The "lawyer" drinking game!

Yesterday was a good day for the most part. The fact that it was a ten hour shift was rubbish and that I had the makings of a sinus infection trying to rip itself out of my sinus cavity did little to tarnish the overall goodness of yesterday.

We have a patient that regularly comes in. He's a workers compensation patient, who doesn't really know what he's taking or why. Each time he comes in he says to me "What do I have on file to fill?" to which I respond "Depends, what do you need filled?" Well today, it was the same routine, and this time he picks that he needs Dolgic Plus, Fioricet, and Acular LS. It doesn't matter how many times I tell this patient that Dolgic Plus and Fioricet are the same active ingredients.Today, I noticed his workers comp information is missing from our system, both claims [one for his pain medication and a separate one for his eyes]. I ask him if his information changed.

This is when the drinking game begins. Every time he says 'lawyer', you drink. You have to be prepared, because he can squeeze lawyer into the tightest of sentences. I wish I could remember word for word what was said. In essence, he has been in touch with his lawyer and had sent his lawyer the records showing how much money he's paid out of pocket because the workers comp stopped covering his medications, and that his lawyer is getting really tired of having to fight with them over this. The workers comp will work for a few months then refuse to pay for a couple months till his lawyer gets onto them about it. He and his lawyer are so tired of this that his lawyer are going to petition for the company to give him a big payout or his lawyer will make sure they cover his medications without the hassle.

I don't do it justice, he must of used the word lawyer twice as much, but I can't figure out how to work it in. I called his old workers comp processor, they told me the case wasn't closed but that it was changed to a different processor. So I got the info for his workers comp adjuster and left her a message. I explained that they changed who was handling your workers comp, and he went on about his lawyer some more.

I guess I shouldn't be so amused at the blatant attempt to abuse the system to get a big payout but I can't help but see the lighter side of things.