Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Tuesday Evening, During Desert

Dr. Grumpy: "Dr. Grumpy, returning a call."

Mr. Duh: "Yeah, I was there this afternoon, and you told me to stop taking my Lipitor?"

Dr. Grumpy: "Yes, I did."

Mr. Duh: "And you wrote me a note, I have it here, it says 'Stop taking Lipitor'."

Dr. Grumpy: "Correct."

Mr. Duh: "So, does that mean I should stop taking it? Or just cut the dose in half?"

Dr. Grumpy: "It means you should stop it."

Mr. Duh: "Should I stop just the Lipitor, or should I stop stuff you didn't write down?"

Dr. Grumpy: "Just the Lipitor."

Mr. Duh: "Completely stop the Lipitor, you mean?"

Dr. Grumpy: "Yes."

Mr. Duh: "Okay, thanks for clearing that up, your note was kind of vague."

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow next time try dont stop the lipitor

Scritches.com said...

Are you sure you don't make this stuff up????

Grumpy, M.D. said...

I wish. I'd rather have my ice cream in peace.

Chris said...

Proving once again my time-proven theory that there's nothing that can be said so clearly that some idiot won't misunderstand it.

EdRPh said...

So did you want him to stop the Lipitor or not? Be specific!!

:-)

Morris said...

Dr Grumpy, you must have the patience of a saint! That would have me banging my head against the wall..

Grumpy, M.D. said...

Morris- I thought about it, but didn't want to make a mess of my ice cream.

Frantic Pharmacist said...

We get used to this stuff, but it still makes me afraid. Very afraid.

Anonymous said...

Are you sure you didn't mean "dessert?"

Grumpy, M.D. said...

I just KNEW someone was going to say that, too.

Julie said...

**shakes head** ... i'm hoping against hope that this individual doesn't drive ...

Anonymous said...

I was going to ask if it was Saharan ice cream or maybe Gobi berry ice cream?
CardioNP

Flavius said...

How much do you want to bet he already had that argument with the pharmacist and wanted to call you to prove he was right?

-Flavius

Frank, CPhT said...

So, from what I can understand, you wanted him to double his dose of Lipitor, and to stop taking his other medications, right?

Or was it to stop taking the Lipitor, and take the Atorvastatin instead?

It is people like that that make me realize that Mike Judge's "Idiocracy" isn't fiction, but is instead a work of prophecy!

ausduck said...

Now come on Dr G, fess up - you were messin' with his head, weren't ya? I mean, writing such a deliberately vague, ambiguous note like that :)

*still LMAO*

Anonymous said...

Stop taking the Lipitor, and stop calling me to ask me about stop taking the Lipitor. Just stop! Just stop, Just stop!

ugh

TiredRPh said...

OMG - Just like my customer who asked what his rx label meant that said "Take 1 tablet 2 times a day." After a 10 minute explanation of morning and night (so...take 1 tablet and then take another one in an hour? beating head against table). Three phone calls later, he asks me...so does 2 times a day mean in the SAME day!!! aaaaaahhhhh. Gouging brains out with an ice pick.

And this is a man in his 40s taking care of his mom who is in her 70s.

The Duchess said...

Could he hear your head smacking the desk while you were talking to him?

OMDG said...

Well as long as you understand that it was really your fault that he didn't understand.....

student dr. blaze said...

Took a break from reading the journal articles in front of me to read this and now have realized that I have a major problem: how can I trust that the results of any clinical trials in humans are accurate if patients can't follow directions (let alone be trusted w/compliance)?! I mean, at least we know exactly what dose of medication the rats got...but the humans?! *headdesk* It's truly a miracle that humans haven't Darwined ourselves right out of existence....

Anonymous said...

You know, if you wrote "Eat more butter" he would have understood that without any help.

I think you may need to go to pictoral print-outs. Buy a digital camera and get Powerpoint. The handouts might consist of:

A picture of the man (or woman, depending on the patient). A picture of a bottle of Lipitor. A picture of the number of pills of Lipitor the patient is currently taking. A picture of the patient holding the clearly labeled Lipitor pills and a glass of water, with a big NO circle over it. A picture of all their other pills (or a circle with the words "All your other medication") with a big YES checkmark on it.

I'm sure with practice your staff could get the handout creation time down to 4-5 minutes.

That might cut your idiot-calls by 10 or 20%.

Amanda said...

How do these people get through life? Really. HOW?

Grumpy, M.D. said...

Amanda- And yet, they have no trouble getting through my phone menu to find me.

Anonymous said...

'Breathe in, breathe out; breathe in, breathe out...continue until supply exhausted.'

Freakin' moron

Anonymous said...

I read through this and thought "I'm sure I had that bloke on the phone asking for computer support at some stage".

Me: Can you please turn your computer off, and then turn it back on again.
They: You want me to turn the computer off?
Me: Yes.
They: And then turn it back on again?
Me: Yes.
They: Do I need to unplug my mouse?
Me: No, just turn the computer off and back on again.

You, Dr Grumpy, are providing biological technical support, and I sympathise completely.

Amanda said...

I'm still shaking my head at this person and I read it hours ago.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Now what about this other bottle with 10 pills in it called atrovastatin (Lipitor), stop taking that one also? Right?

Unknown said...

do people like this really exist? REALLY?! >.<

Grumpy, M.D. said...

Francine- Yes, and there are more of them than you can ever imagine.

Kimothy said...

I had an incident today that reminded me of your story.

Guy comes to pharmacy: "I have strep throat, what can you recommend?"

Me: (thinking, how do you know you have strep throat? whatever...): I can recommend you something to help with pain from a sore throat, but if you really have strep throat, you need to see a doctor to get a prescription for antibiotics.

Guy: There are no antibiotics over the counter?

Me: No sir, there are no antibiotics over the counter for strep throat. You need a prescription.

Guy: Oh ok. So, what antibiotics can I get over the counter for strep throat?

Me: Sigh.

JerryG said...

Dr. Grumpy - I think you meant during dessert (the food) not desert (the type of land)

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