More reasons that MTM, in its current state, sucks

So yeah, back to the MTM rant. I'm very much not looking forward to going into my rotation site tomorrow and calling a bajillion doctors and suggesting they switch to much cheaper, slightly less effective drugs. I wouldn't dread it if I was oblivious to the fact that each doctor's going to take a few seconds to consider whether I'm serious, then say "LOL NO *click*". They have no incentive to switch to a drug that'll save Medicare $100 per month when it only saves their patient $3, and is less effective. Also, how do I tell a patient I switched them to a drug to save them $3, just to have them they come back later to tell me cheaper drug doesn't work?

If an insurance wants to save money and use MTM they should: use percentage copays so that patients have an incentive, have a way to twist doctor arms, and reimburse pharmacists fairly.

Also, last week the United States Air Force decided to test the limits of my continence and do a low altitude pass right over my goddamn house. Not cool, USAF -- I eat my fiber and don't need an F-16 laxative, thanks. On to current events...

New York may ban cigarette sales in pharmacies

I'm not sure I understand the utility of banning the sale of cigarettes in pharmacies. Banning smoking in public places -- that one makes some sense, especially in restaurants because I don't appreciate smelling like smoke if I don't get to enjoy it myself. However, this type of banning (which has already been implemented on city-wide scales) is based on the premise that he public is too retarded to figure out that cigarettes are bad. I get that selling cigarettes in a pharmacy is a wee bit ironic and two-faced, but its not like them being in a pharmacy makes everyone believe they're magical (full-flavored) health sticks. People understand they're bad and they do it anyway, and that's fine -- implementing this ban only interferes with the way that pharmacy owners do business -- which is unfair and braindead on the government's part.

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