A
Chinese caller wanted a medicine to take back home. He gave the name which,
through his thick accent, sounded like “desitin,” an over-the-counter treatment
for diaper rash.
That
didn’t seem right, so I coaxed him through the spelling (“S as in Shanghai….?
“T as in Taiwan…?). The result was “dasatinib.” This turns out to be a treatment
for leukemia, FDA approved a few years ago and superior to other treatments. A sick
friend in China had asked the guest to obtain some.
I
fulfill these requests if they sound legitimate, and this qualified. I made
sure he understood that he must find a pharmacy and explain exactly what his
friend needed including the dose and instructions. This sometimes involves
phoning back to the home country. The pharmacist would then call me, and I
would approve. A trip to the hotel wasn’t necessary.
The
guest had phoned in the evening and mentioned that he was returning to China
the following morning. When the day passed with no call, I had the sinking
feeling that, by delaying till his departure day, the guest had waited too
long. The average CVS or Walgreens might not stock these high-tech,
chemotherapeutic drugs, so the pharmacist might have to order it or send him to another
specialized pharmacy. This might take hours. With a plane to
catch, the guest probably realized that there wasn’t time.
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