Why burden them

                                                      

There is never a dull moment at Medix pharmacy. Almost everyday we meet different people from various cultural backgrounds, faiths and religions sharing their social problems with us and thus today was no different. This morning a middle aged woman came to the pharmacy for her medication and I could see that something was bothering her. Whilst chatting to her she decided to reveal her domestic issues. She was a single mom all her life. She worked hard to put her kids through school and university and got them married too. She has four grand children that she loves to bits. So why is she so miserable and unhappy you may ask yourself. The answer is quite simple. Now that it is her time to sit back, relax, travel and enjoy the finer things in life she has suddenly become a maid or a nanny to her children and 4 grandchildren.Everyday her grand kids are sent to her home at seven am in the morning whilst their parents go to work. She needs to give them breakfast and send them off to school. She then comes home, prepares lunch for them along with making two pots of food.. one for her son and one for her daughter. She then assists the grand children with the home work, bathes the kids in the evening and gets them ready to be picked up at 6pm. She has no social life of her own. She feels she wants to go out to the movies with her friends or travel abroad. Whenever she brings this subject up she is told by her kids that she is being selfish as they pay for her medical aid and monthly expenses. The sad and unfortunate part is that there are many grand parents out there who are in exactly the same situation. The kids want to have a rosy lifestyle.. Wake up late in the morning, go to the gym, enjoy social gatherings with their friends whilst the poor grand parents need to overlook the grand children. When I was young, my mother did everything for me. She never dumped us with my grandparents. I was her child and hence her own responsibility. Today's young parents find it perfectly acceptable to make their parents work for them instead of making their parents lives easier. This is exactly what the Prophet (saw) envisaged centuries ago. As our parents age, they don't have the patience with kids any longer.There is only so much they can do. Instead of burdening them with your own responsibilities rather find other avenues of dealing with issues. Having children is your own choice in life. If you cant deal with the consequences, then DON'T HAVE KIDS... Simple....

Picture courtesy: http://keyw.com/the-keys-advice-column-help-our-parents-are-ruining-my-wedding/

Don't be conned- Understand how a medical aid system works

It is quite unfortunate that many patients out there do not have the slightest idea on how a medical aid scheme works. Many patients arrive at the pharmacy with their card and expect miracles to happen. They expect to buy everything they require in the pharmacy on their medical aid. This is not possible. Unfortunately many unscrupulous health care professionals take advantage of these patients. Medical aids have a formulary and all drugs are capped at a certain price. The patient is liable to pay for the portion that the medical aid does not cover. What I find most shocking is that there are pharmacies out there who entice patients to buy from them based on the premise that " AT OUR PHARMACY YOU DO NOT PAY A LEVY." This is just not possible. At all pharmacies you will pay a levy unless your drugs are chronic and on the medical aid formulary and of course if you have a medical aid savings account. Be very careful if you frequenting a pharmacy where the pharmacist says you have a levy, but you don't need to pay in the levy. These unethical pharmacists usually cover up the levy shortfall by charging an over the counter product on the patients medical aid when the patient leaves the pharmcy. Hence, they score both ways. They claim for a product that the patient has not received plus they still have the item on the shelf. The poor patient is under the impression that they did not pay the levy so the pharmacist becomes well known and respected. Little do the patients know that these type of pharmacies are actually defrauding the medical aids by millions each year. The patient feels happy that they didn't pay a levy but at the end of the day money is still coming out of the patients medical aid savings. Patients often wonder why are their savings depleted so quickly. Many of them fail to read their statements from the medical aid and also assess if the correct medication has been given to them. There are pharmacies out there who allow patients to buy soaps, shampoos and other toiletries all on the medical aid. In other words the pharmacist claims drugs to the value of the toiletries. This is totally illegal and against the law. The other shocking practice is pharmacies issuing chronic medication to patients who have scripts that are dated from three years ago. This is so unethical and against the law as well. These type of pharmacies are not interested in the health of the patient, they are more interested in ringing up the cash register. The reason a chronic script is only valid for a maximum period of six months is because a patients disease state can change within six months. Blood pressure, blood sugar and other readings can change within a six month period. The doctor may decide to change medication or detect other health issues. As a country we have showed the world that we are sick and tired of corruption, so why then do we allow corruption and unethical medical practices to creep into our society. Break the cycle and do not support unethical medical practices. Eradicate corruption at grass root levels first then at a national level. As a patient I would be afraid to go to a pharmacy where anything and everything is dished out to the customer as though it is a candy store. These type of medical professionals have no respect for themselves and their profession, so why would they have any feeling or compassion towards you, the patient. At Medix pharmacy, we pride ourselves in providing our patients with the highest level of care. Hence, we will NOT be entertaining any patient that requests scheduled medication without a valid doctors prescription. We are the custodians of pharmaceuticals and we strongly believe in medical ethics, balancing the fine line between business matters and the well being of our patients. After all sustenance and provision comes from God Almighty alone. If we follow a straight path in life, success is guaranteed.

Where have I disappeared to?

So recently I have been inundated with numerous inbox messages enquiring about my blog and why I haven't been updating the blog regularly as I was doing in the past. The answer is quite simple...BUSINESS... Medix Pharmacy is just one month old and as a team we have lots of ideas that we still wish to implement in order to provide state of the art health care to all our patients. Running a business is definitely not for the faint hearted but it is quite inspiring and encouraging when we get patients complimenting us on our excellent service delivery and also when we have opposition pharmacies snooping by to have a look at our pharmacy lay out. 

At Medix Pharmacy we do not aim to be like a big chain store pharmacy. Our aim is to provide one on one interpersonal patient care. In the last month, the pharmacy has also turned into a social welfare centre where community members have asked us to assist them with various domestic related issues, such as alcoholism and drugs. We have dealt with teenage pregnancies as well as one assault case. What really broke our hearts was the fact that when the victim went to a private hospital she was not attended to simply because she is poor and can not afford medical aid. 

Last Saturday the pharmacy hosted a wellness day whereby patients were encouraged to pass by the pharmacy for a free blood pressure, cholesterol, as well as blood sugar screening. We are quite proud to announce that more than 120 patients were screened and we came across five patients that were positively diagnosed as having diabetes. We would like to thank the Florida community for their love and support and we will continue to have health related events outside the pharmacy on a monthly basis. The aim is to bring reasonable and affordable health care to all members of the community. Our team at Medix pharmacy is dedicated to serving the community. Stay tuned for our upcoming drug awareness workshop that will be hosted in the new year. In order for us to have these type of events regularly, we urge the community at large to come out in full force to support such events so that it makes it worth while for us to host such events.

FORBIDDEN LOVE

THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN SOME TIME BACK WHILST STILL RESIDING IN SAUDI....

                             http://viewmixed.com/10-everyday-things-banned-in-saudi-arabia

So yesterday morning I started my day on quite a bright and bubbly note as I encountered or heard one funny story after the other. As soon as the clock struck 7 am I grabbed my bag and dashed down the corridor making my way to the laundry to pick up my lab coats. I was one of the first people to have arrived and hence when I stepped inside I greeted the Sudanese gentleman at the counter. ' Sabahal khair.....Good morning.".....In quite an excited tone he replied " Sabahan noor....Good morning..' There was a slight pause and then he said ' I love you" I found this statement to be most odd and naturally the facial expression on my face changed. As I got closer to the counter I then realized that the man greeted me whilst being in the middle of a telephonic conversation as well. The problem is that I just didn't notice the tiny ear piece that made its way down into his trouser pocket naturally connected to his mobile phone. I had this huge grin on my face and left the laundry building with inner giggles. Then I made my way home. But first I needed to pass by the compound guard to give him water and a few other goodies. He started relating a few funny stories that he had encountered over the past few days. Apparently a gentleman was caught entering the female compound whilst clad in a full abaya and niqaab. The poor soul passed the first security guard with flying colours but his shoes gave up the game. The second guard on duty caught him and naturally he was sent packing out of Saudi. Then there was a gentleman who has been fooling the guards for quite some time now by entering the female compound premises on numerous occasions. He wore the abaya and niqaab to perfection and completed the get up with a perfect pair of lady's high heel shoes. So how did he manage to get caught.Well, he and his girlfriend were trying to brew home made alcohol and in the process started up a small fire in the kitchen. The smoke detectors went off and voila the security guards arrived on the scene within minutes and he was caught. Naturally he was also given his marching orders. Then we have the case of the two Saudi employees who chose to shower their love and affection for each other at the back of my apartment building. A free 'Basic Instinct' show with unlimited seating lol. With the security cameras having picked up their 'odd' activities, naturally our compound guard was asked to investigate. They were so embroiled in their own 'lovey dovey' world that they didn't notice the guard approaching the car. He knocked at the window. Within seconds the girl jumped out of the car and put on her niqaab and abaya. As for her flame, he sped off from the compound premises faster than bugs bunny. I was laughing myself into stitches as I observed the scene from my lounge window. The girl started crying, then she opened up her handbag and removed money that she was desperately trying to give to the guard. Then she suggested that she will buy him clothes, perfumes and send his meals everyday provided that he does not report their activities. Of course he refused to accept her bribes and she was reported for her actions. In the afternoon I made my way back to the hospital and bumped into my colleagues who related to me a few other hilarious stories. The cameras apparently picked up two western nurses smooching in the ward and hence the executive on duty was asked to deal with the situation. As he was relating the story to me he was simply laughing and said that he had more serious issues to deal with than disciplining two people who are definitely in love....So he sat them down in his office, gave them each a cold glass of water and said....." Drink this and cool off.....Its great to love but please keep it out of the hospital premises." He is way too soft a human being to terminate or fire someone from their job. Then another colleague of mine related his hilarious story to me. He was waiting near the elevator to meet up with one his friends from another department. He noticed the lift going up and down and each time the door opened the same two people were in it. A male messenger and a female security guard. They chose to spend their private escapade in the elevator. So they simply went up and down until my colleague decided to step inside the lift. Both of them apparently froze to the point that the poor messenger did n't even recognize the first floor despite working on that floor everyday. My colleague apparently exited the lift with a huge smile on his face and a wink. Now in any other country or society, people would socialize in a mall or a restaurant. In Saudi Arabia, the hospital is the main center of socializing as it is an open environment where males and females are allowed to interact with each other. I have come across patients who have no medical issues at all and simply frequent the emergency department to interact with medical professionals of the opposite sex. Take note that for some Saudi males and females it is the first time that they have interacted with members of the opposite sex when they start working within a hospital environment. When you have young males and females that have been brought up in a repressed manner, " there will be high levels of love in the air and so anything can be expected." according to my Nigerian counterpart. Some friendly advise to the western expats out there, bear in mind that when you are coming to Saudi Arabia to work here, that you need to adhere and abide to the laws of the country in the same way that other nationalities would have to respect your country's laws and regulations.Before you choose to make a complete fool out of yourself in the public arena, remember that Big brother is watching!!!