A Pulmicort inhaler went missing. So what has that got to do with anything? It is how and why it went missing that is of interest.
A patient with asthma called the local pharmacy with a corporate name to request a refill of the vital inhaler, Pulmicort. A few days later this American went to pick up said inhaler with a credit card in hand but alas the counter person stated, “You already received this in Florida.”
The American states, “Florida?”
Clerk, “Yes.”
The American states, “ I have never been to Florida, especially now.”
Counter person asks the pharmacist for directions as to what should be done. Pharmacist looks at the screen and states, “Hm. It was dispensed without a copay and without cost. There was nothing charged for this inhaler in Florida." Let me see if the insurance will still cover it. The insurance will cover it. I can give you one now.” This, of course, was all in the spirit of excellent customer service.
The American stated, “No, don’t do that. I am worried about the inhaler dispensed in my name in Florida with no copay. I will call later for a refill.” With that the American went home and called the corporation offices customer service.
After a very lengthy hold on the phone a person came on the line. The American was concerned for what was a wrongly dispensed inhaler. It was discussed between the two people and it was decided there was a theft of the inhaler in Florida.
After some scrutiny of the situation it was also decided a pharmacist could have dispensed the inhaler in a customer’s name without charging the insurance company and using it for his own purposes.
Currently the investigation into the missing inhaler is being taken seriously. It was a theft of an expensive inhaler. The American has lost nothing in reporting the theft. The scenario leading to the theft is that a corporate pharmacist working at a local store is Covid-19 positive, requested a steroid inhaler from his doctor, was not provided any such prescription, stayed on the job and self-dispensed a steroid inhaler for his treatment.
This minor theft, without insurance cost less than $1000.00, is very troubling. A COVID-19 positive pharmacist stayed on the job dispensing medications and interacting with people. This is the kind of disaster that happens when a Governor and USA president act irresponsibly in caring for their people. With more and more professionals becoming infected because of contact with the public they start to self-treat and risk exposing more people.
The CDC and NIH MUST establish a home care regime for treatment of COVID-19 that includes steroid inhalers and quite possibly blood thinners. The thing is this, the hospitals in the "red zones" are becoming if not already overwhelmed. There is staff becoming ill. It is more realistic to treat patients at home under quarantine if they can tolerate it. Oxygen can be ordered for the home environment if the patient is stable and able to eat and drink to maintain a well-nurouished state. Something like this really needs to be looked into because hospitals and their staff are at odds to deal with all these new patients.
This risk taking must stop and the only way this rampaging virus will come under control is by shutting down the country for a short period of time, as exampled by New Zealand and England.
A short shutdown is nothing compared to the continued spread of the virus. Once the spread is stopped, life can begin to return to what we used to call normal, if there is enough of the economy left to actually provide jobs.
