A bitter pill to swallow

The amount of money wasted on medicine for foster kids is amazing.  Sometimes it seems I destroy almost as many pills as I administer.

Here is an example.  Child goes to med clinic.  Dr. prescribes a certain med.  For this example, lets say 10 mg Adderall XR Zyprexa.  He writes out a 30 day prescription with two refills.  The Dr. also puts the child on a schedule II drug, which  can only be scheduled out for thirty days and cannot be refilled without another appointment.  (This also helps feed the coffers of the Doctors who do these med clinics)  I go and fill both prescriptions for the first thirty days.  Someone screws up and doesn't schedule the next med clinic within 30 days.  (This happens more often than it should as well)  I run out of the schedule II drug but do refill the Adderall XR Zyprexa, which has refills.  Three days into the 30 pills of the refill, we get into see the doctor for the schedule II drug.  While talking to the child, the child mentions to the doctor that he doesn't like the way the Adderall Zyprexa makes him "feel".  In turn, the doctor decides to take the child off of the Zyprexa and put him on something else.  I end up with 27 capsules of Zyprexa.

Thirty 10 mg capsules of Zyprexa costs around $475.  (http://tiny.cc/p2ti2) What am I to do with them?  I have to destroy them.  Who pays for the wasted meds?  You do!  All kids in foster care in PA receive their health care through Medical Assistance, which is funded with your tax dollars.  Sweet.

(Friend Jason Kramer, who happens to be a pharmacist and e-friendly small business owner (two links in there), corrected my error of thinking Adderall was not a C-II drug.  It is.  Good news(?), Zyprexa is not and it costs more than Adderall - making it an even bigger waste of money!  Sweeter.)