I believe...

This is the post where I lay it all out there.  It is titled "I Believe...A Cynical Pharmacist's Manifesto".

I Believe...

• in no more 3-day holdover supplies for patients.  You knew your bottle was getting empty. Learn some responsibility. If you filled a 30-day supply more than 30 days ago, too bad. Your car tells you when it's almost out of gas and you listen. Your bottle says "only 1 tablet left" so listen. 
• the State Board of Pharmacy should serve their pharmacists, not the public. They should not be out to get us, but should listen to our input.
• if you ever use more than one transfer coupon, you give up all right to sue if an error is made. Period.
• retail pharmacies need to get rid of 1-800 customer service numbers.  If I can't complain about a bad doctor or horrible patients, they can't complain about me and impact my bonus for doing my job.
• we need 1-800 customer service numbers to complain about doctors and patients.
• if doctors expect us to do their jobs (fax refill requests, look up profiles, run narcotic usage reports, remind patients of their appointments) then I should be able to bill the office and get paid as their employee.
• if doctors are going to tell patients how much something costs in my pharmacy, they should pay the difference every time they are wrong.
• if the FDA is truly worried about Acetaminophen toxicity and overdose, they would immediately stop all production of combination OTC products. (not change the packaging on Children's and Infant's Tylenol.)
• if look-alike, sound-alike names are so error-prone, the FDA would NOT allow generic names to be so similar, differentiated only by salt form (metoprolol, anyone?). They also would come to some agreement on the stupid letters: CD, LA, SR, XL, ER. (How am I supposed to fill this Rx, again "Buproprion 150mg 1qd"?  or Bupropion XR 150mg? 
• Pharmacy is way under-represented in our legislature. We cannot have a health care conversation without pharmacy.  The AMA and PBMs carry more weight than we do and dictate what we do. This should not be so. 
• the 6-month exclusivity on new generics is OK, as long as we call it what it really is: Patent Extension. The brand company owns the generic that gets those rights (i.e. Actos) and they don't even change the tablets.  It saves customers money, but it's a lie.
• the "customer is always right" is a terrible philosophy in pharmacy.  It would be akin to arguing a diagnosis with your doctor.
• awesome technicians make pharmacists awesome. Without them, we are nothing.
• manufacturer copay coupons are misprinted lies! They are more work for my techs, and misleading for customers who will immediately yell at us, not the manufacturer.
• with a new diet pill on the horizon, that trying to lose weight by taking a pill is like trying to get pregnant by just watching porn.
• in pharmacists as immunizers. But I also believe in at-will participation.
• if my Medicaid customer comes to my drive-thru with a better car, or to my counter on an iPhone, smokes, or appears to have more money than I do, she should be arrested, forced to hand over those possessions, and immediately removed from the welfare rolls, along with anyone who shares her blood.
• all Medicaid prescriptions should have copays. 
• the children are our future.  Teach them well and let them lead the way.