Falling Through the Cracks

Saturday. 31 prescriptions.

I had a patient call me today, upset. She claims that we shorted her 7 lisinopril tablets. That is not very common, as pharmacists count by fives. Now, 25: that’s possible. Not likely (considering I can count to 30 in my sleep, and usually am able to pour 30 tablets out of the bottle), but possible.

But I wasn’t going to argue with her. It’s lisinopril. 7 tablets costs me a couple cents. And she was one of “those” patients.

She is confused all the time. I have to tell her the same thing every month regarding her prescriptions. She thinks that I will just get everything ready for her and that she should have “lifetime” refills on everything, even though she changes medications all the time. I tell her that I need her to tell me what she needs, but she still just shows up every month and expects everything to be ready without requesting her refills. She gets frustrated with her doctor every few months and switches doctor offices, so it’s always a challenge to figure out who to contact for refills, too.

She should be on Aricept (for Alzheimer’s Disease) but she’s not.

I feel bad, but there’s not a lot I can do for her. I have told her newest doctor’s office that I am not sure that she is taking her medications correctly, and that she may need to be evaluated for memory difficulties. The harried receptionist at the office just said, “Okay, whatever.” I doubt my message will be passed on to the doctor.

I’ve talked to this woman’s son. I told him that he should get his mom a pill box to put everything in so we can make sure she’s taking everything she should be, and at the right times. (I especially worry about her glipizide. What if she forgets to take it with food and becomes hypoglycemic?) I think he’s about as mentally “there” as she is. He’s too young for Alzheimer’s. He might be on drugs. Either way, he’s a few sandwiches short of a picnic, too.

So, I’m afraid that this lady is going to fall through the cracks. There’s not a lot else I can do.

And that’s frustrating.