"OK this is important" I told my friend. "Make sure the doctor knows she's in pain, and that the problem isn't itching"
The person in pain was my dear friend's mother. She suffers from Alzheimer's disease you see. I've seen her ask for her daughter, my dear friend, while her daughter was three feet in front of her. She's called me a dentist, a lawyer, the name of a family friend, and tonight asked me four times in an hour when I would be moving. I have no plans to move.
Mom is also a wonderful woman with a smile that will melt your heart and a heart of gold.
This night though, mom was battling a painful bout of hemorrhoids, suffering and making a hard job a little harder for her daughter.
Her daughter, you see, has put her life on hold to be her full time caregiver. If you've never known love you probably won't understand why.
The problem with an Alzheimer's patient in pain is that it's more than pain. The stress leads to more confusion, more anxiety, more feelings of fright. Imagine being in pain and not being quite sure why.
I was sure that once the pain part was made clear, a prescription for hydrocortisone and lidocaine would be on the way. Or at least pramoxine. Nope. When the prescription was picked up it was for 2.5% hydrocortisone only. For those of you playing along at home, hydrocortisone treats itching, and lidocaine and pramoxine are the pain relievers. To top it off, there wasn't even a rectal applicator. Holy fuckup Batman.
I swung into action. "OK, until we can get this straightened out, what you need is the green label Preparation H. Everyone knows the blue label, but the green is the one with the pain reliever"
Later that night I got a report that the green label had done the trick and things had stabilized. I did a little dance and chanted "who's the drugmaster/who's the drugmaster/who's the drugmaster/ me me me." Because that, my friends, is practicing pharmacy. You spend your time using the drug facts that are in your head to help a person. Simple concept really, but one that seems to have been lost somewhere along the way. An actual pharmacy these days can be the worst place to get some pharmacy practice in. I relished my little triumph, all the more so because the Drugmonkey doesn't mind playing on team love.
By the way, there's really no reason anymore not to let you know my real name's David. Not after today.
The next morning I braced myself for a day of business, not practice. Labels that were not to be printed more than five at a time. That's the priority in a pharmacy. And those labels better not take more than 15 minutes to get to the filled bin, people with drug problems or questions be dammed. Flu shot quotas and no such pressure that you perform legally mandated prescription counselling. No money in counselling you see, just fewer prescription mistakes and misunderstandings. I took a deep breath and resigned myself that there would be little professional practicing going on within these walls this day. The modern chain pharmacy long ago stopped being about professional practice.
What happened was that I was met shortly after arrival by two corporate suits. Those of you who've read my little blog garden over the last few years won't be totally surprised what happened.
What amazes me is that it wasn't this post that got me fired. Broadcast to the world that Rite Aid ordered a pharmacist to feed an old woman's drug addiction and they're OK with that evidently. Write something mean about the fact they're recruiting scabs to help break a Southern California strike though, and you are history.
It's probably not normal to feel pity for the people that are firing you, but I gotta tell you, that's the first thing that went through my mind. I looked at the short little fat man in the suit and saw a life wasted. I saw a mother that would be packed away into a nursing home. I saw someone past the halfway point in his life and wondered if there was anything he's done that he's proud of. I wondered if he's ever done anything that made him feel good inside.
I'm proud of my writing, and I feel good when I practice pharmacy and score for team knowledge while helping people. He introduced himself as the corporate head of loss prevention by the way. I think I should be flattered by that.
After the pity for the suit though, came emotions more normal. Relief, yes. But also a "holy shit" moment. Thoughts of lost fat paychecks....and...while staring out the window...
....the creeping in of the storm. My brothers in Wellbutrin know exactly what I mean. The storm is no fun and I shouldn't admit that because it will give the short suit man something to be proud of.
Later the phone rang.
"David, it's Mom. What a day I've had dealing with these moron doctors." The moron doctors, you see, never did correct their fuckup. Green label Preparation H and some Desitin cream were the only things that had done anything to help. "I wonder if you could come over, we'd love to see you."
Mom's voice was IV Prozac my friends. No storm for me this night. I bought some groceries for dinner and got a hug from my dear friend and felt appreciated in a way I never did when all I was doing was making money for the man. I cried happy tears because team love values me.
I don't know everything the future holds for me, but I do know this. From now on I will practice pharmacy. Perhaps I will even be paid for it. For the rest of my life though, I will be a pharmacist.
You should too. Because hugs from team love are fucking awesome.
69 comments:
Hi David. Sorry to hear of the end of your soul-crushing job.
I suspect you'll be much happier without it.
I can totally relate to doing the happy dance after using your professional knowledge to help a patient. You did good.
Don't worry about the patethic little suit men, they sold their souls many years ago. They aren't qualified to clean your boots.
I hope you find a new gig that fits your desire to be more than a corporate pill-pusher, and allows you to use your professional judgement, and skills to help make a difference in peoples lives.
I suspect that in a little while, getting out of their shit-hole may be the best thing that's ever happened to you.
Good luck.
Don
A lot of years ago, back in '98, I got fired from the last job of my actual career, doing work I loved and was good at, the career I went to college to master. My now-ex employer also rapidly made it clear that they were determined to keep me from ever working again -- and they could afford a lot more lawyers than I could, there wasn't a damned thing I could do about it.
I thought I was miserable. I thought I was terrified. But when I got home that day, my roommate took one look at me and said, "Wow, what happened today? You look happier than you've looked any time in the last two years!"
My economic life since then has not been pretty. Some of the psychological scars they put on me have still not healed, maybe even most of the scars. And 14 years later, a month still doesn't go by that I don't see someone fucking up in my old career and wish that it was me doing it, not them.
But the working environment in that entire industry has become so horrifically toxic that even if I could go back, I'd have to be insane to do so. And even though you and I were in entirely different fields, helping people and making the country stronger and safer in entirely different ways, it looks like you and I have that in common.
I don't know what you'll do next. It'll probably suck. But it will suck less than what you were doing.
I have enjoyed your blog very much and hope you will continue. I am appalled that there are places where you can be dismissed for stuff like this. Don't let the bastards grind you down!
I was worried that breaking anonymity would someday get you fired. That fear of getting fired is what ultimately stopped me from writing. I felt that I was starting to get too specific, and it was only a matter of time until someone figured me out. I tried to write less specifically, but I felt like I wasn't being truthful. I didn't want to write that way, so I eventually stopped.
You have bigger balls than I do for keeping at it. I hate that you got fired, but I commend you for not compromising your writing out of fear. I hate that I don't have that same strength, and I hate the feeling of being owned by my job. I hope to some day build up the courage to truly stand up for what I believe in.
I wish you luck, and I hope you find even greater success in writing. You're talented and deserve to be rewarded for it.
Did you sign anything saying that you couldn't share any information that may harm the company? Carrying your public persona in a way that reflects well on the company? Sometimes places like that do that...
I'm a pharmacy student who stumbled across your blog a few months ago, and I've been reading regularly ever since.
I found your writing to be a nice change from the happy, "everything's perfect" writing style that I am exposed to in both my textbooks and the official magazines. They can be helpful, but they feel fake (especially so, considering I have worked retail for a couple of years now as a tech/intern). Pretending that everything is okay in the pharmacy world does not make it so; it usually just means nobody cares to improve the situation.
I'm sure getting fired means you're gonna have some adjusting to do in the near-future, but I hope you keep writing. From reading your posts, I know that I'm much more aware of how companies and corporate types can corrupt the pharmacy practice for their own gains. In school, they just teach us all of the good things that drug manufacturers do (Johnson & Johnson recalled all Tylenol just to make sure customers were safe from cyanide!). I have to turn elsewhere for the whole truth.
Keep it up--you're helping to equip us up-and-comers against those who would use pharmacy for profit rather than care.
Proud of you brother, real proud.
DrugMonkey,
First off, let me give you a virtual hug from team awesome. You. Rock.
Second, I feel your pain and also understand the feeling of relief that comes from not having to play the fucking game any longer. I am not a pharmacist, nor do I play one on TV. I took my graduate degree and became an adjunct who works a day job as an office manager to make ends meet and give my kid health insurance. Recently, I upset my boss by being "unprofessional" by which he meant I made a bigger impression than him on a group of visiting undergrads from Asia. According to them, their time spent with me on cultural excursions was the highlight of their time here. Because I am a lowly peon, though, and not an administrator or senior faculty, my performance--which impressed everyone else but my boss--was unacceptable. I can hear the corporate--sorry, I meant higher ed--wolves in suits at my door, and the mixture of dread and exhilaration is palapable.
Sorry for making this about me. It's about US, I guess is what I am trying to say. Thanks for speaking truth, thanks for taking a hit for the team, and I hope to keep reading your missives in the future.
Cheers,
Thom Foolery
I think you are the kitty cat's meow David. You have some of the best of humanity in you. I think that you will find a smaller business or not-for-profit to work for that will love every little bit of your heart and soul that you put into your job. it makes me feel better knowing that you are out there somewhere being a good friend and injecting a little humanity back into the corporate world. Go David! And, don't stop writing. You DA MAN.
May I ask what the grounds for termination were? You pointed to the article but what policy or procedure did you violate?
see a lawyer. even if you never want to work for them again, you can extract money for wrongful termination.
honestly i think you were being wasted at a chain pharmacy- you should take this opportunity to start a political career to actually enact change... or even start a superpac for indie pharmacies? i'm sure a lot of us would donate... u can do something amazing
hugs
It's a badge of honour to be fired by those scumbags. I'm so proud of you. Keep stirring up shit and doing right by your patients.
Brooke, community pharmacist in Canada.
In the same vein of empathy for you and shameless self-promotion for me, here is what I wrote for my blog this morning, before I started reading your blog (I linked to it when I opened my blog, and am just now getting around to reading, and I must say, it's been exciting!).
But, hang in there and find an avenue of pharmacy that appreciates and uses your talents. They are out there, and may be hard to find, but they are out there. Or take this opportunity to get out of this shitty job forever. That is what I would do, were I in your shoes.
You are a trained SCIENTIST. You can make good money, especially if you are located near a large city, in the labs. Break out of your thinking and your mold and look at publishing/editing jobs, lab jobs, management jobs, etc. You have what is equivalent to a Master's Degree in Biology AND Chemistry. There are whole other worlds available to you, without any more school, and a little on-the-job training! The minute I am able, I am SO out of this job (I quit calling it a "profession" years ago, when WAG beat it out of me. Long story, but you'll appreciate that I got their head of security fired, and while we did have a tussle, he wasn't the reason I left! I'll be addressing that one day in my blog, soonly.
But here is what I wrote - in my melancholy mood. I must have been feeling your energy:
I didn’t used to be this way. I didn’t dread coming to work. I didn’t go home at night hating the world. Once I got home, I didn’t used to cringe when the phone rang. I didn’t feel like hiding inside the house and never leaving again. I wasn’t a negative person. I didn’t hate it when the doorbell rang, or when I had to come home, get ready, and go back out again for something social, and smile at the same people who made my life hell earlier that day.
I do now.
I didn’t cringe when the phone rang (and rang, and rang, and rang again) at work. I didn’t cringe when I was told it was for me (every 5 minutes). I didn’t cringe (and wonder if it is too late to duck behind the counter) when Mr. or Mrs. Needy came through the doors, knowing I was in for at least 10 minutes of my time wasted.
I do now.
I used to love being here for my people. I loved coming to work. I was a positive person, to the point of being a bit naive. I smiled and laughed. I loved the little old ladies and gentlemen who came in, trusted me, and respected me. I loved teaching people about their medications and talking to them about their diets and nutrition. I loved feeling like I was making a difference, albeit a small one, in the world. When I did arrive at home, I used to have some energy left for the people and things I love. I didn’t used to be an antisocial, ranting, soap-box standing Phrustrated Pharmacist.
I am now.
And it makes me very sad, not just for me and my family, but for my colleagues, the profession of pharmacy, and the healthcare profession in general. It is a sign of the times, and a sign of just how bad it is getting in the world of pharmacy. Over time, things have subtly changed. Patient attitudes towards the pharmacy and pharmacist have slowly shifted, and practice of pharmacy has changed. It’s no longer a practice of anything but futility. Somewhere “patients” shifted to “customers”, and “pharmacists” shifted to “glorified sales clerks”. I find more meaning and fulfillment doing something in my spare time that would only have required an 8th grade education, and it even involves a job that would deal with the public, and wouldn’t involve standing for 8 to 12 hours straight, with no bathroom or lunch break, or worries about liability and whether or not I missed something serious enough to kill someone during the chaos of the typical pharmacy day. How’s that for irony?
I am pervasively sad and exhausted to my core today. Actually have been for some time. How are you feeling?
--T.Ph.RPh.
The Phrustrated Pharmacist
David, I am a new Pharm grad, your namesake, and probably following in your footsteps. I feel like I have the particular bragging rights of having been fired by WAG for almost the same thing you were, and I was only an intern! I opened my mouth repeatedly, pointed to hypocrisy, called out middle management, refused to shake hands with suits. Yea, I was kind of dumb, but stuck to honesty.
In "the workplace", yes, we are peons. We're representatives, not people. Somehow you've kept it real. I'd be scared to be in your situation, but honestly you won. Suits are sad people, little personal satisfaction, by far less than the most beaten down RPH. I salute you man; and hear I was thinking I could end up working with you at Wrong Aid someday. Let's open a pharmacy.
Thank you for everything. I discovered you while I was still in the army dreaming of becoming a pharmacist, and you carried me through undergrad and my time as a technician. Now I'm following in my grandfathers footsteps and his father before him by becoming a pharmacist. I still read through your posts old and new and find hope and motivation for an industry that has poisoned the professionals and patients that suffer at the hands of white collar profits.
I hope this closing door opens another that gives you a microphone where before you could only scream. I have never met a pharmacist or tech that did not read your blog. You have the platform to rally the troops within the profession, and whatever it is you do,I'm sure the pharmacy community will have your back.
Best of luck to you sir and thank you for everything.
David -- I'm sorry to hear you'll be looking for a job, but I believe you'll find something much more fun and fulfilling than the soul-sucking daily grind of what is retail pharmacy. There are lots of "Mom" individuals out there that need you and you can repeat the satisfaction you've experienced lately by helping those other Moms.
Take a couple of weeks off or maybe a month or longer if you need to have a wash-out period to get that scum employer out of your system and then...do well -- the best revenge of all. Do well and enjoy your life...start over -- you luck bastard.
MAP
I was pushed/left in a huff from Walgreens after 6 years, 20 years ago, when I received too many complaints from suits that I was spending too much time with customers. I went to work as an independent. Less money, less benefits, waaaay less self-loathing. Best gd thing I ever did. You're still a pharmacist and jobs are still plentiful. You'll miss the supertech, but other than that they did you a favor. You just don't realize it yet. Keep fighting the good fight.
Sue the bastards; let your lawyer do all the work and worrying while you rest up and recuperate.
I think anonymous has some good suggestions about other fields you could get into; investigate.
These days, David, I sometimes wonder if you don't get fired you're not really doing a good job (as measured in human value and not bullshit).
Keep writing and know that all of us value you. We won't even ask to share the millions from your law suit. ;-)
Anonymous 9:31,
I was told the line about "kicking a scab's ass past their incisors" violated company policy regarding workplace violence. I think that might make me some sort of badass. You know, I've never been a badass before...come to think of it, short suit man did have someone there for backup. I bet badasses are dealt with using backup all the time.
I'll be dammed. I'm a badass.
"who's the badass drugmaster/who's the badass drugmaster/who's the badass drugmaster?" me me me.
To everyone else. Thank you for the kind words. You're pretty badass yourself.....:)
Dude! If they fired you for a figure of speech written on an anonymous blog, I hope you enjoy your new found fortune. Sue the fucking shit out of them and enjoy retirement. And I look forward to your future writings dealing with destroying this company. Please don't sign a gag order as part of the deal when they pay you 7 figures.
When I was compelled to resign, the personnel manager assured me that while I'd never look back, I'd realize someday be able to say quitting was the best thing I could have done in a decision to put that behind me and to say enough was enough, was enough.
It wasn't retail pharmacy, but it was time for me to start standing on my own two professional pharmacist feet and get used to saying, 'I am the pharmacist here; recognized for my knowledge and skills, licensed and registered as the drug expert in society. I have a duty to perform. Get outta da way and let me do my job!'
Sorry to hear it is 'firing'; more like commencement in liberating one to take charge of one's professional career path. The 'firing' boogeyman is no longer above one's head. Don't get too giddy, now!
Love,
Fellow Pharmacist
How about Kaiser or the V.A.? Sounds better than retail. I take your book with me when I have doctor's appointments, it's such perfect reading for the occasion. Best of luck.
Have you thought about going for the higher degree?
And another hug to David from Team Love!
The irony is that he and most of us employed in chains have been on the receiving end of more psychological violence and institutionalized bullying for a long time. Corporations can and have inflicted way more pain & suffering than one Master of Pharmacy, no matter how badass, you may be.
Please keep writing. We need the humor, the inspiration, the healthy debates, and the validation of everything from our minor grievances to our sometimes all-out horror at what our professional lives have become.
David,
I read your blog (and bought your book!) just because I like your writing - not because I have any connection to pharmacy.
Good luck out there. I hope you find some satisfying things to do.
Please, keep us updated!
How did they know who you are? Have they just been sitting around waiting for you to slip up.? It stinks. Hope you kep writing. Bigger, better things must be in your future!
Hi David,
I am sorry to hear you got fired. But you will move on, and likely to bigger and better things! They have lost an awesome pharmacist! It's their loss!
Hugs from Team Love are the greatest, and helping someone in need is the most rewarding feeling ever.
A fellow pharmacist
David-
I've read you in drug topics and you blog for over 4 years now, and went through pharmacy school laughing at the (seemingly) out-of-this-world experiences you went through in your daily 'workflow'. As WAG rph now, i realize that your days were my days, and the soul-crushing was made easier when i could laugh at how you wrote about it-you did a service to so many of us by highlighting the outrageous and absurd, and wording it in such a way i couldn't help but quote you to my staff the next morning. On behalf of retail pharmacist everywhere- thanks. You get 'it', and for that reason i know whatever your next step is will be special,and 5 years from now i'll still be making your blog mandatory for my new rph hires, if only to understand what they're getting into.
Best of luck.
Kyle-
So David, when your suit resolves consider retiring rich in Georgia. You can piss off the republicans, and I have it on good authority there is at least one hot clever funny atheist divorcee who lives there.
-A
You should definitely get all of your prescriptions fill at the pharmacy you used to work at. As many as you can get a doctor to write for you. For whatever. Or you can just show up to work tomorrow like nothing happened.... that'd be interesting. The (only?) great thing about being unemployed is that you suddenly have alot of free time. Enjoy it.
Now, are you all ready to start following his example and start Practicing Pharmacy?
DrugMonkey/David,
I am sorry to hear you've been fired; however, I'm also thankful in a way. In your more recent blog posts, you've sounded like your soul was slowly being squeezed from you like Preparation H from a tube. Clearly, your corporate suits have been monitoring you for some time - they must have been desperate to move against you. That's the only reason I can think of for canning you over something so laughably asinine. In a way, I suppose you should feel honored. You must have really pissed off someone in power somewhere along the way.
You remind me of a former coworker of mine who was forced out of our mutual workplace about a decade ago. She was given a resign-or-be-fired ultimatum by our fabulous management for doing "too good a job" - working too hard, developing sources too well, investigating too many issues, and developing too many good relationships with the trustworthy people on her beat. And yes, that's what our management people actually told her. I know because they did so in the middle of our newsroom.
You worked too hard, had too many scruples and standards, were too incisively funny. You cut the powers that be in the world of pharmacy to the core and showed all the layers of their deception, their greed, and their lack of concern for the people who placed such trust in their company.
I think of my former coworker often. To many of us, she was a great example of how to do the job right: after she was gone, that impression intensified. When she walked out the door for the last time, it became clear to us all that if you were worth anything, they'd fire you eventually. It happened to several others who were "too good" at their jobs, who actually cared about telling people the truth, even when the truth made the area's version of the rich and powerful look bad. It happened to me not so long after she was pushed out. So I've been through the moment of shock, the sudden feeling of weightlessness, the combination of feeling sick and free at the same time, and the simultaneous thoughts of "Oh shit" and "Thank god".
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm absolutely certain you've helped thousands of people in your career. Who knows how many you've inspired - at work, through your columns, and by years of hilariously true blog posts - but the number has to be substantial. That influence doesn't disappear just because your job has. While that knowledge sure as hell won't pay the bills, maybe it will help just a little bit, now or in the future.
I hope you go on to find something that allows you to use all of your gifts and pays you in honest coin and square dealing.
All the best from Ohio,
Tonina
When I was in college, I had a crappy job administering DNS servers for a crappy telcom company in Massachusetts. I was fired because I was too busy doing the thing they hired me to do (administer their DNS servers) to sit on display at their crappy fake Network Operations Center. You see, were touring some investors around the building, and my boss was more concerned about an empty seat in front of the fake terminal than he was about me sitting in front of a WORKING terminal doing my actual job.
While I was being escorted out of the building with my sad little box, my boss (Craig) said,
"I'm sorry it worked out this way,"
I put the box down in my trunk, shook his hand, and said, with great and spontaneous enthusiasm,
"Craig, it will be a pleasure not working for you."
He said, "Thank you," and then looked puzzled. I got in my car, drove to campus, and changed my major to something I actually give a shit about, and that will keep me far away from the proverbial Craigs of the world. I like to think that puzzled look is still on his face.
Hi DM. Longtime reader, first time commenter.
Condolences for the way it happened, but I think you'll find that yesterday you graduated from Drug Monkey to Drug Human. I don't know where you'll be practicing pharmacy in the future, but I wish you all the best.
As retaliation for your firing, I'm going to take all of my fake Hydro prescriptions to Rite Aid from now on.
Cam
I have read your blog every time I started work. WHen I was in walgreens I read it on my phone. Your talent as a writer is beyond belief. please never stop writing. do it for the pharmacists that want to fight the system but cant for multiple reasons. JUST WRITE!
Well, in your industry, there is no First Amendment. Believe me, I know, thats why Im not telling you who I am. I am a friend, and I do hound our state boards, Good Luck dear friend keep writing!
Dear Drugmonkey,
I bought your book last summer and I have followed your blog longer than that. You have made me laugh out fucking loud and cry a couple times. I love your writing style on the blog and also your style in D.T.
I don't "know" you and you don't "know" me, but we could be freaking brothers. A couple of my techs thought I was the drugmonkey for quite some time - perhaps the greatest compliment of my professional career!
Anyway, as a pseudo-preceptor I always make sure my students read your blog and get your book. I will be getting the next one as well. Can't wait for it.
Hold your head high and know that you have made a difference. You still ARE making a difference. And in some parallel universe, we'd be making babies. I love you man!
Perhaps you can get a job writing for The Onion, DM.
Daivd: Your blog is my source of motivation over the last 3 years of being a pharmacist. This is a new start for you. Keep well.
Love from New Zealand.
While I'm sorry to hear you got fired, I would love to see you make the best of this situation. The world needs DrugMonkeys in consumer advocacy positions, on state boards, speaking out to the public about how your profession has been run. Take this chance and make a difference. Maybe this was just the catalyst you needed.
God speed Drug Monkey!
Holy crap! You're free!
Lucky.
David,
I know you have previously questioned keeping your Ohio license active. As a fellow ONU alum, let me say we would welcome you back here with open arms! This is definitely RA's loss as there are few in pharmacy with your passion.
I would encourage you to follow @EricRPh's lead and make the switch to hospital practice- I could never dispense an antibiotic without a recent creatinine level available to me, and good luck getting that working retail. That being said if I ever went to retail, working for an independent pharmacy free from the pressures of any suit would be my first choice.
Best of luck with whatever the future brings, and don't give up the blog/Drug Topics/Twitter/your next book!
-David/@dRxuggist
What a pathetic little men, the Wrong Aid corporate suit is. How sad that they had to send two waste of nutrient and oxygen suckers to deliver the news.
While you are living large, on your private island, on Wrong Aid's dime. Rest assured, that those two vermin's insides are melting from the cancer that won't be discovered until it's too fucking late, or the clot that will break off and zot out what little brain they have left. And while their sad asses are hooked up to machines that go ping! Wrong Aid will punt their broken down carcasses to the curb. Like used up whores they are.
So Master of All Things Pharmacy, I wish you nothing but blessings and successes on your new life.
Gentle hugs and some primo scotch,
Lil Bat
I hope that all of you RPH's and staff that works for Rite Aid... you now have a guideline and documentation as to how BROAD their "hostile work environment" policy is.. The next time a customer "goes off"... have them escorted out of the store... what company policies create a "hostile work environment" The P&P is a two way street... both employer and employee must live by what is in it...
"Mom's voice was IV prozac"
I'm glad to hear this. It's unfortunate that doing good doesn't always feel good. But (I'm pretty sure) you are one of the good guys
and IsweartoBob some day life will be easier more often than it fucking blows.
Hang on to that human connection- it's what makes you a good friend/ son/medical provider/writer, and the lust receptical of nerdy girls throughout the English speaking world. Some day you're going to cash that in,, big time.
Thank you David, for all that you've done. I promise, you've made a much larger impact in the lives of your readers and your patients than you will probably ever realize. Keep up the good fight, and don't ever let the suits of the world keep you from doing and saying what's right. Good luck.
Suggestions:
1. Get all your licensure documents together.
2. Visit www.ocpinfo.com. This is the Website for the Ontario College of Pharmacy.
3. Start the process for applying for Ontario Licensure. You may have to right an 2 exams, but you'll breeze through.
4. I will have an internship ready for you and a job waiting for you at Novacare Pharmacy in Windsor, Ontario. Kind of hole, but we're right across from bustling Detroit (insert sarcasm).
You'll be able to practice pharmacy in a way that will utilize your brain, skills and experience. No quotas, no corporate suits. Just patients.
David --- How about starting a national pharmacists union and getting people on board the likes of Jim Plagakis and others like you who care and bleed for the staff pharmacists of the world
Dear David;
I commented on another one of your union posts a week or so ago.
You got canned in a totally bullshit way. You didn't deserve that. You did nothing wrong.
For what it's worth, I know--second hand--what it's like. My mother tried to organize a nurses' union at her powerful hospital, the biggest hospital in the northern part of our state. Things were gaining momentum. Then the hospital stamped on everyone involved with both feet.
They couldn't FIRE my mom just for talking union, but they did everything they could do legally to make her job as difficult as possible. On-call, split shifts, weekends, night shifts, you name it. She was a single mom with 2 very young dependent kids (and she was a good nurse, btw--very responsible. Never had a meaningful problem at work before or since).
She had to quit. Found a better job, and it now happily retired.
But my point is...as you well know...capitalism is not democratic, and retail places (almost all businesses, in fact) treat workers like they hated them.
They are our enemy. It's horrible. Those capitalist jackboots stomped right over you. For a blog post! Jesus!
You did nothing wrong, Drugmonkey.
You will be okay. I know that sounds like a lame fucking platitude. But you are a talented, skilled, and decent dude--at least, according to your blog.
I wish I could help.
Margo
Thank you DrugMonkey for constantly keeping me entertained and informed about the goings on in the pharmacy world! Im a long time CVS tech turned pharmacy student/intern. After reading your blog through my first two years of pharmacy school it wasnt difficult for me to decide to follow the residency and hospital route in the future. I certainly hope that the retail world doesn't suck me in with all the dollar signs once I graduate.
Thanks for keeping me enthusiastic about ensuring my profession focuses on the important things--patient care and safety-- and for sending me into laughing fits frequently! Keep up the clever writing and reporting on the important issues in my future profession.
Regards,
Future pharmacist Rachel
Just last week I was accepted to Pharm School. I've worked for a retail chain for 8 years now. I know full well what I'm getting into; some may call me crazy. But you've given me the strength and confidence to know that I'm not going to lose my soul in this endeavor.
I'm going to take our Dead Kennedys mentality and undermine the corporate establishment from the inside. And I know I'm not the only one. I share your blog with every like-minded pharmacist/student I meet. They, we, all love you. I'd like to think this generation will be the one to put our collective foot down. I'm not sure if it was said by you or Mr. Plagakis, but the corporations should be afraid of US, not the other way around.
I won't ramble, but it should make you proud to know that you have inspired a whole new generation to restore pharmacy.
Congratulations!! I don't even think it was that particular blog that brought their fearsome little worms to fire you. I am sure that you will be much better off. And I think RiteAid has just about reached the ripe position for a Class Action lawsuit to be brought against them by their dismissed Pharmacists nationwide. The real reason for these dismissals is money. Hire floaters and new lower payed Pharmacists. Gotta pay those fat raises to the CEO and CFO for their GREAT job in continuing to tank the company. Who wants to bet on the time between the sell-off of those stock options and the bankruptcy of RiteAid?
I am a tech - but I would certainly be willing to testify on your behalf.The mental abuse and physical abuse, the increased error-rate, the increasing impossibility to maintain records - leading to the disregard of mandates and safety, the utilization of unqualified and untrained staff in the processing of prescriptions and the handling of drugs, the stress and it's related health consequences to the staff in our store alone. Everything that I have witnessed.
They became afraid of you. Show them that they were right for once! But more importantly, keep writing, write much more. You have a gift. Someone suggested the Onion. I suggest that you could write on topics that are not related to pharmacy with equal veracity and creativity. In support of that, and as a small token to assist you in your undoubtably short state of unemployment, I shall go directly to Amazon and buy your book.I suggest that all of your readers go and do likewise. I have enjoyed and shared your brilliance for some years now, for free. Don't stop now. Thanks.
Here's something I wrote a few months ago that fits.
---
Here's to the cynics,
to the disgusted,
to the outraged.
They see how far the world falls short
of our capacity.
They see stupidity and greed
and call them by their names.
They did not choose to suffer this awareness
but daily give it voice.
Here's to the angry everyday prophets
burning themselves out
keeping the rest of us awake.
Congrats.
Really, get with your union. Once upon a time, I thought the unions were about as outdated as dinosaurs. I belonged to one once, and some years later, they went on strike for the right to drink beer during the lunch hour, confirming my beliefs that unions had become obsolete and catered to those who opposed any change.
Now, I consider joining one. My current employer is great, but reality is that I am not going to stay there forever and my lack of initiative may come back to hurt me. I have cowered at big boxes. I have sat below the reconstituables with my breast pump on a 12 hr day knowing that the year before Safeway had fired someone for the same 'offense'. (Women who have breastfed can relate to the bowling ball feel on the chest - guys, you just have to imagine a lower body part filled with fluid to the point of skin cracking). You have inspired me to join, contact the state board, hassle A(Ph?)A, become involved. Maybe your firing is a catalyst.
Thanks for not cowering.
Good Evening David,
It was exactly a year ago that my journey into the unknown started...trust me , I know every emotion you are experiencing. I have shared your writings with my team for years and they always looked forward to see what I would copy and post ( next to the schedules on the back door to the pharmacy). You will prevail, but I'm sure that the relationships with the patients will be no more...so very sad.
You have your reputation and ethics which are both priceless!! The DEVIL didn't win your soul !! Again Thank you for all that you have done and will continue to do for our profession.
Joseph Zorek
Harrisburg PA
5 miles from RA Corporate
Let's do it !
I think now would be a great time to contact a national news agency and give them your full story of what has happened to our profession.
I think we may need federal oversight to protect the public safety!!!!!
David, I have loved you from afar ever since you posted the photo of the stuffed horses humping each other on a display in your store. That the store manager never noticed for days brought tears to my eyes. It was a perfect moment. You gave that to me. Thank you for that and so many more. Your blog was the first that showed me that others felt the same pain and happiness about being a pharmacist. It is something you have to live through to understand. I wish you only the best. It is always good when one of our own gets released back into the wild.
PS Even though I'm a chick whenever I have a brilliant pharmacist moment I always think to myself "my pharmacy dick is thick and long" and smile. Thank you again.
I work for Rite Aid and I'm still kicking myself for it. Thankfully, I work with awesome people. The corporate bullshit is suffocating. It's really unfortunate that you got shit on. I was hoping I'd be lucky enough to work with you someday. Take advantage of this reprieve and do something revolutionary. If anyone can, it would be you. Get employed at one of the few independent pharmacies left, make sure chain pharmacies don't audit the shit out of them and stomp them out, and maybe organize something to get the APhA off their asses and actually do something. Changes need to be made. Best of luck to you David and I'll still look forward to new posts. If I ever have the good fortune of owning a pharmacy you can be sure a message will be coming your way. Thanks for everything and sending virtual hugs.
Sorry you didn't get to pick the time of your own departure. If you want to contest it, you might spin it that you were terminated for expressing a pro-union sentiment.
The California Board of Pharmacy has a seat that becomes vacant next summer...just sayin'.
Have to agree with everything written here - David, you are one of those rare individuals unwilling to compromise his integrity no matter what the circumstances. I have been reading you for years and am a huge fan of your work - it seems you are willing to continue this and I'm grateful for that, as I think the profession needs you. If you ever want to come to Canada, I'll do whatever is in my power to find you work that will be fulfilling without being demeaning. Keep up the good fight.
"All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will exert upon events in the political field." ~Albert Einstein
Sorry for your loss of your job----you were meant to be doing something else now. You WILL find where you should be practicing pharmacy. Nurses and others in the health care field need people such as your self!!!!!! I learned something in life KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!!! Before I became a nurse I worked in a pharmacy---I took the knowledge I had from all the wonderful overheard pharmacy counseling. I have applied it to my nursing profession.
I also hope you continue to blog.
God bless!!!! Keep smiling!!!!
I have also experienced this at Wrong Aid, especially the physical/mental abuse. Also, my boss (who's had WAY too much of the RA kool aid & kisses ass constantly) threatened physical harm on me.. then kicked several cabinets in the pharmacy before I walked outside! Store manager wouldn't say anything to him, I called district... PDM wasn't allowed to do anything because it would be "biased", so HR came..and bullied ME! Because I said I DO NOT have to put up with that shit & I WILL NOT put up with it. That wasn't the first time it's happened. I was told that "surely" it was accidental that he kicked the cabinets & that they would not be consulting video or one of the techs who witnessed the incident (probably because she let PDM know that pharmacist was the reason she quit during the 3 week wait before HR came). I was "wrong" for saying shit.. I'm a fucking adult as is my boss. His punishment was a talk that he shouldn't do that (REALLY?!). Only halfway decent thing about it was that they said if he retaliated, he would be fired.. Doubt that but what do I do? I'm "just" a tech... Doing my Pharm D undergrad ;)
I hope you sue the fuck out of them and win.
I love you DM. Consider yourself hugged.
Thanks David! Dam glad to meet you!!! I've posted this on my facebook and am spreading it to every Pharm license I know. You've been the only voice of the truth for years, and it's time you took credit. Our professional groups are a waste of energy. I think you can rally our cause with your voice. Grassroots and a paycheck for you I say. Let's make it happen. Put a "donate" button on this blog...
First off, sorry to hear about your gig. Then again, maybe we should all be so lucky. Also, could I change my name to THE drugmonkey? It seems that my moniker has been assumed by a person putting "The" in front of their name (see previous long-winded commenter).
I kid, of course, because that is a douche thing to do. I like your style and YOU were the one who inspired me to write. I am not the orator that you are, but it does help get aggression out. As you know better than most, writing is a sacred thing that also serves as a catharsis. Maybe losing quality Pharmacists like you will wake up the corporate powers that be.
BWHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHHAAAHH
Sorry, stole your line. But, I guess nothing is sacred in pharmacy writing.
Keep phighting the good phight.
I'm sorry you got fired. It must have felt bad.
But, dude, you have a following! A fan base. Use your free time and put your excellent writing skills towards a book or a publication :-D
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