Today, after an emergency doctor told me to go to the pharmacy to get Zantac for possible stomach ulcers, I was told by the pharmacist that it was actually recalled a year ago. I had to pay almost double the price for another antacid. Thanks a lot for knowing your stuff, ER doctor. FML
Collection
Fall
Dead leaves, the first cold of the season and an umbrella flipped inside out: fall, the season of grace.
Today, a lady stormed into the pharmacy I work at and chewed me out because the medicine I sold her the day before gave her horrible diarrhea as a "side effect". I checked, and it was the medicine she asked for - laxatives. FML
Today, I had horrible pains in my stomach area so I went to the doctors. They couldn't find anything wrong and sent me to the Emergency Room for X-rays. After spending the entire day in the hospital, they tell me I'm slightly constipated. I had to pay $400 to find out I had to take a shit. FML
Today, I found out my doctors could've killed me by mixing two meds that react badly and shouldn't be mixed. I've been taking them together for a year. FML
Today, I received the bill for my trip to the ER months ago. Almost $1000 for a quick 2.5 hour stay, only to find out that I had bad gas from drinking far too much of the seltzer I had bought on sale. FML
Today, I forgot to bring my lunch to work. I got so hungry, I resorted to eating antacid tablets from the medicine cabinet for lunch. FML
Today, I ended up in the hospital due to a severe acid reflux attack. I knew I had acid reflux for years, but was never allowed to get it checked out. Why? My dad told me I was too young to have it and that I was making it up. I now have to see a specialist. FML
Today, I called in a refill for a vital medication that I've been on since a couple of decades ago. No big deal since I called a week in advance. I then received a notification that the specific medication is out of stock at the moment, and they won't have another set ready for four days. FML
Today, I went to the pharmacy to buy the Plan B pill. The pharmacist recognized me and said, "Really? Again?" FML
Today, I went to the doctor for horrible stomach pains. He said I had an abnormal amount of stool in me, and that I'd need to flush it out. I called my mom and told her what happened, to which she responded, "I always knew you were full of shit, I didn't need a doctor to tell me that." FML
Today, I rushed to a pharmacy with a sick toddler and handed the pharmacist my insurance card. He looked at it and said, “This expired six months ago.” I’d been using the digital copy on my phone the whole time and didn’t realize my insurer had changed my group number. I left with a $120 bill and a sticky-handed kid who refused to take medicine. FML
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Top comments
itsthewayitis 10
he does. you can still buy over the counter kind
xXPikachuXx 21
It can be caused by the other things too. Not just bacteria. I've been having severe stomach pain so my doctor is setting me up for a stomach scope to see if I have an ulcer. We already did the stool sample so it wouldnt be a bacteria ulcer if it is one.
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Comments (10)
itsthewayitis 10
he does. you can still buy over the counter kind
CoyoteOldOne 17
No, he doesn't. The stuff in zantac was recalled because the manufacturing process leaves it contaminated with a dangerous carcinogen. It is not even supposed to be on the shelves, generic or not. It was all over the news for months. We even got a note in the mail, because my husband was taking a prescription generic version, warning us to dispose of any we had in the house or return it to a pharmacy for destruction. If your local shops are still selling old bottles of that stuff, they should be reported to your local health department.
RichardPencil 32
You should try a cocktail of thalidomide, DDT and absinthe. Rx...stat!
CoyoteOldOne 17
And in even more "doctors still don't have the memo" news, stomach ulcers are not caused by something that can be treated with antacids. They are almost entirely caused by a bacterium called heliobacter pylori, which needs to be treated with a special course of antibiotics. They are not caused by stress, diet, temperament, or genetics. Antacids may relieve some temporary symptoms, but make things worse in the long run. Treating h. Pylori with antibiotics has dropped the rate of stomach cancer by as much as 99% where it is common practice. This has been a known medical fact since the late 90's, and an emergency room doctor, who has presumably been educated in the last 25 years should have said "try antacids for temporary relief, then get tested and possibly treated for h. Pylori."
xXPikachuXx 21
It can be caused by the other things too. Not just bacteria. I've been having severe stomach pain so my doctor is setting me up for a stomach scope to see if I have an ulcer. We already did the stool sample so it wouldnt be a bacteria ulcer if it is one.
pfmarshallx 7
Pharmacy Technician here, yeah I know it sucks but to be fair, it isn’t in their scope of practice to know what drugs are recalled or not. Pharmacists and pharmacy practice is all about double check effectiveness of prescribed and availability. It’s the Retail Pharmacists and Technicians and Assistants to know, although they, and the public Medicare etc plans, do let us break bad news like that to you. Experienced doctors who see it over and over again (by speciality or common occurrence amongst their pool of patients) May spot it and have the ongoing working knowledge of it, but it isn’t and not really supposed to be their wheelhouse. So not a YDI but neither really a FML.
Rsonicgamer_fml 6
I don't know about the US, but where I live the medical practitioner is responsible for his own prescription and the pharmacist shouldn't change the prescription without asking it first to the MD. So if it made such a fuss as other comments seem to indicate, he should be aware of it. In this case, though, the system worked since the right drug was (one can hope) given to the patient. I fail to see how the drug being different and twice as expensive would be the doctor's fault, though...
AmbrosiaFan 19
Doctors write the prescription. They should KNOW if a drug has been recalled, if it has a black box warning label on it, and any other contraindications due to the other medications you are on. If they don't know what they are prescribing is recalled or not, they need to leave the practice and go back to class.
Shelby Elizabeth 2
Also a pharmacy tech, and can confirm doctors are the last to know about recalls. We spent the first few months refusing scripts for ranitidine after it was recalled and even now will still occasionally have patients ask about the over the counter stuff. But we have a system set up with the databases to let us know about recalls. Doctors typically don't. Also, ulcers aren't just cause by bacteria. They absolutely can be cause by stress and diet. I have stressed induced ulcers and have since jr high. It's checked every few years and it's still concluded they're caused by stressed. My mom had stress ulcers as well.
AmbrosiaFan 19
Doctors don't know everything. It is up to you to research anything you put into your body...
MorganHex 28
Good RX is a great way to save $ on prescriptions.