Legal Requirement Vs Work Process
Another fine example of Singaporean stupidity.
This man's mom lost her prescription, and ran out of medicine. Problem: her next appointment is in half a year's time and under the Poisons Act and Medicines Act we are not allowed to dispense without a prescription. Tried explaining to the son that I cannot give him any medicine without a prescription as it is a legal requirement, but he kept asking me if there is a record on our computer system that showed the balance medicine on her mother's prescription.
Look stupid, I have already said many times that we do have a record, but the record is only to facilitate our work process, ie it cuts down the processing time as we do not have to re-key all the medicine prescribed. It DOES NOT replace the requirement for a legally valid prescription. Besides, if I were to dispense without a prescription, I will probably lose my licence. Much as I hate my job, I do not want to leave it in this manner.
Stupid man kept saying he understood the need for a prescription, but then turned around and say it is essentially the work process that I cannot get around. If I can be flexible with the work process then I can give him the medicine. What a total retard! Essentially he did not understand a single word of what I had said.
The keeping of a record on our computer system is part of a work process. Anybody practising in pharmacy uses a computer system to track their patients' past medicine usage, it does not mean you can just waltz in and start saying stupid things like "Oh you have my record, just give me the medicine." Which program I use, and how I process the prescription is essentially part of the work process. The law does not dictate anything about how I should go about doing it. The actual dispensing and sale of medicine to a patient, this part is controlled by the law. This is not a work process. It is something that is uniformly practised throughout the whole of Singapore by all pharmacists. Without a prescription, you can talk till the cows come home, and nobody would dispense a single thing to you.
To end off, he said, "Do you know from a layman point of view, this whole thing sounds stupid. How do I know that I need a prescription for the purchase of the medicine." I am very sorry if the law sounds stupid to you, but it is for the safety of the masses who are not trained doctors or pharmacists. Medicines are all poisons unless used correctly, and licensed doctors and pharmacists are people who are trained to use the medicine properly. I am bounded by the law, am not above the law, and the only thing I can help it to ask the clinic to get another doctor to write a prescription for the medicine. Other than that do not expect to give you any prescription-only medicine without a prescription!
This man's mom lost her prescription, and ran out of medicine. Problem: her next appointment is in half a year's time and under the Poisons Act and Medicines Act we are not allowed to dispense without a prescription. Tried explaining to the son that I cannot give him any medicine without a prescription as it is a legal requirement, but he kept asking me if there is a record on our computer system that showed the balance medicine on her mother's prescription.
Look stupid, I have already said many times that we do have a record, but the record is only to facilitate our work process, ie it cuts down the processing time as we do not have to re-key all the medicine prescribed. It DOES NOT replace the requirement for a legally valid prescription. Besides, if I were to dispense without a prescription, I will probably lose my licence. Much as I hate my job, I do not want to leave it in this manner.
Stupid man kept saying he understood the need for a prescription, but then turned around and say it is essentially the work process that I cannot get around. If I can be flexible with the work process then I can give him the medicine. What a total retard! Essentially he did not understand a single word of what I had said.
The keeping of a record on our computer system is part of a work process. Anybody practising in pharmacy uses a computer system to track their patients' past medicine usage, it does not mean you can just waltz in and start saying stupid things like "Oh you have my record, just give me the medicine." Which program I use, and how I process the prescription is essentially part of the work process. The law does not dictate anything about how I should go about doing it. The actual dispensing and sale of medicine to a patient, this part is controlled by the law. This is not a work process. It is something that is uniformly practised throughout the whole of Singapore by all pharmacists. Without a prescription, you can talk till the cows come home, and nobody would dispense a single thing to you.
To end off, he said, "Do you know from a layman point of view, this whole thing sounds stupid. How do I know that I need a prescription for the purchase of the medicine." I am very sorry if the law sounds stupid to you, but it is for the safety of the masses who are not trained doctors or pharmacists. Medicines are all poisons unless used correctly, and licensed doctors and pharmacists are people who are trained to use the medicine properly. I am bounded by the law, am not above the law, and the only thing I can help it to ask the clinic to get another doctor to write a prescription for the medicine. Other than that do not expect to give you any prescription-only medicine without a prescription!
posted by Yamosh at 6:55 PM
10 Comments:
he's probably desperate. but stupidly desperate...
~coughing witch
i think you are stupid and the customer is right. singaporeans in general cannot think independently and are basically slaves to procedures and have lost the ability to think creatively. i'm wondering why one cannot call the doctor, get him to write a new prescription and fax it if possible? surely it is on his records...furthermore, if it is on his records, then that is all you need to satisfy your records...give the medicine to the patient and pharmacist and doctor can work it out while the patient receives meds. regardless, there is something that collectively can be figured it. so yeah, it is stupid...only stupid on your part. but then again, after living in singapore for a number of years i would expect no more and no less then a scared or uncaring attitude instead of a helpful one...uniquely singapore :)
For my reply pls go to this link.
I'm not familiar with Singaporean law regarding prescriptions, but from what you've written, it would seem that there aren't any provisions for doctors allowing for refills of existing prescriptions ahead of time.
Here in the USA, the doctor may write at the bottom of the prescription "Refill x3" or whatever; for the next fill, you call in with the prescription number, and they look it up in the computer (or in the old days, in the file box) and refill it. (Such refills expire one year from date written, except for controlled substances which are only good for six months. Drugs listed in Schedule II of the Controlled Substance Act, e.g. oxycodone, methylphenidate, etc, can't be refilled at all.) Sounds like your customer may have been used to the American system.
Of course this doesn't stop people from calling in for refills they can't get, either because the year's up, or they've used up the refills authorised, or maybe the doctor never authorised any in the first place. I had one customer who would always save his old bottles, and when I told him there were no refills left, he'd triumphantly present the vial and say, "Look, it says may refill two times!" Sure, genius, that bottle is dated August, now it's November, you used those two refills in September and October. "Well this one says refill one time." Yeah, and you used *that* one in July. They don't seem to realise that I can see in the computer that those refills are gone: maybe they think they can fool me by presenting those old vials.
Shalom
Ok, so what happens when you HAVE refills (in the US) and it's day 29 since you last got a refill and it's time to get a new one..however, your stupid insurance is going through the "end of year" growing pains and they wont pay for it, so they mistakingly use the terminology "it's too soon" (which means for THEM to pay for it, NOT the script refill) and you say fine, you'll pay cash because this happens every end of year/start of new one and your pharmacist is the difficult one, even while LOOKING at your last refill date, she STILL says she wont fill it "early" and "offers" to fill it on day 32! (Both are maintenance drugs needed daily)..what exactly is your recourse here? I tried asking just what type of math is she using, how many days in a month does she think there is?
Seriously, it's not only the customer but I've seen the Pharmacist be the problem, MANY times.
Okay, I've been busy so I didn't reply to Shalom's comment, but here goes.
We do have a "refill" system in Singapore, except we call it "repeat". So, if the Dr writes Atenolol 50mg OM x 2mths x 2 rpts, it means the patient gets a total of 6mths meds, but max is 2mths for each collection. Each collection has to be at least 3 days after the previous collection.
In addition, we do not hold on to patients' partially filled Rxs. Partially filled Rxs are returned to the patients so they have the choice of picking up their meds from another pharmacy without fuss. After dispensing, each pharmacy will indicate the date of dispensing, the amount dispensed, the balance quantity on the Rx, and keep a copy of the Rx per legal requirement as evidence of the meds dispensed to the patient. The original Rx will eventually be kept by the pharmacy which dispense the final collection.
Insurance claims for meds is not as common as in US. Most times, pharmacies do not process insurance claims for patients. Patients have to be responsible for their own claims, by submitting the necessary documents to their insurance agents/companies for claims.
I posted my dilemma on another "Pharmacist" blog, it seems to me that there are quite a few out there that have preconceived notions about situations. If someone comes in with a script for pain killers, automatically, they are "pill heads"
I'm on exactly *2* meds, never get them early, never make up stupid stories about how I "lost my entire bottle", dont go "doctor shopping" (been with the same one over 7 years) dont go to ER's or the equivalent for pain meds, but I had a legitimate question because I had problems getting my legit refills (which one also was for my heart) and I'll tell you the responses I got:
1. I was "obviously" a pillhead looking to fill another script for vicodin that I just got yesterday (I dont take that crap btw, the strongest I will take is t3 with codeine)
2. My "chronic pain" is probably "oh, I hurt my toe" and I must be faking in order to look for my next "fix"
(another piece of proof I have there that most pharmacists have a preconceived view that all people on pain meds are addicts, it doesn't matter that I have had JRA since age 13, that just about every joint in my body is damaged, I walk around with elbows stuck at a 90 degree angle, wrists that wont bend and fingers that are completely deformed, but instead of being classified/labeled as disabled, I fight to be as "normal" as possible and actually CONTRIBUTE to society as best as I can, instead of being a burden, which is why I mentioned, I'm 3rd year in med school, working toward my MD/PHD AND I also work with house members in the political arena) but that other blog, all pharmacists jumped on the band wagon, not knowing my medical history, as MOST PHARMACISTS DONT and say stuff like "yeah, I would have thrown you out of MY pharmacy, your obviously a addict looking to score" even though my heart medicine was ALSO denied a refill.
So, of course I got it all straightened out, it was a combination of the Pharmacist, a tech and the insurance fault, if they actually COMMUNICATED, it wouldnt have blown up like this.
The tech entered in the wrong contact # for my doctor (of 7 years), the NEW pharmacist wanted to contact the doctor because the insurance came back as denied, the insurance (I just found out after days on the phone and FINALLY spoke to the director of the pharmacy part of the Insurance Co., which btw, the other blog claims that "sounds fishy"..yeah right, cause it shows I'm contacting every agency possible (including the state board of Pharmacy) to straighten this out, doesn't sound like something an ADDICT would do, right? Why would an addict put the spotlight on themselves? THEY WOULDN'T...
They have 2 computers, one was messed up, showing that I had no benefits (but my hubby did) and was told to pay cash, keep the receipt and submit the claim in and they would pay.
The MANAGER of the pharmacy finally came back from holiday, fixed this whole thing and told me she'd write up the pharmacist who gave me such a difficult time, but *I* understand that because of the SEQUENCE of events, red flags came up in her head (wrong number for doctor, for all she knew, he either wasnt practicing anymore or there wasnt such a doc, the insurance denying claims..etc..all those together made it look bad, even though I do put ALOT of the blame on the insurance since they dont have the number the pharmacist NEEDS to talk to available, they talk with a CSR at the business end that knows nothing)
SO, the thing is here, if your a Pharmacist, TRY not to judge a customer, you DONT know their medical history(you don't have a right to WRITE a script and you can't CHANGE a script, so stop practicing healthcare and admit it..you DO), you dont know that they might be having problems with the insurance company through no fault of their own, you DONT know that one of YOUR techs screwed up and put the doctors contact number in wrong. Not every person that walks in is a addict, next time there may be legal problems against you, because these people who AREN'T addicts, WILL fight for the right for healthcare that is being denied by YOU solely on the basis that YOU "THINK" anyone taking anything stronger than an aspirin..is a crack addict. You can't be any more wrong!
So, that's what I'M suggesting to all the pharmacists out there, 'cause honestly, next time, not only will I agree to have you written up, I will start bringing legal action.
Gee anonymous, you posted your whine on another blog and now you will pollute this one also. I am a pharmacist and although I cannot WRITE a prescription I can legally REFUSE to fill YOUR prescription for any reason I wish. I do not have to give a reason. I just have to direct you to the next nearest pharmacy.
Also, go ahead and threaten legal action. I dare you to take it against the pharmacist that gave you so much grief. Try to find an attorney to take your case and be prepared to shell out big dollars to pay for his services. You have to prove damages, of which you have none to win a suit.
So do me a favor and stay away from my place of work. My patients dont whine and trust my judgement and dont threaten others and know the difference between you're and your and how to use it correctly in a sentence.
I get a lot of foreigners who come to me to buy med for exports. Every now and then there will be the kuku foreigner who refuses to show me his passport/ticket cos he "already got records" already.
You know what I do to them? I take their passports and refuse to return it to them. Then I will smile at them and say, "I am sure Customs also have your records!"
Hi there, I am a foreign-trained pharmacist and going to be working in Singapore. Could you please share with me your experience with the competency exam? It is going to be taken place right after Chinese New year this year.
I am so nervous about it for some reason because I haven't been practicing for almost 2 years.
Your advice is highly appreciated. Thanks from a fellow pharmacist!
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