Commensurate With Dosage

Ah, we made it into 2008 without any casualties. In a pharmacy, that means that none of the staff were thrown F-bombs. Nobody was threatened and everyone was able to walk to their car at night without having to look out for angry drug seekers who were refused their hydrodcodone prescription refill.

Honestly, doctors and nurses and other interested parties, pharmacists have been known to call the police for an escort to their cars at night. A cousin-in-law in the late 1990s finally had to quit a job due to harassment. She refused to refill a Norco 10/325 Rx because a 30-day supply had only lasted six days and the drug seeker threatened her so strongly that she was afraid to go to her car alone. She was spooked enough that she asked the police to meet her at the front door to take her to the parking lot.

Of course, she wasn’t going to refill the prescription. It was illegal to do it.

The law states commensurate with dosage. It was unethical to do it. The rub was when the prescriber backed the patient. Then, it got really bad. The patient/drug seeker gave her a whole list of why he needed the Norco. She said NO. He told her that he had to go out of town to see his mother, but when my cousin asked where the mother lived, he hesitated. He was lying and she knew it.

This guy had absolutely no power until the prescriber said to go ahead and fill the prescription. The guy became emboldened and became out of control when my cousin still refused. At this point, what does she do? Violate the letter of the law? Cave and fill the narcotic? After all, the prescriber said to go ahead and do it.

The partnership between patient, pharmacist and doctor is a tenuous one at best. It has suffered from lack of attention. There is practically no communication. We are all busy, but we can do better.