Easy Money

A Brazilian traveler had left her medication at home. Could I drive to Hermosa Beach and write some prescriptions? The caller was the guest’s travel insurer.

When hotel guests call directly, I tell them to go to a pharmacy and explain what they need. I would approve over the phone. It’s free; everyone is happy.

Before I could offer to do the same, the dispatcher informed me that, as a new service, the insurance would pay for visits to replace prescriptions. I could not turn down easy money.

It turned out not to be so easy. Helpfully, the traveler’s family doctor had faxed his prescriptions, but the writing was illegible and in Portuguese. There followed half an hour of phone calls to pharmacies and to Brazil and Google searches before I found the American equivalent of three of the four. The fourth never turned up, but it was probably an herbal remedy.

 

When Everything Works Out

A call arrived as I was eating dinner at the home of friends. A gentleman at the Biltmore needed a doctor. The meal was ending, so I took my leave.

Driving the twelve miles downtown, I parked and opened the trunk to retrieve my black bag. Dismayed, I realized I had left it at home.

I usually keep the bag in my car. My driveway is outside, and during hot weather I take the bag into the house to keep the heat from melting my pills. Getting a housecall jogs my memory, and I retrieve the bag, but I had driven to friends without giving it a thought.

I phoned the guest to explain that I’d have to return home. Before I could apologize, the guest apologized, explaining that he had run out of his blood pressure pills and only needed a refill. He knew his travel insurance would not pay for this, so he claimed to feel ill. He wasn’t ill. I phoned a prescription to a pharmacy and went home.

This blog is full of incidents whose entertainment value is based on things going wrong. But sometimes everything works out.

A Sad Story

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. 

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

An Austrian lady had left home without her medication. Could I come and write some prescriptions?

These requests arrive regularly. In the past, I offered to phone a pharmacy, but this took a long time as guests scrambled to find the name, dose, and instructions. Nowadays I tell them to go to a pharmacy, explain exactly what they need, and give my number. I would approve over the phone.

Guests are pleased that it is so simple and more pleased to learn that I don’t charge for this.

Later, a caller explained that he was the tour leader for an Austrian group. “You gave a prescription for one of our members. Could you tell me where is the pharmacy?”

The lady’s English was poor, so she had misheard me. I repeated that the guest had to go to the pharmacy and describe precisely what she needed. An hour later, I answered another call from the tour leader. He was at a pharmacy near the hotel; he had given the names of the lady’s medication, but they had refused to accept them. Again, I explained that the lady had to tell the pharmacist precisely what she needed.

An hour later, a pharmacist informed me that a foreign customer was requesting several medications. He wanted to know the dose and instructions. I told him that he would have to get this information from the guest.

Several hours passed before the pharmacy called again because the lady had had to phone her doctor in Austria. One of her drugs was not available in the US. What would I advise?... I had no idea but suggested that he probably knew an equivalent. After some research, he found one and called back. I agreed with his suggestion.

Don’t forget to pack your pills.