Many seniors living alone are required to take on a regular basis at least half a dozen prescription medications. These medications must be taken in a prescribed routine way such as a.m., p.m., bedtime, empty stomach, with food and without operating machinery or driving.
I mark the manageable non-childproof bottle cap how they are to be taken and when I am down to a couple pills write on the bottle the week day I am to continue when refilled. I hold on to the marked empty bottle until the refill of same medication is provided me.
All works well until we see on the bottle such as on 9/21/2015 the absurdity “you have 0 refills until 9/21/2016.” Do the math: one pill a day for 365 days from a refill of 30 pills equals on 9/21/2015 is not 0 but 12 refills equally measured unless, of course, your doctor intervenes prescribing otherwise. The intent of such peculiar math evades me. The refills could easily be calculated up to the next routine medical appointment.
The delay, expense and confusion that results from getting the doctor to unnecessarily reissue a prescriptions (as I did for two yesterday) causes right minded sensible persons to loose control of their medication, sometime leading them to a nursing home and other outside dependency.
Jim Livingston
Newberry