Root Canal x2

7/3/23

File

reference:
C:\Temp\root_canal\bare_bones_essay_01.txt

I had stopped at my local King Soopers Pharmacy on the way home from the dentist office. Dr Maria H Lam had extracted $1,052 from my credit card. After a long wait, in a long line, the novocaine had worn off. I was ready for the pain pills. I handed the prescription (piece of paper) to the pharmacy tech behind the counter.

I was surprised when she handed it back to me, and said my prescription was being rejected. The pharmacy tech said my scrip had a defective address. It was my problem, and it was going to be up to me to fix it.

1) The Pharmacy would not accept the prescription (piece of paper) because my address was blank.
2) I would not be allowed to simply write my address on the piece of paper.
3) I would be required to leave the pharmacy empty handed (no medicine) and take the prescription (piece of paper) with me.
4) If/when I returned to the pharmacy:
As long as the address info was written on the scrip, the pharmacy was not going to ask any questions.

The pharmacy tech implied, without necessarily saying so outright, that it is illegal for me to write my address on the prescription. Which is why the pharmacy personnel could not legally watch me write my address on the scrip. Had I done so at the counter, it might have been on video.

But as long as it happened someplace where the pharmacy could not see it, and they didn't know anything about it, well in that case, the pharmacy didn't much care how the address got there. As long as my address was already written on the scrip by the time it was presented to the pharmacy, there was no problem.

Three days later I went back to the dentist for a follow up appointment. It was a different location, but the same office manager, Crystal. I showed Crystal a copy of the scrip she had given me on Monday, and told her it had been rejected at the pharmacy. She looked at the copy, and then gave me a blank look. Crystal said she did not see anything wrong with it.

I realized the system was badly broken.

On Thursday, 8/25/22, Dr Hoa Tran, an Endodontist, preformed a double root canal, with complications. Southglenn Modern Dentistry charged my credit card an additional $1,900 that day.

I took Dr Tran's prescription with me into the King Soopers pharmacy on the way home. I was confronted with a long line. And it immediately got worse.

I was at the back of the line. Near the front of the line, I saw a little old lady (LOL). She was standing there puking. The people who were next to her in line were trying to move away from her, trying to put some distance between them.

I remember seeing a woman that had been in line, go to the customer service desk, and ask for help. Sure enough, over the loud speaker system, we heard:

"Wet clean up at the Pharmacy".

Twentyfive minutes later, nothing had been done by the store. The only clean up that had been done was what the Little Old Lady (LOL) and the customers were able to do. Which was not much. And the line at the pharmacy had only gotten longer.

I remember standing there thinking the LOL should move over to the side where she could sit down. Or better yet, go outside and sit down where she could get some fresh air. I could see that she had no intention of giving up her place in line. The 2 people in front of the LOL did not offer to let her move to the front of the line.

I started to consider the prospect of waiting in a long line, and then stepping over LOL puke, in order to get to the counter. I had just finished up a double root canal. The novocaine has now worn off. I looked down at the prescription in my hand. I see that my $1,900 prescription has a defective address.

I am not making this up.

How the hell am I supposed to know what to do?

About a month later, on 9/22/22, I had come into the same King Soopers pharmacy to pick up my prescription for pregabalin (a controlled substance). I asked the pharmacist,

What is your name?

A simple question. I was sure the pharmacist would know the answer.

She was the pharmacist that had dispensed my controlled substance. I think I am entitled to know what her name is, and her license number. Apparently, there is less than universal agreement on that.

She told me she was the acting pharmacy manager while Ashley Mayer was on leave. She was willing to tell me her first name was Paige. She refused to tell me her last name. And she refused to tell me her license number. I pointed out that without a last name I had no way to verify her pharmacy license.

Her response was a disrespectful, idiotic statement. She told me I should be satisfied that she was a pharmacist because of the name tag she was wearing. And that I could (should?) trust her because she said so.

I asked Paige Doe, acting pharmacy manager, about the scrip that had been rejected at this pharmacy on 8/22/22. Paige Doe said that my prescription being rejected was in some way related to a conference call with the DEA. My bullshit meter started to twitch.

Paige Okamoto, PharmD, PHA 0023242

I walked away from my conversation with Paige Doe on 9/22/22 feeling very much disrespected. She regarded me the same way a cat regards a moth.

-- End of Letter --

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