Pharma Liability Insurance

Recently, I took out a pharmacist’s liability insurance policy for a million dollars worth of coverage. This is a first for me. I have been covered by policies paid for by the drug store chains that I worked for, but I had never bought a personal policy. I have always been a very careful pharmacist. I have made my share of mistakes during my four-decade career, but they have been almost exclusively easy to fix. For a period of time in the early 1980s, I got into a terrible rut of giving 15 capsules of Dalmane 30mg when the prescription was for 30 capsules of 15mg.

My worst ever mistake was putting FOUR TIMES A DAY on a Dexamyl #2 Spansules prescription. The dosage was supposed to be ONCE A DAY. This was around 1967. The capsules contained 15mg of Dexedrine and amobarbital. They were a very popular diet product.

The husband came in with a look. He handed me the vial. “She hasn’t slept in 3 days. She cleaned my study and now I can’t find anything. I’ve never seen her so happy. She hates my mother and ran up a $50 phone bill talking to her like my mother was her best friend.”

I looked at the vial. Oh Oh. I had to tell the husband the truth. He frowned, said very little, and walked away. The Summer of Love in San Francisco. All daisies in her hair and live and love. Put that woman in Houston in 2008 and my ass is grass.

What prompted me to get personal liability insurance was an article about a woman suing Best Buy for $54 MILLION. You may be asking, “What the hell did Best Buy do?”

Best Buy DID NOTHING. This woman had a legitimate gripe. She bought the extended warranty from Best Buy on a laptop computer that went whammo on her. Best Buy lost the computer and stonewalled this woman. They lied to her and gave her the run-around. What did they think? That she was just going to forget the laptop? For months, she went without a computer. Finally, she had had enough.

She filed a suit for $54 MILLION. By now, Best Buy was falling all over themselves to settle for her original demand: $2,100. “Sorry,” she said, “Far too late.”

Makes you think, doesn’t it? I thought that I better cover myself. I bought the insurance. The premium for one year was $100.00. I know. You are laughing so hard you might hurt yourself.