiction.. they push out PRESS RELEASES every time that the war on drugs fails.. when some one dies of a drug overdose. Would our society be better if we tried to maintain these people who are addicted/abusing some substance.. How many of these people would become functioning/working people in our society.. rather than be albatross on our society.

They throw out how many people died from drug overdose … some 35 K… but the government’s own addiction that contributes to some 600 K deaths – from Nicotine and Alcohol – that has a very healthy tax revenue stream.. that they are addicted to.

Gambling is illegal in most states.. unless it is government sponsored .. think lottery and casinos.  Indiana is the “poster child” for the hypocrisy .. abt 15 years ago they passed a law allowing casino gambling.. but stipulated that the casino had to be a “floating casino”.. and away from the dock when gambling was taking place.  One of the first casinos was outside of New Albany, IN in the Ohio River.. The problem is that the KY border is within a few feet of the Indiana side of the river. The “casino boat” .. did not even have engines.. to start gambling..they would pull the boarding ramp and pull the “boat” a few feet off shore.. could only go a few feet because it would otherwise be  in in Kentucky. This only lasted a few years.. when the bureaucrats agreed to allow them to allow gambling when tied to the shore … IF.. the state got a larger ” PERCENTAGE TAKE”  on the monies that the casino took in.

They even gave permission to put a “casino boat” in French Lick.. which had to create a man-made body of water for the “boat” to float on.

The steps the bureaucracies will take.. to support their addiction but can’t tolerate the uncontrollable addiction in some of  it citizens .. unless it is their addiction produces taxes for the bureaucracy.

How Being a Doctor Became the Most Miserable Profession

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/14/how-being-a-doctor-became-the-most-miserable-profession.html

By the end of this year, it’s estimated that 300 physicians will commit suicide. While depression amongst physicians is not new—a few years back, it was named the second-most suicidal occupation—the level of sheer unhappiness amongst physicians is on the rise.

It’s hard for anyone outside the profession to understand just how rotten the job has become—and what bad news that is for America’s health care system. Perhaps that’s why author Malcolm Gladwell recently implied that to fix the healthcare crisis, the public needs to understand what it’s like to be a physician. Imagine, for things to get better for patients, they need to empathize with physicians—that’s a tall order in our noxious and decidedly un-empathetic times.

Maybe those rude, inconsiderate, obnoxious pts .. are not  just that way with us :-(   Maybe they are worse when they get to us.. because the doc didn’t give them a GIFT CARD ?

First.. lets get’s straight… opiates THEMSELVES are not addictive.. they are POTENTIALLY addicting. When people with addictive personalities and/or mental health issues.. take opiates.. they become addicted to the side effects of the drug(s). Just like some of the same people when they drink alcohol and have no will power to know when to stop.

There are a lot on things in our lives that are capable of being potentially harmful. Driving your car too fast and/or poorly maintained,  letting a a pot boil over on the stove. Gasoline has some serious harmful potential when it interacts with a heat source.

People who abuse substance(s) will find something to abuse..what is in vogue, the most available or the most affordable.. Over the last couple of years…Ohio has been playing “hard ball” with legal drugs being diverted to the street .. and I have read statements from the bureaucrats in Ohio that they are puzzled as to why the use/abuse/deaths from Heroin use is on a dramatic upswing.

Everyone is focusing on Zohydro ER 50.. as this “mean new drug”.. Let’s put things into perspective Zohydro ER 50 is therapeutically between Oxycontin 30 and Morphine SR 60 and one can presume that the “high” that a person will get out of this drug.. would be similar… on a mg per mg basis

One more comparison.. Zohydro ER 50 is therapeutically comparable to fentanyl 25 mcg patch.  BUT.. The Fentanyl patch will release 25 mcg/hr X72.. you would think that this  means that there is 1800 mcg of Fentanyl in the patch.. But patch technology contains up to 100 % more than it is designed to release over 72 hrs.

Meaning that a “spent” patch could have as much opiate as 6 Zohydro ER 50 caps. Make that a new 100 mcg fentanyl patch and that number could be equal up to 48 caps of Zohydro ER 50.

I can’t find anything that suggests that HCD has any bio-availability via IV route and the volume of the contents of the caps may be large enough that makes it hard to snort.

Sure there are going to be some people that want to “try” this “new drug”… we saw the  same thing with Opana.. and the demand to abuse that drug eventually waned ..

And this too shall pass.. but.. in the mean while.. do we have the right to  deny those chronic pain pts access to  a  drug that may help them to improve their quality of life ?

Walgreens urged to leave US to gain tax benefit

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101580301

From the article:

Walgreens has come under pressure from an influential group of its shareholders, who want the US pharmacy chain to consider relocating to Europe, in what would be one of the largest tax inversions ever attempted.

At a private meeting in Paris on Friday, investors owning close to 5 per cent of Walgreens’ shares lobbied the company’s management to use its $16bn takeover of Swiss-based Alliance Boots to re-domicile its tax base.

In a note last month, analysts at UBS said Walgreens’ tax rate was expected to be 37.5 per cent compared with 20 per cent for Boots, and that an inversion could increase earnings per share by 75 per cent. They added, however, that “Walgreens’ management seems more hesitant to pull the trigger near-term due to perceived political risks.”

WAGS has abt 950 million shares outstanding.. so that means that abt 700 MILLION dollars would be removed from the US tax base… and added to WAGS’ bottom line..  and that is just the taxes that leaves out economy… but.. what happens to the roughly 2 billion left in post tax profits.. that will now be in Europe.. Use to make Alliance Boots “World’s pharmacy” ?

I recently blog about his issue “is the tail going to WAG the dog”

I spotted this the other day.. This grocery store.. which is part of a national grocery store chain based in Cincinnati, OH. They operate under various names. This particular store has been here for 30+ yrs.. but recently a section in the store.. where a bank branch operated.. the bank vacated the spot and in comes a “nurse-in-a-box”. There is also a pharmacy in the store which has been there for some 10 yrs… abt 50 ft from the “clinic”… This chain store also has “gas stations” and you get discounts on gas purchased there.. depending on how much money you spend in the store. You get “fuel points ”

I looked that the hours of operation for both the clinic and the pharmacy.. while the posted hours for the clinic clearly stated that the nurse got a 45 minute lunch.. but.. the pharmacy’s posted hours.. indicated that it’s staff… got ZILCH for a meal break… out of a 12 hr day.

You can click on the photo to enlarge it.. but the bottom line is that you get 50 points.. for seeing the nurse in the clinic.

Here is what fuel points that you get having prescriptions filled in the pharmacy

• Non-federally funded Prescriptions:  Prescription = 50 fuel points. a. As of August 1, 2012, federally funded Prescriptions earn 1 point for every $1 of your out-of-pocket costs for new, transferred and refilled Prescriptions.
• There is no reference on their website about fuel points for visiting their clinic..
• Of course, they place this clinic in a very large shopping center where there is a “doc-in-the-box” and six prescriber practice.. a few hundred yards away… that has been there for 20+ yrs and both are part of the county hospital system.
• I guess the people in the area.. are not rushing in to see the nurse..
• How tacky is that they are offering a few cents off of gas .. to get people to see the nurse… more turning healthcare into a commodity.. but then it is a chain grocery store… and their advertising dept is use to selling fruits,nut, & vegetables !

Step Program for Pharmacist Errors ?

http://www.topix.com/forum/com/wag/TC9J489HE9CUL5TRH   

Posted in the Walgreens Forum

From the website:

I was placed on this last week after making 2 STARS errors this year. I was told its a step program and after 3 violations it results in termination.
With no tech help and having to verify everything for others stores as well as mine I think the odds are against us once your on this program.

Is this something new? Has anyone heard of this? I asked my supervisor but he was very vague and would not provide me with any literature

Sick sick bastards! Cut every bit of help you need to do the job correctly and bust your balls when mistakes are made. Time to contact the Boards of Pharmacy on unsafe working conditions.

Oh and keep giving flu shots, remote verifying, mtms, and blood pressures while your trying to prevent that last mistake !

Hasn’t anyone ever read studies that interruptions and multitasking.. induces a less efficient, error prone environment.  Yet contact the BOP… they are there to protect the public’s health and safety..but.. will claim that they have no authority over staffing levels and adverse working environment. Of course 75% of the BOP’s have corporate executives sitting on them. and most/all appointments to the BOP are done by the Governor.. Could a sizable donation to the election/reelection campaign.. be able to influence who is appointed or not reappointed to the BOP ?