Pharmaceutical Pheces-Phace

[Iris Kojiro]

Out of all the things I've posted in my several months here, I've never posted a tale of my own about some idiot. Well, this happened a couple of months back...

PPP wants me to retreive a cold medicine that can only be purchased behind the counter. I go behind the counter to grab the cold medicine in question and I begin the standard protocol of getting his name and address. He starts getting mad and says things like "This is worse than when I get booze and this is a major invasion of my privacy! (Blah blah blah)".

I then tell him that those are the rules and I do not make them. I start explaining the reasoning for those rules and he says "I know all about that". Mentally shaking my head, I ask if his address is current and he says yes.

Now, for these special cold medicines, a signature is required. I hand him the form to sign and he refuses to sign. I look directly at him and say "Yes you will, if you wa..."

He then puts the medicine down and storms off. As he is leaving, I wonder out loud if he missed his nap that day. If he heard me say that (I think he did), he let it pass without comment.

The next customers in line had a bit of a laugh over my parting shot and we chatted for a bit. Yes, I know it wasn't the nicest thing to do, but he had it coming when he kept up his blustery attitude even AFTER I tried to explain why the rules are in place.

[NightWatch]

Ok... he's whining about his "invasion of privacy", but still gives you his personal info. When you finally ask him for something simple that is in no way an "invasion of privacy", he flips out and storms off. That's retarded! What if the jerk-off paid with a credit card? Then he'd have to sign a piece of paper anyway. Would that have caused him to storm out too?
*gives cookie*

[PepperElf]

pfft invasion of privacy? what the f ever. it's a freakin LAW

... if they want to get mad, they should get mad at the shitheads who bought the stuff for their meth-labs. if it wasn't for them, it wouldn't be so much of a hassle to get the good meds these days.

[Stormraven]

I hate it, too. That's why I went through the effort of finding something that could help me that was still OTC. It wasn't easy, but he could do the same, I'm sure. Except, of course, that he's a SC, and we know they don't follow anything like logic.

[ShinyGreenApple]

I hate it when people get all bent out of shape about laws and company policies. The way I see it, as long as I'm not doing anything illegal, it's not hurting me to give my info or fill out a form with a signature

[PepperElf]

however in my experience the semi-otc meds still work better than the otc meds that don't require ID.

so even though i find it a slight hassle... it won't stop me from getting what works

[Pagan]

PPP wants me to retreive a cold medicine that can only be purchased behind the counter. I go behind the counter to grab the cold medicine in question and I begin the standard protocol of getting his name and address. He starts getting mad and says things like "This is worse than when I get booze and this is a major invasion of my privacy! (Blah blah blah)".

I've actually told someone if they have a problem with it, take it up with the federal government.

Now, for these special cold medicines, a signature is required. I hand him the form to sign and he refuses to sign. I look directly at him and say "Yes you will, if you wa..."

Had some old fart decide that he was going to another store because "THEY don't make me do this". We just looked at him and wished him luck.

Seriously, I'll sell it without all of that IF they are willing to serve my jail time and pay my bills the rest of my life because I won't be able to get another job in pharmacy.

[Crosshair]

I think people are upset because the know these laws don't work. Meth is still readily available where I live. Now it's the even more potent Mexican stuff.

/Not trying to get political, just stating my observation.

[MoonChild2007]

IMO, its probably not his medicine to begin with. Anybody who gets that upset over giving personal info for something that anybody can pick up, probably is hiding something.

I get that crap when I worked as a teller.

[Pagan]

IMO, its probably not his medicine to begin with. Anybody who gets that upset over giving personal info for something that anybody can pick up, probably is hiding something.

I get that crap when I worked as a teller.

Oh, no, I have no problem believing that the meds were for him. I've had several versions of this guy....and in a female form as well. They just want something to bitch about because they have had their daily bitching requirement yet.

[Crosshair]

IMO, its probably not his medicine to begin with. Anybody who gets that upset over giving personal info for something that anybody can pick up, probably is hiding something.

We all have something to hide. We all have our own secrets that we don't want anyone else to know.

We all have desire to be left alone and not be bothered by the government because they have three sick kids along with one sick spouse and now have to go to four different pharmacies to get enough to last between trips to town. Other people don't like the incrementalism of the whole matter.

[Naaman]

Well in the UK the equivalent law that Iris is talking about is generally regarded as a knee-jerk POS, the pharmacists hate it.

They don't have to do the register thing but the item is a lower strength and is only available in small packs now

[PepperElf]

hmmm some good points made cos... it wasn't a big secret that the drugs could be used to produce illegal drugs.

a couple of years before it hit the local news programs, one of the gals in my fav chat room worked at a pharmacy and said that they (store policy i suspect, not law) weren't allowed to sell more than 5 boxes of sudaphed to a single customer at once.

and... hmm, come to think of it one of my friends J... his local pharmacy got questioned when J bought up a butt-ton of Ibruprofin (tho it's not on the magic list)... but that one was explained cos J had a prescription for 800mg for his back, but found out (from the pharmacist) that it would be cheaper to jsut buy 200mg and take 4.

[Blade]

found out (from the pharmacist) that it would be cheaper to jsut buy 200mg and take 4.

Wouldn't 4 smaller pills break down differently - different amount of time, different dosages, etc- than one larger pill? That sounds like a kind of irresponsible thing for a pharmacist to say, to me...

[Chromatix]

I think Ibuprofen is one of the drugs where it doesn't matter. The active compound is actually produced by the liver, which limits the rate at which it can be produced more than the digestive system does. It is still possible to overload the liver, but the doctor won't prescribe the toxic dose.