The Absence | A Short Film

A middle manager at a shadowy corporation, Benjamin Moss is just following orders when he accepts an important mission to hunt down stolen documents.

When he arrives at a mysterious town where many of the inhabitants have vanished, he is forced to confront the devastating consequences of his work and must choose whether or not to continue to obey his messianic boss.


The Absence from Alex DeMille on Vimeo.

P&T Committee Blues

I'm sure that all of you new pharmacy grads are coming to realize that the politics and the egocentric managers experienced at work could quickly become unbearable. If you're anything like me, you'll find that it's never the work, or the patients, that make your job almost unbearable, it's your co-workers.

The almost intolerable moments at work become even more pronounced at monthly P&T Committee meetings. If you've ever been a P&T Committee member, then you'll know what I mean. The meetings almost always get off tangent, and there's usually some douchebag with a boring story to tell in order to profess his level of importance to everyone, followed-up with some brown-noser sucking up to him.

But, don't just take my word for it. I just happened to find this old discarded video recording of the last P&T Committee meeting I attended at the hospital I worked at before I retired. As you can see, my deteriorating attitude (I'm Amok, the politically blue guy) at that time explains my decision that it was probably best to retire before I became psychopathically GOP-angry red.

Superhero Pharmacy Techs

I've parodied the superhero pharmacist more than a few times on The Cynical Pharmacist, but we all know that most retail pharmacies would cease to operate if it weren't for the often unappreciated hard work of superhero pharmacy technicians, the pharmacists' sidekicks.

So, although I've worked with more than a handful of sociopathic techs who hatefully went out of their way to make my job unnecessarily harder, or to intentionally do me harm for no rational reason at all, here's a satirical shout-out to those superhero pharmacy technicians who are also being replaced by technology, but make a career in pharmacy much more enjoyable for the overburdened pharmacist.

Although you may be often underpaid, and sometimes abused too, thank you for your support!

Godzilla Versus Mechagodzilla

You've got to hand it to the community sector pharmacists, especially independent pharmacists who are often considered the technological dinosaurs of the profession, for taking on the PBMs.

PBM industry leaders were smart to quickly to embrace the use of computerization, technology, and robotics in pharmacy twenty-years ago, and over time were able to eliminate many of the Luddite community pharmacists who couldn't envision where the profession of pharmacy was headed.

After proving to many naysayers that robotics could fill prescriptions faster and more accurately than any "mere human" pharmacist could, the up and coming PBMs were able to gain concessions from state BOPs, the drug wholesalers and manufacturers, and were eventually able to become a competitive force to be reckoned with; a force powerful enough to rattle even the chain drug industry.

But, the fight ain't over. Although the PBMs initially had them reeling on the ropes, the community pharmacy sector was able to survive the first few rounds, and changed their fight strategy.

In the past few years the remaining independents and the continually consolidating chain pharmacies realized that they could effectively battle against this technological force if they just banded together, consolidated their powers, and embraced technological advances themselves.

Now, it seems to me that community pharmacies have a good chance to mount a comeback and win this fight, or at least delay the outcome. Recent technological advances in retail sector robotics now allow the retail sector most of the same capabilities that PBMs can provide. It now becomes more of a battle of political capabilities.

So, it looks to me like surprised PBM leaders may have to devise a new strategy if they want to take home the belt. Godzilla is no journeyman dinosaur, he's got heart. Don't count him out just yet.

What Gives You Joy?

Can you remember back when you were a kid? For the first ten years of my life, I grew up really poor. But, I truly never thought of myself as being part of a poor family. I has no idea what that even meant. It wasn't even something that I thought about. Life was what it was and I found joy in the simple things that most of us often take for granted.

Without even thinking about it, I knew that I didn't need "stuff" to make me happy.

And I swear, just like this film, it wasn't toys that gave me and my siblings the most joy, it was those stupid boxes that the toys came in that created the most happiness for us. As long as we knew we were loved, expensive toys weren't that important. Simple boxes gave us all of the joy we needed.


The Adventures of a Cardboard Box from Studiocanoe on Vimeo.

Are You Ready For Parenthood?

Enjoying your weekend? Parenthood is often a blessing for those who've planned and prepared for it beforehand. But, I pity the fool who's spreading his seed around indiscriminately. Be smart, unless you're ready for the ball-busting difficulties of raising tireless kids beforehand, always wear a condom.