A
guest at the Doubletree had run out of insulin. I could have made a housecall,
written a prescription, and a pharmacist would have filled it. Instead I
explained that insulin doesn’t require a prescription. She should go to the
pharmacy and ask for it. The same is true for the morning-after pill, another
request that arrives now and then.
An
Italian guest at the Four Seasons brought a migraine prescription from her
doctor. Pharmacies wouldn’t accept it. Could I come and write an American
prescription? I told her to have the pharmacist phone, and I would approve it.
When
national housecall services or competitors send me to guests who need a
prescription, I write it, collect money, and leave. Those are easy visits, but
guests are never grateful. Americans look sullen; foreigners understand that
American doctors require immense fees for any service. When guests call me
directly, I handle these requests over the phone, gratis. It’s no great
sacrifice and good public relations.
It
may even be good business. Long ago, when I returned from a day off, the doctor
who covered told me a guest at the Casa Del Mar had phoned. That was exciting
news; this was an upscale Santa Monica beach hotel which had never called. The
guest obviously had a bladder infection, so the doctor had phoned a
prescription to a pharmacy. I nodded. Treating an infection over the phone is
not a good idea, but simple bladder infections are an exception. He added that
he had charged $30 for the service. I mention this only because it happened
during the 1990s, and I haven’t heard from the Casa del Mar since.
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