Can You Read These Rxs?

ANSWERS

Rx 1: Famotidine 40 mg 1 by mouth daily #30 for GERD-induced cough. Rx 2: Bone Density Scan. Dx: Osteopenia. Rx 3: Albuterol spray (inhaler)—2 puffs 15 minutes before exercise. Rx 4: Doxazosin 4 mg #30—take 1 tablet every evening; Ambien 10 mg #30—take 1 tablet by mouth at bedtime; Hydrocodone 10/325 #120— take 1 by mouth up to 4 times a day; Oxycodone 15 #75—1 tablet up to 3 times a day; Klonopin 2.0 #30—1 tablet by mouth at bedtime; Levothyroxine 25 mcg #30—1 tablet by mouth once a day; Baclofen 10 mg #90—1 tablet up to 3 times a day.

When Michael Webb, RPh, pharmacy manager at Acme Pharmacy in Willingboro, New Jersey, saw this difficult- to-decipher prescription and was told by the patient, “It’s for cough,” the mystery deepened. A call to the prescriber was necessary for clarification.When a patient dropped off this prescription, Terri Bigelow, senior technician, and Jay Mitchell, PharmD, pondered the writing a long time before hearing from the physician that this was not an order for a drug at all!The handwriting of this prescription that Rosemarie Alcamo, RPh, saw at Richmond Pharmacy and Surgical Inc in Staten Island, New York, made it quite a puzzler.Lisa Chamblee, PharmD, and pharmacist tech Cassie Yeakley needed some help interpreting this prescription that was brought in to Laws Drug Store in Fort Smith, Arkansas.Send in your eye-straining, baffling prescriptions—now via e-mail and fax as well as regular mail! Submissions must include a clean photocopy or scanned image of the Rx; your institution’s name and location; your name and title; the correct name of the drug(s), strength, and dosing requirements; and your phone number. You can e-mail scanned Rxs to kmckay@pharmacytimes .com; fax them to 609-257-0701; or mail them to Can You Read These Rxs?, Pharmacy Times, 666 Plainsboro Road, Suite 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536.