Published: November 14, 2009 08:55 pm      

Pharmacist finds satisfaction in helping people out

MULLENS — Ever wonder how a pharmacist can decipher the spidery handwriting of a doctor’s prescription that lies in a gulf between a child’s scribbling and Egyptian hieroglyphics?

To pharmacist Kevin Wilson, it really is no mystery.

Many doctors fill the prescriptions in shorthand, and pharmacists can readily make out the medicine in mind, Wilson says.

And often it comes to a simple routine of familiarity with the doctor and the type of medication in mind for a particular patient.

“A lot of doctors do have poor handwriting,” he said. “If we’re not sure, we do a call back. But that’s not as often as you would think it would be. There are a lot of checks in place in the system.”

Another question that haunts those who wait for what seems an eternity in getting a prescription filled is why it takes so long to pour pills from a large bottle into a smaller one with your name on it.

“It’s all a matter of who’s in front of you,” Wilson says.

“And even if it doesn’t look very busy, there are phone calls from people calling in refills and doctors’ offices calling in their prescriptions. A lot of times there may only be a couple of people physically ahead of you waiting, but there may be several prescriptions ahead of you. And some people have several prescriptions for one person.”

Each one filled is a precise and tasking procedure as well, he points out.

Computers are used to perform all the required checks for allergies or other difficulties that might be associated with other medications one is taking.

“If a problem does arise, that’s another thing that holds up things,” Wilson said.

“Even if it’s not really busy, sometimes you have a problem with medication or an insurance company that we have to deal with. And it all backs up.”

Wilson acquired Charlie’s Pharmacy in January 2008, a firm that hired him as a high school junior as a janitor back in his days at Mullens High School.

“It was interesting and very different from just going to school,” he recalled. “I especially appreciated having the spending money. I had more discretionary money than I do now.”

After school and on Saturdays, as he pushed the broom in the Mullens drug store, Wilson often thought of what it would be like to return here a few years down the road, behind the counter, handing out small bottles of pills rather than collecting dirt and dust from the floor.

Actually, his first serious thoughts about a profession were directed toward engineering, and even when he arrived on the West Virginia University campus, he majored in biology with a goal in mind of eventually applying for medical school. Before his freshman year was out, he had made the switch to pharmacy.

“I had always been considering it,” he said. “I just decided then to go ahead and do it.”

Upon graduation, he worked about three years for Appalachian Regional Hospital in Beckley, and putting in some occasional stints in relief at Charlie’s Pharmacy, a drug store launched in 1984 by the late Charles Stump, who had followed in the steps of his father.

When the owner died five years ago, Wilson began working full-time, and the owner’s daughters, living out of state, were disinclined to continue in their father’s footsteps and agreed to sell the business to the new owner.

“It was exciting,” Wilson recalled of his move to owner in a place that once tested his muscles as a clean-up lad.

“There was a lot of anxiety in going into the decision, but it’s been good.”

Running a pharmacy is no simple matter nowadays, given the heightened government scrutiny and new regulations, and the often arduous dealings with insurance companies, Wilson said.

“Everything has changed,” he said. “In high school, I even said if I did become a pharmacist, I would never want to own a pharmacy just because of seeing Charlie dealing with things pertaining to owning the business side of it. The biggest thing is dealing with third parties and insurance. That makes it more challenging to keep up. When you don’t own the pharmacy, those things didn’t really matter much to you because you’re just filling prescriptions. It is what it is.”

Wilson never dreamed of owning the store, but a pharmacy technician told him that one day he actually would and she would be on his payroll. Ethel Lusk, the technician, proved prophetic.

Not that Charlie Stump saw it like that.

“Actually, he probably spent more time trying to talk me into not being a pharmacist,” Wilson said.

“He was good to work for. He could be kind of tough at times, but he was always good to me.”

Wilson says 99 percent of his customers are wonderful and easy to accommodate, many of them old friends he has known since childhood, “but then there is a large drug problem in southern West Virginia,” he said.

“You’re kind of dealing with drug seekers, and I’d say that’s probably one of the biggest headaches,” he said.

“Not necessarily fake prescriptions, but just being suspicious of people that you don’t regularly see who’s bringing in something for a controlled substance. Pain medications and anti-anxiety drugs are probably the two biggest ones. It’s bad. From our end, if it’s something suspicious, you’re trying to spend a little bit of time tracking down to see if the person has gotten something else filled from another doctor recently.”

On occasion, this means Wilson works with law enforcement officials.

“A lot of things start out as legitimate,” he said.

For instance, a worker might suffer a painful injury on the job and need a pain-killing medication.

“Pain is a real thing and treating pain is a legitimate medical purpose,” he said.

“A lot of times it’s how people get hooked — legitimately taking medicine for a purpose and becoming addicted. What originally caused it may have gotten better. They (drugs) definitely take over people’s entire lives. Some people have been able to overcome it. But it’s a difficult road and a lot of pain involved to get non-addicted.”

Pharmacists become an integral part of the healing process, and in this vein, Wilson exacts a great deal of satisfaction in his chosen vocation.

“When something happens, it’s good to be able to have a part in being part of their health care team, to help them be cured,” he said.

“Unfortunately, if it’s something terminal, it’s good to be able to make them more comfortable.”

At times, he is a liaison between a patient and the attending physician. For instance, a cancer-stricken patient had to go out of state for treatment, and upon return, was four to five hours away from the doctor. Wilson was able to intervene with a local physician to reconcile the medication end of the treatment.

“There’s a lot of satisfaction in being able to help somebody out,” he said.

As with most drug stores, the interior is laden with household items from floor cleaners to shaving essentials, but in this independent undertaking, there is no soda fountain — once a mainstay in decades past. Wilson is considering one, but not in the immediate future.

In one respect, Wilson shares a kinship with the huge chains that have invaded the West Virginia market in recent years — a realization that the retirement of baby boomers, with their attendant and predictable physical problems as they grow older, is bound to impose some severe pressure on future medical obligations. Put simply, an aging population translates to a heavier need for medications, and thus, more places to dispense them.

“The projected growth is that the number of prescriptions needed is definitely going to increase as the population ages,” he said.

“There are going to be more prescriptions to fill. You have more people wanting to get a piece of that market.”

Independent stores are in a slight minority, capturing about 45 percent of all prescriptions, Wilson noted.

“We hold our own,” he says of the competition with the huge chains.

“We do provide extra service that you don’t get with the chain drug store. That’s not to say they aren’t very good people, but we do deliveries for people.”

Many of his customers are carryovers from the day his former boss was in charge, and his father before that.

In his high school days, Wilson was handy with a tennis racket, but now as a full-time business owner, there is little time for relaxation.

His one day off is consumed by some ministries at Daniels Bible Church where he is a member with his wife Adriane, who serves as bookkeeper for the drug store.

“We actually have a leadership training program, one night a week, and another week night is take up on homework for it,” he said.

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com