A Lifetime Of Pharmacy In One Song

I think this song provides a good description of how some retail pharmacists may view their career progression - from the first ten years, through the next decade or two, and then into the final cut.

[ALL original video links removed by sources]

Making A Deal With The Devil

"The Collector" is a Canadian supernatural television drama about a soul-collector (Morgan) who gets permission from the Devil to try to save the souls of his "Clients" during their last 48 hours on earth.

Morgan Pym looks 30, but was born in 1322 AD, a monk who sold his soul to cure the woman he loved of Plague. But when his deal ended 10 years later (as all deals with the Devil do), his beloved died, and Morgan went to work for the Devil collecting souls, rather than go to Hell himself.

Six centuries later, Morgan begins to rediscover his own humanity, and makes a new deal with the Devil, which allows him to try to help his clients make amends for the bad luck caused by their bargain. Morgan and his clients are bound never to reveal the true nature of their situation to anyone else. Revealing the truth to an innocent results in both parties being sent to Hell.

Morgan often fails, but never gives up trying to prove that everyone, no matter what they've done, can earn redemption…perhaps even himself. Here's an episode from the show entitled "The Pharmacist". What kind of deal did she make with the Devil? [Part 1]


The Collector: The Pharmacist [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]

Dose Of Reality

After a debilitating prescription drug overdose, Aaron Rubin warns audiences about the dangers of drug abuse, via the Dying for Relief series from the LA Times.

Why Do We Cheat?

Lance Armstrong’s confession has us thinking about cheating in all aspects of our lives. Cheating is a familiar story. First comes the cheating, then comes the lying about it, and then eventually comes the confession, most often because that person has been caught.

So why do we cheat? To answer that question for us is David DeSteno, a professor of psychology at Northeastern University and the author of Out of Character: Surprising Truths About the Liar, Cheat, Sinner and Saint Lurking in All of Us.

Source: Katie Couric Show

Sixto Rodriguez | Sugar Man

If you haven't seen the documentary, Searching for Sugar Man, then you are missing, what I think, is not only the best documentary of 2012, but the best film of the year.

Searching for Sugar Man is a 2012 Swedish/British documentary detailing the efforts of two Cape Town, South Africa fans, Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom, to find out if the rumored death of American musician Rodriguez was true, and, if not, to discover what had become of him. Little did they know how difficult their search would become.

Rodriguez's music, which never took off in the United States, had become wildly popular in South Africa, but because of Apartheid, very little was known about him there. Rodriguez was considered "Bigger than the Beatles" in South Africa, but in America, no one ever heard of him or his music.

If you love a movie with a great story line, especially an almost unbelievable one, and an inspiring and uplifting one, then you'll love this true story. Sixto truly deserves what happens to him in this film.

But what I really love and admire about this documentary is the man himself, Sixto Rodriguez. He's the epitome of what I call "an honest man", someone who's fully embraced the cynic lifestyle for the freedom it allows. He could even be considered the Diogenes of Detroit.

And he's a great father. I especially love the fantastic job he's done in raising his beautiful daughters to become successful citizens, irrespective of not having any money. The film shows how much they love and admire him.

The director of the documentary, Malik Bendjelloul, whom I also tremendously admire, does a much better job of describing Sixto, his personality, his motivations, and his idiosyncrasies. Here's a recent interview with him on the Tavis Smiley show. [best description begins at minute 20]


Source: PBS: Tavis Smiley

Jack Bogle | The Business Of Investing

Some sage advice from individual investor advocate and the father of Indexing.

I'm Just A Professional

A 50-year-old Canton pharmacist who owned and operated 26 pharmacies in the metro-Detroit area was sentenced to 17 years in prison, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today.

According to the USDOJ press release -

Evidence presented at a six-week jury trial concluding in August 2012 showed between 2006 and 2011, the pharmacies billed Medicare and Medicaid more than $57 million. At least 25% of those billings were for drugs that were either medically unnecessary never dispensed. Additional amounts were fraudulently billed to private insurers such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

The pharmacies operated on a business model that paid kickbacks to physicians in exchange for writing prescriptions for expensive medications. The affiliated doctors would also write prescriptions for controlled substances, without regard to medical necessity, which would be filled at the pharmacies and distributed to paid "patients" and patient recruiters. The expensive non-controlled medications would be billed but not dispensed.

Of the 26 defendants charged in the original indictment in this case, 20 defendants have either pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial. Six defendants are scheduled for trial in June. Out of 12 pharmacists charged, 11 have been convicted at trial or pleaded guilty, with one waiting to be tried. Out of four doctors charged, two have pleaded guilty, with two waiting to be tried. (my emphasis)

I know that I've discussed this topic before, and probably will again, but if this USDOJ press release doesn't illustrate the legal consequences of difficult choices a healthcare professional faces in the workplace every day, and learning to say "NO!" when it's appropriate, then I don't now what else will.

Attempting to rationalize poor choices by saying "Everyone else is doing it.", using the excuse that "I'm just doing my job." or that "I'm just a professional following orders." isn't going to save your ass.

I understand that there a lot of inequities in both the healthcare and judicial systems, and that you may be thinking that you're in desperate financial circumstances, but the Government is CRACKING DOWN HARD on both healthcare fraud AND prescription drug abuse. Don't let our job defeat you.

Make the right choices and don't put yourself in a position that you may later come to regret.