Day 1-California Reopening Plan-Phase 3 (Phase 2.5 for LA County)

Pharmacy audits…read further down in the blog

So, I am very confused. Today, Governor Newsom authorized California to move to Phase 3 which is quoted as follows:

“Reopening higher risk workplaces, which require close proximity to other people, including:

Hair salons

Nail salons

Gyms

Movie theaters

Sporting events without live audiences

In-person religious services (churches and weddings)”

California has 58 counties, but 11 of them, including my county, Los Angeles, are still in Phase 2. If a county wants to open schools, dine-in restaurants or hair salons and barbershops, they have to go through an attestation process, in which they certify the spread of Covid-19 is under control locally. So, on the same day that the Governor authorized entry into Phase 3, LA County officials modified the county’s health order to allow in-store shopping at low-risk retail stores (whatever that means?) as well as the reopening of other recreational activities with restrictions.

Apparently, LA County went through the attestation process, “in which they certify the spread of Covid-19 is under control locally” and this is now LA County’s modified order:

“Churches can resume services as long as congregants are limited to 25% of the building’s capacity or a maximum of 100 people, whichever is lower.

ALL retail establishments???, including those indoor/outdoor shopping centers, can open for business at 50% capacity; flea markets, swap meets - are they crazy?- and drive-in movie theaters can also resume operations.

Pools, hot tubs and saunas??? What??? in an apartment building or part of an HOA can open.”

But, how could LA County have possibly certified that the “spread of Covid-19 is under control locally” when the number of Covid-19 cases increased by 878 today (43, 052 in LA County alone) and the number of deaths increased by 52 today (2,042 deaths in LA County)? And lets not forget that this is in direct conflict with the federal guidelines that dictate no state should open unless they have had 14 days with NO deaths. But who’s following those…

When Covid-19 hit, I knew that life had changed forever and basic tasks we routinely perform would never be the same. I estimated sheltering in place for 6 months, emerging out of hibernation only after a period of time when there were no Covid-19 deaths. Then, as a society we would began the slow process of social distancing, masking, constantly using Purell, and banning hand-shaking and hugging, to ensure the virus never returned. This would be inconvenient but at least we would all be safe.

In my alternate reality, life would return to normal only after deaths ceased and the virus was eradicated. These new safety measures would account for our new normal while we mourned the loss of our carefree, dirty lives, where nobody washed their hands and people kissed and breathed all over each other. Yes, this would be a sad time, but as Americans, in my fantasy and what I thought would be the logical reality, we would have quarantined long enough that the virus would have extinguished and we would simply be marveling at the inconvenience of our new lives, saying things like “this sucks” when we put on masks and do stupid elbow bumps to say hi.

But, that’s not what happened at all. Instead, everyone gave up, crammed into bars and restaurants, and said, “Whatever.” We are all at risk and people are still dying. What was the point of sheltering-in-place for 2 months (at least in California) when social distancing and masking probably would have yielded the same result that we have today? I thought we were quarantining so the VIRUS would die, not PEOPLE. Instead, it is business as usual and everyone’s pretending that everything is fine and saying “We did it! We can finally go back to “browsing indoor/outdoor retail establishments” and sitting in jacuzzis. We’re probably more at risk than we ever were and nobody seems to care. The few people, like myself and Dr. Faucci, who think deeply about Covid-19 and it’s ramifications are labeled as heretics or nuts. I can’t share these comments with anyone as people will just think, “she’s weird.” To avoid becoming the “crazy, Covid-19 spinster lady”, I pretend like everything is fine, too, knowing that I will probably contract Covid-19 at some point and prepare to die when (not IF) that happens.

9:00 – 10:00 - I take the dog out and go back upstairs, completely disillusioned and unmotivated. I went to bed way too late last night. I listen to Air Talk and the Global News.

10:00-1:00 - Downstairs and still in my pajamas, I drink my coffee and read online news for over an hour, then work on a project for my state job called “pharmacy audits”, a complete waste of time for us investigators. 

BC [Before Covid-19], a pharmacy audit involved a written request for original prescriptions, hand-delivered to the pharmacy in question.  Why they were ever named pharmacy “audits” is beyond me. The pharmacists were never able to pull the original prescriptions at the time we arrived because the ‘scrips’ were always “in the attic”, in storage. [Seriously…pharmacists say the prescriptions are “in the attic” all the time]. Investigators would then return 1 to 2 weeks later and pick-up the original prescriptions, again in person. If these interactions didn’t occur face to face, we would never get the prescriptions.  Showing up was a kind of reminder for the pharmacist.

Here’s the thing: although the ‘brass’ mandates that we obtain original prescriptions for our investigations, they are never used. Experts do not need the prescriptions when they review our cases and render opinions and scrips are never introduced into evidence at our hearings.  And yet, with every “excessive prescribing” investigation, we are asked the same question:  “Did you get the scrips?”

The amount of waste in state service is staggering, be it time, money, pollution, etc., because bureaucracy is so bloated. And so, when overtime was finally authorized three years ago, after a 15-year dry spell, but capped at 20 hours per month, I made my time-and-a-half almost solely from “pharmacy audits”, until the approved overtime was finally discontinued.  Pharmacy audits are the most time-consuming task of our business and yield the least results, as they do nothing to improve the outcome of the case.

Now, during Covid-19, we are not allowed to make field visits at pharmacies, so written requests for original prescriptions are mailed, although they are largely ignored by the pharmacist. We have no authority to make them comply with our requests.

Lest you think pharmacy audits are no longer time-consuming, let me explain the “written request.” Utilizing what’s called a CURES report, Investigators review every medicine prescribed to the patient involved in the investigation for the past three years, which is our statute of limitations.  Since these are excessive prescribing cases, the patient is inevitably prescribed a shitload of narcotics every month.

After reviewing the CURES, we then request each prescription, line by line, in a letter to the pharmacist. Since prescriptions are never entered into evidence, nobody truly knows which prescriptions are  necessary and important to the case, so we request all of them. Each line of the request must reflect the prescription number, the name and ‘mg’ number of the medicine, the number of pills prescribed, and the date the prescription was filled.  It is not unusual for a pharmacy request to consist of 4 or more single-spaced pages, comprising over 100 medications. A pharmacy request takes hours to prepare.

So, now you know what I mean when I say I work on pharmacy audits. This is a mindless task that takes no concentration.  I listen to Air Talk, What a Day, and Start Here.

1:00-3:30- The appraiser is coming at 9:30 tomorrow morning to assess the house for my HELOC and I have a lot of work to do – I need caffeine.  I text L. and ask if she’ll buy me a coffee, but she’s sanitizing the art studio in preparation for the Covid-19 grand opening and won’t be able to deliver until after 4:00.  The best thing to do is take a nap.  This is unusual for me.

3:30-4:30 – I read Good Things Happen to People you Hate.

4:30-7:00 p.m. – L. arrives with coffee in hand and I start on the kitchen, while I drink my coffee.  I wipe down all the cabinets and touch up any chips in the paint with a black Sharpie, then clean the counters and do the dishes.  I clean all the knobs and drawer pulls with Windex. I clean the back splash and Windex all the stainless steel appliances.

The ceiling near the skylight sustained extensive water damage during last month’s deluge.  I don’t want the appraiser to see the water damage, so I haul out the ladder and grab the perfectly matched paint I purchased for just this purpose, and start painting that section. Water damage always occurs in the same area of the ceiling, whenever there is a heavy rain, and I continue to paint over it.  Why not repair the ceiling, you ask?  No money.

7:00-8:00 p.m. – I recruit L. to go with me to Home Depot to buy flowers for the three containers that I’ve been trying to purchase for the past week. I feel much less overwhelmed with her in tow and I make my selection. I’m dismayed to see that a can of cleanser retails at .99 cents when I just spent $23 on a 2-can combo pack through Walmart.com. I was completely hosed!

8:00-10:00 – I dust the entire living room and put two floor mats in the washing machine.  I move into the dining area and dust the buffet and Windex the table. I take the slip covers off my Ralph Lauren couch and wash those, too.  L. vacuums the downstairs area and, miraculously, gets the blue water stain out of the downstairs bathtub, as this faucet continuously leaks and I don’t want the appraiser to know. I told you she was a ‘stainmaster.” I move to my office and dust all surfaces there, to include all of the shelves and objects in my floor-to-ceiling 3-sectional cabinet. Throughout all of these activities, I apply coat after coat of paint to the ceiling in an attempt to cover the water stains. I listen to True Crime Garage and Market Place.

10:00-12:00 a.m. – I plant the flowers I just bought in the three containers I’ve set aside for a month and add some potting soil to my tangerine tree and the succulent in the middle of my patio table. I sweep the patio and brush off my six patio pillows. I move upstairs and dust my bedroom – the bathroom looks okay.  I straighten my closet although it’s already very organized. L. vacuums the stairs and cleans her room. After 6 coats of paint, L. and I can still make out the water stain on the ceiling. I’m concerned and ask if L. can somehow mask it with colors from her palette – she doesn’t think so.

12:00-1:30 – I swiffer-mop the entire downstairs, then wipe-down the laundry room. I sweep the front porch and notice several packages were delivered, to include the kitty litter I purchased for the paint cans, the two cans of cleanser where I was completely ripped off, and some HELOC documents that I have to sign and return. I listen to PBS News Hour Segments.

1:30-3:00 – L. and I watch Married at First Sight. I have chips and salsa that R. made.  It’s tasty, with a lot of heat. I know L.’s Dad would really like it.

4:00 a.m.- Nighttime routine and bed.