Me: "Is there any reason that you're ordering your medications several days early?"
Customer: "Oh, I'm going on a trip. Don't worry, I'm not building little pill houses out of them."
Monday 30 January 2012
Saturday 28 January 2012
Friday 27 January 2012
Vicodin Doesn't Exist Here
One big difference between a Canadian pharmacy and an American pharmacy is that one very popular pain reliever that is available in the States never made it across the border. That drug is Vicodin, a combination of hydrocodone and Tylenol. It has been known to become addictive, and many cross the border in hopes of finding it in Canada.
Unfortunately, no matter how many people ask at every pharmacy counter, Vicodin still does not exist in Canada. It may never exist in Canada. Even if it did exist in Canada, it would require a prescription.
Of course, this never stops people from trying, perhaps in the event that this medication has finally crossed the border and is waiting patiently for someone who does not have a prescription to ask for it.
The person who asks for Vicodin, only for me to tell them that their request is impossible, sometimes change tactics and then state something along the lines of, "Well, I bought it in Canada last time. From your pharmacy."
This tactic, while completely lacking in sense, is likely used in the event that it will prompt me to pull out the stash that we secretly keep in the back, just for people who ask us about it.
Instead, this tactic is usually met with the response, "Yeah, that didn't happen."
"Well, where can I buy it then?" Some are a little slower on the uptake and figure that just because one particular pharmacy does not have the product, then surely another one will.
"In the United States."
At this point they trend to either slink out with a dejected look our get huffy. Sometimes, they will ask a second time if there is anywhere local that sells Vicodin, because they did buy it in Canada the last time they were here, which was last summer.
As I told one particular client, who was getting rather aggressive about our lack of Vicodin, or perhaps our unwillingness to sell it to him, if you happened to have purchased it in the back alley from a guy wearing a trench coat, it really isn't my problem.
That usually ends the barrage of Vicodin-related questions.
Unfortunately, no matter how many people ask at every pharmacy counter, Vicodin still does not exist in Canada. It may never exist in Canada. Even if it did exist in Canada, it would require a prescription.
Of course, this never stops people from trying, perhaps in the event that this medication has finally crossed the border and is waiting patiently for someone who does not have a prescription to ask for it.
The person who asks for Vicodin, only for me to tell them that their request is impossible, sometimes change tactics and then state something along the lines of, "Well, I bought it in Canada last time. From your pharmacy."
This tactic, while completely lacking in sense, is likely used in the event that it will prompt me to pull out the stash that we secretly keep in the back, just for people who ask us about it.
Instead, this tactic is usually met with the response, "Yeah, that didn't happen."
"Well, where can I buy it then?" Some are a little slower on the uptake and figure that just because one particular pharmacy does not have the product, then surely another one will.
"In the United States."
At this point they trend to either slink out with a dejected look our get huffy. Sometimes, they will ask a second time if there is anywhere local that sells Vicodin, because they did buy it in Canada the last time they were here, which was last summer.
As I told one particular client, who was getting rather aggressive about our lack of Vicodin, or perhaps our unwillingness to sell it to him, if you happened to have purchased it in the back alley from a guy wearing a trench coat, it really isn't my problem.
That usually ends the barrage of Vicodin-related questions.
Wednesday 25 January 2012
Tuesday 24 January 2012
Dealing With Irate Clients
Irate clients happen. Some pharmacies deal with multiple angry people on a daily basis, and usually it's just accepted as a fact of life. Sometimes, the client is just too rude to bear.
While I was serving another client, one particular client calls to make an order. Taking an order from him is hit or miss- sometimes he will be civil, other times he will yell over every little thing until you begin to imagine popping his head like a giant, angry zit.
"I need all of my medications for tonight."
"Well, sir, you're twenty days early on ordering your medications. Is there any reason why you want it for tonight?" This response is met with a string of swearing and insults so long that there would have been time to run across the street to a coffee shop, buy whatever hot beverage requires the longest amount of time to make, and run back across the street to pick up the phone before the client realizes that you weren't there.
The coffee option is also a good one, because if anyone actually listened to the tirade it might give them incentive to replace all of these medications with assorted laxatives. Or large amounts of sedatives, so that the person might be too out of sorts to call back in ten days to reorder everything.
If those options are unavailable for lawsuit reasons, the creative visualisation method is quite effective. Sure, an anvil falling from the sky onto the person in question, Looney Tunes style, might never happen, it certainly helps de-stress a lot after hearing every swear word and insult of the English language.
There is also the satisfying option of simply hanging up the phone, but then there may be consequences more dire if the client calls back to continue their rant.
Calling the client out on their douche-y behaviour might work, but in the case of pharmacies, where crazies are a part of everyday happenings, it may just lead to more trouble than it's worth. In that case, visualising the client falling off a cliff can help immensely, and is at least free of consequences at work.
While I was serving another client, one particular client calls to make an order. Taking an order from him is hit or miss- sometimes he will be civil, other times he will yell over every little thing until you begin to imagine popping his head like a giant, angry zit.
"I need all of my medications for tonight."
"Well, sir, you're twenty days early on ordering your medications. Is there any reason why you want it for tonight?" This response is met with a string of swearing and insults so long that there would have been time to run across the street to a coffee shop, buy whatever hot beverage requires the longest amount of time to make, and run back across the street to pick up the phone before the client realizes that you weren't there.
The coffee option is also a good one, because if anyone actually listened to the tirade it might give them incentive to replace all of these medications with assorted laxatives. Or large amounts of sedatives, so that the person might be too out of sorts to call back in ten days to reorder everything.
If those options are unavailable for lawsuit reasons, the creative visualisation method is quite effective. Sure, an anvil falling from the sky onto the person in question, Looney Tunes style, might never happen, it certainly helps de-stress a lot after hearing every swear word and insult of the English language.
There is also the satisfying option of simply hanging up the phone, but then there may be consequences more dire if the client calls back to continue their rant.
Calling the client out on their douche-y behaviour might work, but in the case of pharmacies, where crazies are a part of everyday happenings, it may just lead to more trouble than it's worth. In that case, visualising the client falling off a cliff can help immensely, and is at least free of consequences at work.
Friday 20 January 2012
Thursday 19 January 2012
Canada, the magical land of prescription medications
Medication availability varies depending on each country. For example, a medication that is available in the United States might not be available in Canada for a variety of reasons. There also appears to be a large misconception of what medications are available with or without a prescription in Canada.
One day, shortly after I had started working at a pharmacy in downtown Montreal, a client came in to the pharmacy with a prescription to be filled. The prescription was for Ambien, a popular sleeping pill in the US that was not yet available in Canada. Another problem is that the law prohibits a Canadian pharmacy from accepting a prescription from a doctor outside of the country. I politely explained this to the client.
Her response: "But a doctor told me that I can buy whatever I want in Canada!"
This response, to me, invokes the image of the magical land up north where prescription meds are sold like candies. All medications available, just ask and we'll give you anything you want! After all, didn't everyone know that morphine is used as currency in Canada?
If only it worked like that. But unfortunately, the prescription medication fairies won't be waving their wands so painkillers will magically appear.
It also didn't help that the medication the client was requesting did not actually exist in Canada at the time.
One day, shortly after I had started working at a pharmacy in downtown Montreal, a client came in to the pharmacy with a prescription to be filled. The prescription was for Ambien, a popular sleeping pill in the US that was not yet available in Canada. Another problem is that the law prohibits a Canadian pharmacy from accepting a prescription from a doctor outside of the country. I politely explained this to the client.
Her response: "But a doctor told me that I can buy whatever I want in Canada!"
This response, to me, invokes the image of the magical land up north where prescription meds are sold like candies. All medications available, just ask and we'll give you anything you want! After all, didn't everyone know that morphine is used as currency in Canada?
If only it worked like that. But unfortunately, the prescription medication fairies won't be waving their wands so painkillers will magically appear.
It also didn't help that the medication the client was requesting did not actually exist in Canada at the time.
Wednesday 18 January 2012
Monday 16 January 2012
Sunday 15 January 2012
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