I had an elderly couple here this morning. They're going to Florida in a few weeks, and asked for an Aricept script to take with them.
Dr. Grumpy: "Why, don't you have enough pills?"
Mrs. Mapquest: "Well, it's so expensive, and we're in the Medicare donut hole. We thought maybe one day we could go over to Cuba to see if it's cheaper there."
Dr. Grumpy: "Have you ever been to Florida? Or Cuba?"
Mrs. Mapquest: "No, but isn't it like Mexico or Canada, where you can just walk across the border?"
The last of the Pangaeans.
ReplyDeleteAnd you deadpanned, "Yes. Yes you can."
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the guy at triage who tried to convince me he rode a donkey from India to Canada, which was responsible for his DVT. When I tried to ask about the length of the plane ride, he insisted it was actually a donkey ride, no plane was involved. So I said, "Well, no wonder you got a DVT!" and let it go, for sanity's sake.
Unrelated question, but why do all doctors have clear skin? No pimples at all, not even 1 or 2.
ReplyDeleteDear Dr. Grumpy,
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for Mrs. Grumpy that it was your picture on the ad located on the blog, the one that says "Get ripped in 4 weeks."
As a Floridian, an elementary school graduate, and a map owner I'd like to verify that Cuba is an ISLAND. It is 90 miles from the Southernmost part of Florida, which I suppose is a walkable distance. Though, I suppose if you were capable of walking on water you probably wouldn't need to walk to Cuba for a script.
ReplyDeleteWas this Jesus in your office... because, you know.. maybe?
ReplyDeleteYeah, you could walk there. IF YOU WERE JESUS!
ReplyDeleteMoppie- that's news to me. I have my share of zits. But I try not to pop them in front of patients.
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:05- DEFINITELY not me. I'm the poster child for unathletic doctors. My patients should do as I say, not as I do.
It's a good thing someone is actually planning on taking the Aricept for this occasion if no one has been to FL before or
ReplyDelete'recently' out of the country i.e. since 9/11).
Imagining what could happen at sundown on a particularly romantic Florida evenings. For all one might know someone could end up in Havana, or Costa Rico.
Dr. G. has anyone approached you to support advocacy for a nationwide Silver Alert system (or even international considering that 'we can just walk across' Mexican and Canadian borders?
So did you give them the prescription?
ReplyDeleteCan you even buy Aricept in Cuba (after you swim there)?
ReplyDeleteIt used to be possible, until the early '30s, to buy a through ticket from New York to Havana: Pennsylvania RR to Washington; Richmond Fredricksburg & Potomac RR to Richmond; Seaboard Air Line RR to Jacksonville; Florida East Coast Rwy to Miami; Overseas RR (FEC-owned) to Key West; and then a ferry link to Havana (probably also run by the FEC). Unfortunately the Overseas Railroad fell into the ocean during a hurricane in 1935, so you can't do that anymore.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, a few days ago I was trying to plot a route on Google Maps within the state of NJ, and for whatever reason it thought I was asking for a town of the same name in Australia. It printed me out a route that it said would take 57 days, including one segment that said "Kayak across the Pacific Ocean, 3879 miles". Unfortunately, though, when I tried getting directions to Cuba it couldn't find any way to get there...
There are so many things wrong with this I don't know where to start.
ReplyDelete1) Cuba is a Spanish-speaking country.
2) Cuba is poor as shit and, I've been there, their pharmacies are laughably small and horribly stocked. They barely have Aspirin.
3) AMERICANS ARE NOT ALLOWED INTO CUBA.
Americans are allowed into Cuba - show your US passport air the airport customs desk, along with the tourist card you'll be given in flight, and they'll let you in.
ReplyDeleteYou'll need to catch a flight from Canada to get there though, and US authorities might prosecute you for spending money there, at the hotels or restaurants and so forth. But you are allowed in.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/13/cuba.travel/index.html discusses Obama's plans to ease travel restrictions, so that you can travel there.