Yesterday I lost my patience with patients.
On the whole, I see and deal with people of all walks of life, all ages, all ethnicities. They may be ill with infections or cancer, or they may be the worried well. It's all the same for doctors everywhere in clinical practice.
I have a snowbird patient I saw once 4 months ago. She was given a prescription for imiquimod by her dermatologist in a another state prior to my seeing her, and not to my knowledge. She's 89 years old, she proceeded to use this with wild abandon on her face last month. She got very irritated and rashy, bleeding and crusting, and so she called me for help. Fine, she's here temporarily and I can manage the necrosis caused by a drug I didn't prescribe, nor am I in agreement on its being used by a geriatric patient with a history of traumatic falls and who doesn't have a permanent address. But I digress. A patient is in distress, I know I can help. ****Polyanna music to cue here*****
I see the patient, examine the horrible facial crusts, take a culture, prescribe an oral antibiotic, a topical steroid for the itching, and lots of rest and gentle cold compresses with topical OTC antibiotic ointment. I advised her that the local pharmacy in my area would certainly have the prescriptions available. She told me she lived in the next town over and would use a national store's pharmacy, it shall remain nameless except it's a big box that offers $4 prescriptions for CERTAIN drugs.
She calls my office 4 hours later to chew me out that "the oral antibiotic costs $4 and is a reasonable price, but the cream is $90 and I won't get it". This is the 756th patient to do so this month.
This is where the doctor sees red.
I was on the phone, listening to her rail, and her complaining ad nauseam about the costs of drugs---then I lost it. I told her I had no more patience to deal with her complaints and that she had to figure it out herself.
PHEW.
I am pissed that I have to be the arbiter of sick care costs, prescriptions costs, and all the while be cheerful and compassionate and sympathetic. No more. I am done and I will not respond to queries about drug costs or preauthorizations. Go complain to the govt and see if they'll treat your cancer while you're at it, your infections, your neoplastic processes.....I'm DONE DONE DONE. I'm a doctor, not a financial analyst, data acquisition specialist nor pharmacy advocate. I'm sick of the lies, you were promised free or cheap drugs, you could keep your doctor, you could keep your plan, all LIES. I hate this!!!!
