I can see a lawsuit coming.

[Luna Baby]

Today, I was confronted by one of our nurses asking me to pull a chart, that a patient was coming in. Something about being given the wrong sample medication (by me!) last week. Now she and the family are both upset. She takes the patient into a private room and discusses the issue and looks at the sample bottles and proceeds to tell this patient and daughter that there was no way that I could have given her the wrong medication, specifically that there was no way I could have given her this medication as we don't have, nor have we ever had that sample medication in our office. Our physician was called into the room and he also told her that this was not a medication that we've ever gotten in our office therefore there was no way she was given that by me.

Backstory: I'm new in the office and a couple of weeks ago, she called to see about getting in to see the doctor for a sore throat. The doc she normally sees was booked so I asked her about getting in later that day or the following day. She declined but then had another daughter call my supervisor and complain because dear old mom was having chest pain and I wouldn't book her appointment that morning. So the supervisor got her in and told me not to worry about it. But..........................this patient has continued to hold a grudge against me and it's coming to a boil.

So, today, just to appease the patient, our doc ordered blood work just to assure the patient that she hadn't suffered any permanent damage due to her taking this sample med (she was already on a normal prescription for it and we really have no idea where the samples came from). While she was in the lab she told the lab tech that "this isn't over yet." My god, I feel the tension of a lawsuit coming! She's coming back Monday to see her regular doctor there and he's probably going to rip me a new one anyway, even though there is no way that I messed up like she's claiming I did.

[One-Fang]

Sadly, I think taking the blood work was a bad step.

While you don't carry that sample med, you are quite in the clear with your "couldn't have got it from us" stand. However, doing some blood work for her to appease her may look as if your business felt some obligation ... and obligation means fault.

[Kirkygirl]

That really sucks! I'm sorry!
When this lady had her blood drawn, do you know if there were tests done to check for the drug in her bloodstream? 'Cuz that could very well cover your ass. Get the Dr. who moonlighted for her GP to cover for you as well, if you can. Give him a bottle of wine or something if he does.
Be professional about the whole thing if you can, but make sure that you keep the Dr./patient confidentiality thing intact. As well, don't discuss the case with anyone outside this incident. Don't worry. Everything's going to be ok.

[bainsidhe]

Is there any way to avoid this patient and her family in the future? This may be asking too much, since you and others are essential to the office running smoothly, but I wonder if you could "lay low" regarding this patient. I know, this isn't something you should have to do and it's quite troubling, not to mention a hassle. But it may give this patient and yourself some peace of mind instead of rubbing salt into the wound. Some people just decide they don't like someone, for whatever the reason. Others find fault where there is none. So many stories on this board are evidence of that.

[JLRodgers]

Now I'm wondering where she got the sample medication from in the first place....


And if she's already on that medication all the time anyway... I don't even see a problem other than it taking a week for them to realize what she was or wasn't taking (but then that's on them).

[calulu]

Sounds like a doctor shopper to me. Possibly she's seeing more than one at different places and confusing her samples.

[PepperElf]

and perhaps she's "sampled" enough to screw with her memory?

[Eric the Grey]

Sounds like a doctor shopper to me. Possibly she's seeing more than one at different places and confusing her samples.

Honestly, this was my thought as well. Your doctors should make her bring in said samples, or their packaging. They should have the prescribing doctor's name on it, if I'm not mistaken.


Eric the Grey

[Luna Baby]

I am "laying low" with this particular one. We think the sample bottles came from the original prescriber, such as to get her through a tough time when she didn't have the money to get the actual rx filled at the pharmacy. My butt is covered, very well at that. The doc that saw her today is married to my best friend and he knows my work practices to be very precise and check all paperwork/strengths/etc before I do hand over the samples. I just hate that she's pulled this stunt and now it has to be dealt with. As for the bloodwork, that's the doctor's call, I'm not a nurse or doc and never claimed to be (although this patient and daughter are adament that I am a nurse!). I think he may have been checking to see if there was enough in the blood to be considered an overdose and need emergency medical treatment.

I have maintained patient confidentiality with all aspects of my job. I've seen family members come in and can't mention to my mom/sister/grandparent/etc that I saw "cousin joe" in the office.

I just needed to vent, she made my day a really bad one and I absolutely love my new job. I had worked for the same company just 2 months shy of 7 years when I was permanently laid off in February. I managed through on unemployment insurance benefits until August when the doc's needed some part time help. It was the blessing I was looking for. We had one office staff member quit the first of this month so I got to go full time. I love what I am doing and absolutely love the doctors that I work for. I especially love dealing with the people as they come in and getting them squared away before they go back. Just amazes me at how one person can totally ruin your day. But then again, when you see one leave happy because they were able to get out and about and just thankful for another day, it makes it all worthwhile.

[Luna Baby]

Honestly, this was my thought as well. Your doctors should make her bring in said samples, or their packaging. They should have the prescribing doctor's name on it, if I'm not mistaken.


Eric the Grey

She did bring in the samples and that is how we knew it didn't come from our office. However, with samples, there isn't anything identifying where it come from on the packaging. Only with ones you get at the pharmacy.

[South Texan]

Your doctor’s malpractice carrier will hire a lawyer to defend any suit. No doubt, the attorney will bring in the pharmaceutical rep for the company making the drug to state that no such drug was delivered to your office. Combine that with your and your doctor's testimony that you did not give her the sample, and the jury will have good cause to think the woman either is lying or is confused as to where she got the drug – especially since yours is not the usual doctor she sees.

Running blood work on the woman should not cause a problem as your doctor can testify that it really was done as a routine procedure to make sure she was ok after she stated she took the drug regardless of where she got the drug from.

[calulu]

Not only will the rep come in but also those samples are pretty tightly controlled and signed for all along the process. The drug company makes the rep sign for the control numbers on the samples, the drug rep makes someone at the clinic sign for the samples and the samples are supposed to be logged when given out in the patient records. She's going to have a lot of trouble proving she got them from the OP.

Before I started working for FLowers O Suck I was a social worker off and on for years, my last SW job was two years ago at a big medical clinic. I was one of the few folks that handed out the samples when the doc said it was okay. We had some of the same problems.

Just wait till you hear all the exotic lies and excuses from folks trying to score narcotics like Vicodin or hillbilly heroin Oxy.

[Luna Baby]

And the sad thing is, we don't keep any pain medications at all, except for the occasional box of samples of Tylenol or Advil. Nothing controlled, etc. There is the small amount of injectables but even those are mild stuff and you'd have a hard time finding them in this office. Our main stock consists of B/P meds, cholesterol lowering meds and the occasional Viagra! Those have turned up missing from what I've heard a time or two, but they think they know where they went to.

[Eric the Grey]

She did bring in the samples and that is how we knew it didn't come from our office. However, with samples, there isn't anything identifying where it come from on the packaging. Only with ones you get at the pharmacy.

I remember getting some samples from one doctor I had before I had insurance. She used to supplement my prescriptions with them when she could because I was paying for everything out of pocket, and my insulin was running me 200 a month. They always had a tag on them in some fashion, usually on the box, rather than on the individual packets though. I think that's what I was thinking of.

I doubt you'll have any problem here. It seems obvious that you didn't hand out the wrong stuff, regardless of what she says.


Eric the Grey

[calulu]

I worked at an internal medicine clinic. We had lots of requests from regular patients for prescriptions for Oxy for crazy assed reasons. Not samples but scripts. People would call and say that they had to have a second prescription for the month (illegal as hell!) because...


...they were going overseas and might have more back/neck pain.
...someone stole it
...the police took it away from them
...their teenage stole it to get high
...the dog ate it
...accidentally knocked open bottle into toilet
...lost prescription (which I loved to bust by showing them a printout from the state showing that they'd photocopied the script and had it filled at five places that month)
...many many more

but my all time stupid favorite..

drum roll please..................

...they went swimming in the ocean with their Oxy in their pocket and the seawater melted it.