Senseless Lives Lost... While Raising A Perplexing Question

Pharmacy is a unique professional career because unlike that of a doctor or a dentist or a chiropractor, retail pharmacists often come face to face with violence. It's fact that we all must deal with whether we like it or not.

One of the quirks that is never covered in the schools or pamphlets, it is something that I covered earlier this year simply to open other's eyes.

A story mentioned in passing to me earlier today brought an interesting question as a possible response to this unpleasant facet of our profession.

NORTH HIGHLANDS, Calif. -- A shootout in the Sacramento suburbs has left a pharmacy worker dead and police hunting for two drugstore robbers.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran says two men walked into a Rexall pharmacy Thursday afternoon and demanded drugs.

Curran said the robbers and an armed employee began firing at each other in the store in a chaotic gun battle that continued into the parking lot. He said investigators are still trying to sort out who fired first.

The sheriff's department says a 27-year-old pharmacy employee died after being shot in the chest. Curran says a 37-year-old employee who was eight months pregnant was shot in the foot.

The employee involved in the shooting was not injured.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/03/AR2010090305519.html

The initial thought may be to applaud the pharmacy worker for not taking the situation lying down... until you considered the lives lost.

After discussing the article, naturally the debate evolved to questioning the validity of a conceal and carry permit being employed in a pharmacy for protection.
Here I shall offer a bit of a disclaimer: I have no problem with the second amendment and all the rights it bestows. If the Constitution said that it was okay for people to walk around wearing chicken suits and flinging shit at each other, I would accept it and move on with my life.

This isn't intended to be a public service announcement.

Now some of the statements made alluded to the fact that it is too bad more places do not allow such permits to be invoked while working in a pharmacy. Obviously the logic being that the profession could be dangerous at times and we should have a chance to protect ourselves.

My initial logic is a resounding no.

First off, we are deemed professionals by the schools we intended, our peers and even by the government. We do not cover a course studying Rambo in our schooling. Additionally we have a duty to protect our patients and, I would think, a situation like this would fall under that oath. And I do not think putting their lives in harm's way anymore than they already are is a wise idea.

Second, pharmacies are usually a fairly small and confined areas. The person in question is probably already nervous and is most likely bluffing (even the most whacked out of methhead's are going to realize it will be difficult to get away with shooting someone in a public pharmacy).

By threatening back you are effectively kicking the situation up a notch and perhaps making said person panic. The vast majority of the time I hear of shootings in a pharmacy, it is due to someone trying to be a hero and antagonizing the situation.

Plus there is also the risk of giving said person the option of yet another weapon if things go even more wrong.

I've been in this situation. It's not fun and it's more stressful than most of you can imagine. With adrenalin running, you do jump into survival mode and almost run on autopilot.

I completely get the part.

What I don't get is the logic behind going this route. A woman... no, a co-worker is dead and another pregnant co-worker is injured because someone decided to fight back and one could argue that part of the reason for this is the actions of the co-worker. You have no idea if the criminal in question is merely pushing buttons or if they actually have the ability to take a life. Surprisingly, most do not have the power to do so unless pushed.

Plus, it's one thing if it's just you and the criminal, but it is another thing when you are endangering those around you.

My question is if there are any other thoughts about this? I may have completely missed the point on this or I could be completely in the right.

I honestly don't know.

A Good Day In The Pharmacy

I had one helluva of a productive day during my Friday shift. I nabbed four, count them, FOUR seekers in one day, all in separate circumstances.

It had been a rather dreary stretch as I hadn't come across anyone worth busting in about four months now. Personally I like doing a little PI work at work, makes me feel like Matlock... you know because of all the old people and fixodent in the store.

My favorite is I busted someone who has been using three different docs with three pharmacists for at least seven years. I went to bill her fioricet and it came up rejected as an early refill which was weird because she wasn't early at all.

The insurance in question has a knack for giving false rejects, so I figured I'd call them and have them fix whatever the fucked up this time.

Oops.

Turnout one of her pharmacies auto filled her fioricet under her insurance on accident on the sixth. As I inquired more I found out about the other pharmacy and doc.

Ruh oh.

I call pharmacy number one and they talk about what a sweet lady she is and that they hoped she wasn't transferring out. Needless to say they were more than a little surprised when I explained the situation.

Pharmacy number two was a big chain who didn't seem to give a rat's ass, which is somewhat typical around here.

You guys wanna know the best part? She had a narc contract too. With TWO docs.

How the hell she had pulled this off, I have no idea, but I give her props. Sadly, there will be no more fioricet or tramadol or hydrocodone or phentermine or any other fun things.

I suppose the best part is she really has no idea until her appointment next Monday... when there will be a phone conference with three very pissed off docs.

Damn I wish I could be there for that.

And that was just one of the four today. Like I said, it was a bitchin' day all day long. Maybe I should start a secondary business some day.

Phathead, R.Ph. - Private Eye

It's got a nice ring to it, no?

Beware of the Elderly

I have stated several times that many of my coworkers are not... well they are not the most astute employees in the world. Some of them I am surprised they can pick the right drug when filling a script half the time.

Yes, they really are that bad.

I was having my tour at the counter about mid-afternoon after processing scripts all morning. I try to do a little bit of everything during a day when working with other people just to give them a change of pass. I see labels appear for Tramadol, Augmentin and Lortab for a 77 year old gentleman. The dosing appeared to be that similar of a some type of surgery, so I didn't think much of it.

And then the pharmacist handed me the hard copy. All it was was the discharge orders the man was given upon leaving the hospital.

Of course in my mind red flags went up immediately. No DEA number, no signature, just bare bones information. The pharmacist stated that the elderly man said this was all he had been given and didn't know what else he would need.

On a whim I decided to press the man. It was one of those gut feelings you always hear detectives getting on tv. I mentioned that we would have to contact the doctor to get proper prescriptions before we could dispense these meds. It was a bit of a tug of war match until he finally grumbled that he would see if he had them in his car.

A minute later he walked back in the store, scrawl on his face, with the hard copies in hand.

Ruh oh. Did I bust grandpa's little scheme?

He went from being cheerful to a downright asshole in about 4.2 seconds when I called him out. The kicker is that the hard copies had a much lower quantity (I'm talking like 12 tabs for the Tramadol, etc) than what was stated on the discharge notice. Obviously the doc on call was somewhat aware of the situation.

Thus, the more of the story is beware of the elderly. Then can be crafty drug seekers too. Plus they have canes. And canes hurt, trust me.

The Dark Side of Pharmacy

As the sun covered the ground with its rays in an attempt to perpetrate the first warm day of the year, we sat plugging along in the pharmacy. It was a typical day, nothing out of the ordinary.

Lunch came and went. The order came and went. Soon it was about three o'clock and we successfully filled over 200 prescriptions. For the time being, there was nothing in the queue so we all took a chance to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the young girl in the hoodie come through the back door of the pharmacy. It was nothing unusual for this time of year and I paid no attention to it. In the midst of discussing the some random fact I heard a voice murmur,

"I'm so sorry."

I looked towards the direction of that voice, which just so happened to be directly in front of our consultation window. There stood the girl in the hoodie with my manager. And a knife pressed to her neck.

"Here," she said and handed me a piece of paper. Hastfully scribbled in blue ink on that crumpled piece of paper said the following words:

Give me all of your Oxycontin and no one gets hurt. Do not call the police.

I looked up to our pharmacist, our eyes locked and he immediately knew what was wanted. Sadly, this was not his first time in this situation.

Together we walked over to our controls cabinet, unlocked it, and began emptying the requested bottles into a white sack. No words were spoken. No words needed to be spoken.

He stayed back to relock the cabinet as I carried the sack towards the window. The girl still stood there, her hands shaking. As I gave her the bag she slowly walked backwards, my manager still in hand. A few feet back from the counter she pushed her away and darted out the door.

Out of instinct I flew out of the pharmacy after her. I wasn't thinking of what I would do, it was just a reaction. By the time I ran out the door she was in a car speeding away.

Walking back into the pharmacy everyone was frozen. I stepped back into the pharmacy and hit our silent alarm. From some direction, to this day I do not know who said it, came the phrase,

"What the fuck."

The whole experience was slightly surreal, almost as if you have stepped back and are watching a movie of yourself. Adrenaline kicks in and saves you from completely breaking down... at least at that moment.

Why do I share this?

So often we share stories about addicts and crazy customers and do so in humorous tone. The thing is, some of them are really not all that humorous. It's merely a way to cope with what we see on a daily basis.

As cliche as it may sound, that day a part of me died. The innocent part that still believed things of that nature did not really occur. It was almost as if part of the joy I see in the world died a little bit that day.

Now when ever I see someone with a hoodie pulled up over their head, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It's almost an innate response now. Little quirks that previously were ignored are now highlighted with the possibility of a repeat occurrence.

It is really funny how something like that can change you. It's one of the few experiences that I really do not find any humor at all.

Why haven't I told this story after having this blog for well over two years and over 300 posts? I really have no idea. Why do I share this story now? In prepping for an upcoming interview one of the questions asked, "Name a moment in which you excelled in a difficult situation."

Honestly the only answer I can think of is that day. After the event I spent the next three hours defusing various aspects of the situation. That included driving to the location where the police eventually found them and identifying them.

There is something insanely sobering about sitting in the back of a police car when they remove another person, with guns drawn, in order for you to identify them. Especially when you considered what you just witnessed mere hours ago.

It was the only time in my life I have ever felt truly proud of how I conducted myself. And its the only time that completely answers that question.

I guess the real reason I've decided to finally share this is so that those of you who do visit this blog realize that it is not always fun and games behind the pharmacy counter. Sure we can joke about situations, but in the end not everything is truly as humorous as it seems.

That kind of goes against everything I believe in as a person. Ironic is it not?

The Batman Has Returned

Man it's been a long time since I've done any crime fighting and I completely forgot how enjoyable it can be.

So I'm filling in at a store for the day, a store I typically do not work at, and thus far it has been rather uneventful. I decide to take a minute to go replenish my empty Mountain Dew bottle when I see a gentleman sitting in chairs.

He looks familiar, but I can't place him. God that pisses me off when that happens. I ask the clerk if he's waiting, she replies yes, so I go to check the name to satisfy my own curiosity.

I look at the name and it dawns on me on who it is.

Now for a little back history;

A few weeks back we had a script set up for delivery go missing. For whatever reason our clerk had left them on the edge of the counter and went about with the rest of her work. Of course it would have to be a hydrocodone/apap script. At about the same time a guy and his wife show up to pick up some prescription. Noticing the delivery and its location he and his wife devise a fairly sophisticated system to grab the prescription.

Gotta hand it to them, this was one of the most sophisticated, and ballsy, maneuver that I have seen yet. This was in front of other customers and everyone in the pharmacy. Thank God I wasn't working that day.

Anywho we figured out what happened, watched the video and had been working for a week to put together a case against him.

Low and behold the same dude, with his wife, was sitting in chairs. When I looked at the scripts I realized that they were for him, but with a different name and birthday. For hydrocodone and diazepam. And he wanted to pay cash.

Jackpot.

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, Batman!


I exit the pharmacy immediately so he doesn't recognize me as he is a regular at my main store.

I quickly call my manager to let her know of the situation and she is flabbergasted that he would even attempt such a thing after what he did previously. Now we have to figure out if we can confirm that it is actually the same person. I'm only 95% sure it's him, but I don't want to get an innocent man arrested.

So I tell our pharmacist to pull out the HIPPA forms and ask him to see an ID. I watch the pharmacist talk to him over the security cameras, but then the guy and his wife exit the store The RPh comes back and says that he didn't have one on him.

Rats, plan foiled. Or is it?

A few minutes later he strolls back in the store with an ID. An ID with his REAL name on it.

What a fucking dumbass.

I spring in to motion calling 911 and give them the details of the situation. They state they'll send some officers to our location immediately.

Wicked.

Then I notice, for whatever reason, they are letting him leave after paying for the scripts. I grab two co-workers and tell them to go outside by the parking lot and get info on the vehicle they get into. As he leaves, they come back in and tell me what they saw.

I call dispatch back and update them. As I'm relaying all the details the dispatcher goes "And..... we got them, thanks." and then hangs up.

Turns out the guy took about thirty hydrocodone 10/500mg and 20 diazepam 10mg as he was being pulled over. Naturally he OD'd, but they managed to empty his stomach upon arrival at the local hopsital.

He had a few other warrants out as well, so upon being released from the hospital he was tossed in the clink. At least we can find him when we finish our case against him now.

I decided to go to the urgent care, which is just down the road from us, where he had gotten the Rxs to talk to the doc. I wanted to know if there were any other scripts floating out there because this guy obviously had cojones of epic proportion.

When I explained to him the situation he was shocked. Apparently he came in with a neck brace and, what appeared to be, spasms. Then, naturally, he became very pissed off and flagged the hell out of his profile(s) in their system.

The next day we found out that he had pulled the same thing at two other Urgent Cares and had them called into two other pharmacies.

But I foiled his evil plan muhahahahahahhaha.

Seriously what bad luck does this son of a bitch have to come into a store where I just happen to be working. If I hadn't been there, no one would know who he was. That makes me giggle even more.

To top it off, he is the 20th person I have sent to jail in my five year tenure here. I feel like I should get a cake or a gold watch or something.

And they say pharmacy is boring at times...

I feel safe!

For those newer readers, or those who just stumbled upon this, the pharmacy I work at has been robbed a couple times since I've been there. Ya know, hostages, Oxy, police, all that jazz. I come into work today after having a three-day mini-vacation and see the following sign posted on our pharmacy door which faces the public:



Cute isn't it? I can already see future events...

Shit-For-Brains #1: Aight, let's go knock of this place and get us our shit
Shit-For-Brains #2: Damn straight, we makin a fuck-load of money tonight
*Both walk in the front door of the pharmacy*
SFB#1: You go around and take the side door while I cover the front
SFB#2: Fo sho...... ah shit man
SFB#1: What is it?
SFB#2: Look at this sign man. Did you know we could get 20 years in prison for doin' this?
SFB#1: No shit? I thought they'd just like tell you not to do it again.
SFB#2: Maybe we shouldn't do this then
SFB#1: You know what, you're right. And maybe we should stop doin' shit like this. Maybe go back to school and start going to church and stuff.
SFB#2: Yeah! That's a great idea! Good thing they put that sign on the door!
SFB#1: No kidding! Now let's ride our unicorns back to our homes and think about what we almost did.

And that is exactly what would happen if you were trippin' on acid when you put up that sign. Are you fucking kidding me? I'll be sure the next time we're robbed I'll point out that sign. Maybe they'll change their mind then.

Batman Returns

It was a normal day in the ghetto. People getting their Lortabs, buying their cigs, letting their kids roam the streets. Needless to say I was in a pretty good mood because I had been at work for two hours and had not gotten yelled at for not knowing how much our eggs are. I was stoked.

About noon we found out that one of our customers had a warrant out for her arrest. Don't ask me how, but we always seem to find this kind of shit out about them. A few minutes later this person then walks in the door to drop off a prescription. My day just got better.


Oh yes it was time to put on the batsuit. Now this woman whom I shall now call Winona, more on that in a sec, was dropping off her usual Methadone script. We know she isn't probably in the best frame of mind considering she takes 180mg of Methadone a day, but I was not considering this. I was ready to put criminals behind bars!

Winona states that she'd be back in an hour and I immediately spring into action. I first call the court house to confirm that the warrant is still active (just to be sure) and it is. Turns out she's been wanted for theft for about three weeks. Thus why I am calling her Winona after the theft happy actress Winona Ryder. It was time to spring into action.

I waited patiently for Winona to come back and sure enough she did. She was in a rather chipper mood today, almost made me feel guilty for bustin' her ass. Oh well. I went in the back and dialed our friendly police station. They told me they would send a squad over right away. Bitchin'. I proceed to stall her for the next ten minutes. Shoot the shit, that kind of general stuff. I am a master at this kinda crap, its really remarkable.

During this time I get a phone call from our nursing facility. It turns out that the police were a little confused and went there instead. Dumbasses. I correct them and they say they'll be here in another ten minutes. Time for more stalling in which I create this wonderfully elaborate story on why her prescription is taking so long. Seriously I should write a book on how to make up this shit.

Finally the squad arrives and they come in the front door, one down each aisle. The look on her face when she turned around was utterly priceless. Its that same look a teenage boy gets when his mom walks in on him masturbating. Makes me wish I woulda had a camera. Winona proceeds to argue that she doesn't really have a warrant and all this other bs. Obviously she's not as good at making stuff up as I am.

Finally she asks if she can just get her drugs and she'll go to the station. They agree to let her do that before they cuff her. Now this is the kicker are you ready....

She took the prescription without paying. She was being arrested for theft and then technically stole her prescription in front of the police officers. How fucking awesome is that. I mean good Lord it does not get any sweeter than that.

I watched her get cuffed and tossed in the back of the police car and taken away. She did shoot me a rather nasty look as she was leaving, probably because she knows what I was doing. In any case it was the most fun day of work I have had in quite a while. I should bring the batsuit out more often...

You haven't lived until theres an assult rifle pointed at you...

Just another day in the ghetto. Lil Lortab here, lil Oxy there. And it was snowing making kind of pretty... well as pretty as the ghetto can look.

The pharmacist next to me gets a phone call, and looks kind of confused. He asks me if I had dialed 911 and that one of the alarms had been pressed. I go and look around and check all of them, but they appeared to be fine.

As I go in the back again the pharmacist puts the phone down and says we need to walk out the front door with our hands up. I, of course, think he's just shitting me seeing as we were just plotting a prank on a co-worker 30 minutes prior. He says no, he's serious, we have to leave now. So I go and walk out the front door.

And there stands 9 police officers. One with an assult rifle pointed directly at the door, another with a 9mm off to the side. They then storm the building to check and see what the issue is. All of us (5 employees and 2 customers, including a 5 year old) were searched and questioned. Seeing as this was my regular store I went in with the lead guy and went through the store with him and found everything to be just fine. We chalked it up to some kind of glitch in our security system and they went on their way.

Now one could look at this as a bad thing. But I think of it as I got a free 15 minute break from work, got some fresh air, and since we had to have our hands up I got to stretch for a lil while. Needless to say I felt a little refreshed when we went back to work. The joys of the ghetto...

I am Batman

Fear not people of my city, for I am the one who protects the innocent from harm, who puts criminals behind bars. Yes... I am Batman!

I'm seriously thinking of wearing my underwear on the outside of my clothes and wearing a cape to work after this week. Lets get a little back history before we delve into my adventures.

The main pharmacy I work at is in the ghetto portion of the city. And by ghetto I mean "I don't have the $1.00 for my son's seizure meds, but I can buy a $5 pack of Marb Reds" kind of neighborhood. I have worked there for three years (as of the 1st) and during my time this is what has occurred.

1. We have been broken into, by my count, bout 7 or 8 times in three years. It is never drugs taken. Nor cash from the open register drawers. No they always steal just the cigs. Kinda strange when you think about it.
2. I have confiscated 9 fake $50/$100 bills
3. I have had to call the police on 9 separate occasions
4. After sending a fella to jail, had a couple strikes against him already, for passing some fake cash he decided to come visit me after he was released, seeing as all he remembered was my first name. He sat for 15 minutes fiddling in his jacket pocket thanking me for helping him find God and the likes before he finally left. Needless to say I had a few lil streaks in my shorts.
5. I have witness a woman grab our 70 year old pharmacist by the neck when he refused to dispense her pain medication (she was an abuser)
6. I have had to throw people out of the store for coming in with guns poking out of their jeans
7. We have been robbed twice, both times taking someone hostage with a weapon, both times asking for Oxycontin. They were caught the second time however and I had to joy of id'ing them and filing plenty of paperwork for the courts.
8. During the 2nd robbery attempt they found a car that had been stolen from Chicago in our parking lot (it was unrelated from the robbery)
9. Recently our manager was caught trying to sell Vicodan (which she stole from our store) to an undercover cop. More paper work for me. Yay

There are numerous other lil incidents I'm forgetting, but needless to say I know most of the cops in the area by first name. I have personally gotten 5 people arrested, probably the most interesting being someone thrown to the ground just outside our front door with a gun to him.

Now back to this week....

Wednesday was merely an ordinary day. Or so I thought. As I arrive I am quickly informed that our pharmacist, when checking on an iffy script of a patient, somehow found out that the guy had a warrant out for his arrest. As soon as he was to arrive we were to detain him and call the police. Well he showed up, I went back to the 'bat phone' (yes we have a red bat phone for emergencies) and dialed 911. As he walked out the front door the police stormed him and he took off like a fat kid after a cake. The cops ended up chasing him for several blocks before he trying OD'ing on the Hydromorphone he just received from us. Luckily for him, but perhaps not for his butthole, he survived.

The excitement for the day was over... or so I thought.

Two weeks prior to this we had taken a Tramadol Rx from a girl. I immediately flagged it and alerted it to the pharmacist. 1) It was a DDS writing for a quantity of 60 which is strange in itself and 2) All she ever got from us was Tramadol, from 4 different stores, all cash. Yet he filled it anyway.

A week later we find out that she had stolen a blank Rx pad from this dentist and was writing out forged prescriptions all over the city. Well, the genius that she is, called in for the refill on her forged script.... 20 minutes after we got the last guy arrested.

We alerted the police, who stated they would have some squads in the area for the next couple hours. It would be the same pharmacist and I from the last time she was there. As she walks in the door I recognize her immediately. The pharmacist does not and actually buys her spiel as she asks questions for her 'kid'. I go back to dial 911 on the 'bat phone' again and after I get off the phone I see she is gone. Turns out she forgot her money.

So the police come and go and I ask them to wait around because she said she'd be back shortly. They do not. And she comes back. I dial 911 only to hear them say that they have no squads in the area.. shift change. The pharmacist and I decide to give her only 12 of the 60 and send her on her way. Not even 2 minutes out of the store she calls and asks where the rest of them are. I politely tell her they'll be in the order at 10am the next morning and she can get them then.

Now we are on Day 2 of our sting operation. She shows up twice, but is extremely antsy and impatient and doesn't wait longer than 30 seconds. Police misses her both times. Today, Day 3, her boyfriend shows up. The clerk is legitimately held up by another patient as I go to the 'bat phone' once again. He grows impatient and leaves soon after. Cop shows up a minute later. And then, the geniuses they are, they park 5 squads on the corners around the store. Sure, they're gonna come in now!

Tomorrow will be Day 4 of our operation. I talked to her, once again, before I left today and she stated that she would be in sometime on Saturday. Hopefully we can nab her then.

So you see, I truly am like Batman. She shall be the seventh criminal I take off the street. Don't think they'll have a class on this stuff in pharmacy school...