20+20 = 40

I had a patient come in for a prescription refill early on in my shift. He needed 40 mg OD, PO Lasix for a month, meaning he needed 30 tablets. Nothing unusual about that – we get a lot of people who need prescription refills and I’m more than happy to get the refillers seen quickly, especially when they DON’T need narc refills. So this guy gets his prescription filled and leaves. 45 minutes later he bursts into my area and starts yelling at me telling me that the “idiot doc got me the wrong dose”. Surprised and flustered (because this particular doc is a border-line perfectionist) I ask him to let me see the container. I read the label which says something along the lines of 60 20mg tabs. I point this out to him and he incredulously looks at me and says, “It says 20mg not 40! Are you illiterate?” I start to lose my patience and ask him, “what’s 20+20?” He replies, “40!! What is your f@#&%k point??” My f@#&%k point is that if you took TWO 20 mg tablets for a month, it would be the same dose you mathematically illiterate idiot! It took me a good 20 minutes to explain this concept to him. Did I mention that pre-temper tantrum he said that he’s a teacher? I fear for the future.