Assumptions

I stopped today at the pharmacy on my way home from work.  My doctor had changed my prescription for my thyroid medicine and I needed to pick it up.  She has to readjust my thyroid medicine on occasion because my thyroid function is gradually decreasing.  Has been for years.  Part of having an overactive immune system, which is also the cause of the rheumatoid arthritis.  I now take two pills of the thyroid medicine since they don’t make one pill in my dosage.

When I dropped  off the prescription, the technician expressed surprise that it was increasing again.  Her surprise surprised me.  After all, it is such a minor thing, easily fixed and I have been dealing with it for years.  It really isn’t a cause for sympathy or concern.  It’s not like I am now medicine for cancer or heart problems or something more serious.  It is just my thyroid.

I noted when I looked at the prescription my doctor wrote out that she prescribed enough pills of each for 90 days. No big deal.  When I went to pay for the medicine, I looked at the bottles (ALWAYS check your medicines when picking them up – people do make mistakes) and noticed there weren’t a whole lot of pills in them. The same technician saw my puzzled look and explained that she had filled the prescription for only 30 days because it would be cheaper. I told her the doctor wanted it for 90 days and she said “yes, but this is cheaper”.  I asked her how much 90 days would cost me and she said $32.  I asked how much the 30 days would cost and she said $15.  So, I explained to her, if I refill it every month, then it will cost me $45 for 90 days instead of $32. She then said that she didn’t think I wanted to pay $32 for 90 days when I can just pay $15 now for 30 days.  Then she asked me if I wanted her to change it.  I looked at my watch and, since I had a meeting at church this evening, I said I didn’t have time for it to be changed and I would just get the full 90 days next month.

So now I have to remember next month to call in the thyroid medicine so I can remind them to give me the full 90 days.  Not to mention wasting the gas to drive over to the pharmacy an additional time when, if I had the 3-month supply, I wouldn’t have to do that.

What really struck me was that she thought she was being helpful.  For her, a pharmacy tech that doesn’t make that much, paying $15 every month is cheaper than paying $32 for three months.  Yes, it is more in the long run but it is cheaper in the short term. And she assumed I was in the same boat as her and wouldn’t want to pay for the full 90 days. She ASSUMED this. Frankly I am a little ticked off at this assumption. She is playing around with how people take their medicine based on her own assumptions on what they want rather than what the customer and the customer’s doctor wants.

I am debating about calling the manager of the pharmacy and reporting this.  I don’t think she should be doing things like this. But, then again, it would be blatantly obvious who reported her and, from my experience with her, I don’t think I want to be on her bad side.  Not that she ever treated me bad but I have seen her be exceedingly rude to people who are from a different ethnic group. I have also seen her become impatient with people and very short with them. Part of me feels like her manager should be told how she treats people who aren’t Caucasian, how she can be rude at times and how she makes assumptions about how people should take their medicine. Then part of me feels like that I could just change pharmacies and not deal with her or this situation at all.  Not sure what to do at this point.  I guess I will ask for friend’s advice and see what they say.  Sometimes talking things out really helps clarify a situation.

I will post an update with my decision whenever I make the decision.  But, in the future in dealing with her, I will be diligent in checking everything and make sure I have the time to have things changed if she pulls something like this again.  In other words, I will re-adjust myself because of her assumptions.  Yes, really ticked off about this.

More to come…