Sunday, August 23, 2009

Workman's comp rant

I feel bad for people that get injured on the job and need to get their medications filled under workman's compensation. It's a real pain in the arse. Your doc gives you a script for the injury. You go to fill it, and woah... hold up... you thought you'd be getting it filled? Your comp needs to verify that your doc isn't just giving you drugs for fun, it has to be related to your comp claim. The drug needs prior auth. Comp needs to contact the adjustor, the adjustor needs to contact the doctor, and so on. According to them it should take 24-48 hours.
That's just what you want to hear when you're in pain RIGHT NOW.

I have one woman who has been waiting 3 weeks for comp to authorize her pain med. Keep in mind in my state scripts for controls expire after 30 days. Thankfully she doesn't use it very often, because this happens every month!

I go to run a refill for celebrex for another woman and get a DUR reject. I know from getting this reject before that they want the doctor to consider a generic COX II inhibitor. Comp is required to pay for whatever the doctor writes for this comp claim, but they still pull this crap. Why the hell are you (cough_express scripts WC_cough) having me do your dirty work? I've called this doc enough to know that yes, they wrote for celebrex because they want celebrex, not some generic.
Congratulations, you have sunk to a new low on a Friday (daytime) when you kept me on hold for 2 1/2 hours. I hung up. I tried to call to tell you what the doctor wanted, but I suppose this is your new crappy way of preventing people from getting their maintenance pain medications. Saying that you suck would be a compliment.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

CSA week 11

Peaches are here! For our fruit share we got 5 lbs of peaches and 2 lbs assorted plums and apricots. I was a little disappointed with how quickly the peaches started to turn. But hey, you never know what to expect, and I still made a peach tart before they all went bad. Here's everything else we got:

  • 1.5 lbs beans (green and wax)
  • 1 bunch collard greens
  • 1 bunch beets (swap for zucchini)
  • 6 ears corn
  • some tomatoes

Monday, August 10, 2009

CSA week 10

We just got back from Maine on Friday (well technically Saturday, due to a stop at the outlets on the way home) and my awesome dad picked up the share while we were away. I told them to eat whatever they wanted; I was kinda looking for a break from cooking all of the veggies. While they did take some (half of the spinach and blueberries, and the cilantro), there is still a ton left. We had:

  • 1 quart blueberries
  • a bunch of apricots and plums
  • 1 bunch radishes
  • 1 bunch spinach
  • 1 bunch beets
  • 2 zucchini
  • 1 bunch cilantro
As if that was not enough, we stopped at the local farmers market and picked up some fresh leeks and potatoes. Apparently the way to my hubby's heart is with soup. This time it was potato leek soup.

I am also trying to eat my abundance of zucchini- yesterday was a 2-recipe day, and I only used a third of our monster zucchini. We had Chocolate zucchini bread and Zucchini fritters. both were amaaaazingly good. I am always looking for recipes where you forget you're eating zucchini, so let me know if you have any ideas.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Advice for druggies

Here's some advice for all the addicts out there- ER docs do not write for a month supply of Lortab. If you think you're being clever by adding a zero to the end of what was originally #12, then you are going to go from getting 12 tabs to ZERO tabs.

I was off on the day this guy came in, and he was fully expecting 120 tablets. He even had the nerve to ask for the original twelve tablets!

Idiot.

I almost wish he came in on my day off. I have fun with people who try to pull one over me; I make them wish they never came to my pharmacy. If he asked me to fill it for the original twelve tablets after altering it, I would tell him my dilemma. If I fill it, I would be filling a script that has been altered in an attempt to procure additional tablets. Altering the script is against the law. If he asked me to fill it I would have to call the cops. Did you still want me to fill it?

I wonder if anyone would say yes?

It's been a slow week at the pharmacy. The most action I've had was a man in his fifties telling me that he loves his wife very much, but he had to let me know my teeth were very pretty, and that they were pearly white. This is from the same man who asked me a year ago what I do to get my hair to fall into place so perfectly. (For those who don't know me, the answer is: not much.)

Ending on a good note: a regular came to the counter for a pickup, she saw my name tag and said "you're the one I speak to on the phone all the time. You're always so helpful and nice".

Ma'am, you made my day.

CSA week 9

Yowzers. I have more than I can finish before my vacay. We're going to Maine! Yet why do I still want to go to red lobster? Pretty sad, huh? Well here's this week's bounty:

  • 4 zucchini
  • 2 bunches scalllions
  • 2 bunches swiss chard
  • 1 bunch beets
  • 1 head of cabbage
  • 2 lbs assorted apricots/plums/cherries
  • 1 quart blueberries
Success: braised cabbage with apples and cranberries to go with pork chops
Not-so success: kale chips. Too salty. Oh well, you don't know until you try them.