topic Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk in Wellness

How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

SeaMaiden — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 02:04:31 GMT

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/how-chaos-at-chain-pharmacies-is-putting-patients-at-risk/ar-BBZvMwk?li=BBnbfcN

A long read, but eye opening if you use prescription drugs

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

Goldengate8361 — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 02:24:15 GMT

That's why everyone should check their prescriptions themselves before leaving the store. I always do that. I think Amazon's pill pack is going to take away much of the chains business.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

Zernia Rose — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 02:27:27 GMT

Thanks for posting this article. It is quite informative. I noticed many of the situations listed and understand how deadly or incapacitating errors can happen.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

millieshops — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 02:29:08 GMT

@Goldengate8361Is Amazon going to underprice the CVS and Walgreens paks?

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

Goldengate8361 — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 02:30:35 GMT

@millieshops don't know. Probably. My bet would be on Amazon.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

Abrowneyegirl — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 02:48:31 GMT

@millieshops wrote:
@Goldengate8361Is Amazon going to underprice the CVS and Walgreens paks?

Amazon is not going to solve the problem of people working at high volume and very high speeds.

That sounds like a healthcare nightmare!!!!

I am sure Amazon will have strict metrics as to how many prescriptions are filled per min. just like everyone else at Amazon. Time is money$$

However, for those who value fast and inexpensive service over health and safety Amazon would be a good option.

I try to use small family-owned pharmacies.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

cindyNC — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 03:13:04 GMT

Not surprised. I had 3 prescriptions I renewed at CVS in November. They needed to contact the doctor for refills.

1 - I called them a week after I requested the refills and the person who answered the phone told me they were not done and it was probably an issue w/my insurance company.

2 - I called the insurance company after we got back from Thanksgiving and they said there was no issue from their end.

3. Checked the doctor's website and they had done the refills - 2 days after my first call to the pharmacy..

4 - Called the pharmacy again, the same staff member checked and realized they had the refill orders but hadn't updated the website. Told me I could pick them up in 2 hours.

5 - Emergency w/car, couldn't get there until the next morning and found out they had not been filled. I explained what had happened, told them I had phoned corporate that morning* before I arrived at the pharmacy and they were filled within 15 minutes.

*Corporate customer service was horrified when I phoned - especially when they found out it was 3 prescriptions and said that being told it was an insurance issue was an unacceptable answer from their employee. They turfed it up the chain to the pharmacy director.

I believe it was one pharmacy staff member who did not know how to work the computer system. So it was about 2 weeks to get my refills.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

proudlyfromNJ — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 03:20:18 GMT

I use the small pharmacy in our grocery store. Fast service, helpful and knowledgeable. No waiting like at CVS.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

Anonymous032819 — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 05:01:15 GMT

@cindyNC wrote:
Not surprised. I had 3 prescriptions I renewed at CVS in November. They needed to contact the doctor for refills.

1 - I called them a week after I requested the refills and the person who answered the phone told me they were not done and it was probably an issue w/my insurance company.

2 - I called the insurance company after we got back from Thanksgiving and they said there was no issue from their end.

3. Checked the doctor's website and they had done the refills - 2 days after my first call to the pharmacy..

4 - Called the pharmacy again, the same staff member checked and realized they had the refill orders but hadn't updated the website. Told me I could pick them up in 2 hours.

5 - Emergency w/car, couldn't get there until the next morning and found out they had not been filled. I explained what had happened, told them I had phoned corporate that morning* before I arrived at the pharmacy and they were filled within 15 minutes.

*Corporate customer service was horrified when I phoned - especially when they found out it was 3 prescriptions and said that being told it was an insurance issue was an unacceptable answer from their employee. They turfed it up the chain to the pharmacy director.

I believe it was one pharmacy staff member who did not know how to work the computer system. So it was about 2 weeks to get my refills.

I have nothing but bad things to say about CVS pharmacy.

Several years ago, maybe 6 or 7 years ago, my dad had a really bad chest cold.

My dad was about 87 at the time.

At this point, he could still drive, so he took himself to his doctor to get looked at.

Meanwhile, I'm at work, and he calls me from home, and asks me if on my way home, if I could pick up his prescription.

I said that I would.

So, after work, I swing by CVS, and go to the pharmacy and get his medicine.

They bring me one item, prescription cough medicine.

I pay, and leave.

My dad had a follow-up appointment with his doctor about 10 days later.

I was in the waiting room, while my dad was in with his doctor.

Next thing I know, she comes storming out yelling at me, "What do you mean he's only been taking ONE medicine?!"

I was like, "What do you mean, 'What do you mean'? They only gave me one."

As it turned out, my father had walking pneumonia, and CVS pharmacy never gave me the other prescription!

So, a call was made to CVS pharmacy, and they told the doctor, "Oh, we showed it to her, but she said that she couldn't afford it, that it was too expensive.

In other words, they flat-out bald-faced LIED to my dad's doctor.

When she told me that CVS had said that, my blood immediately began to boil.

I told the doctor, "That's not true! That never happened! They never gave me the second prescription!"

The doctor said, "Relax. I believe you. I know that you wouldn't leave medicine for your dad behind. This isn't the first time that CVS has done this."

I was so angry that CVS was so cavalier with my dad's health, an elderly person who had walking pneumonia, which could have easily, and quickly gone south, that I wrote the President of CVS pharmacy an angry letter.

I named the store by address and by store number, and told him how they had flat out lied to my dad's doctor, and what had really happened.

I told him that you do not mess with pneumonia in the elderly, because it can kill them very easily, and very quickly.

I also told him that if anything had happened to my dad, that he would've been looking at the business end of a lawsuit.

I sent the letter by registered mail.

Of course, I never heard anything back.

No letter of "I'm sorry. That was unacceptable. We're looking in to it, and people will be held accountable for their actions. Thank-you for bringing this to my attention", because that would be admitting guilt.

But a few weeks later, I was walking by the same CVS, and on the front window, was a job posting for a pharmacy tech.

Maybe my letter did have consequences after all.

But both my dad and I pulled our prescriptions from CVS faster than you can say "Spit", and I will never use them again, and I told the president of CVS pharmacy that, too.

They have forever broken my trust in them.

I flat-out refuse to use them ever again, and I haven't.

Oh, I was 100% full on "Mama Bear" when it came to protecting my dad.

Try to "mess" with him, and you were going to have to deal with me, because that **** wasn't going to fly!

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

haddon9 — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 05:22:54 GMT

@Anonymous032819 wrote:
@cindyNC wrote:
Not surprised. I had 3 prescriptions I renewed at CVS in November. They needed to contact the doctor for refills.

1 - I called them a week after I requested the refills and the person who answered the phone told me they were not done and it was probably an issue w/my insurance company.

2 - I called the insurance company after we got back from Thanksgiving and they said there was no issue from their end.

3. Checked the doctor's website and they had done the refills - 2 days after my first call to the pharmacy..

4 - Called the pharmacy again, the same staff member checked and realized they had the refill orders but hadn't updated the website. Told me I could pick them up in 2 hours.

5 - Emergency w/car, couldn't get there until the next morning and found out they had not been filled. I explained what had happened, told them I had phoned corporate that morning* before I arrived at the pharmacy and they were filled within 15 minutes.

*Corporate customer service was horrified when I phoned - especially when they found out it was 3 prescriptions and said that being told it was an insurance issue was an unacceptable answer from their employee. They turfed it up the chain to the pharmacy director.

I believe it was one pharmacy staff member who did not know how to work the computer system. So it was about 2 weeks to get my refills.

I have nothing but bad things to say about CVS pharmacy.

Several years ago, maybe 6 or 7 years ago, my dad had a really bad chest cold.

My dad was about 87 at the time.

At this point, he could still drive, so he took himself to his doctor to get looked at.

Meanwhile, I'm at work, and he calls me from home, and asks me if on my way home, if I could pick up his prescription.

I said that I would.

So, after work, I swing by CVS, and go to the pharmacy and get his medicine.

They bring me one item, prescription cough medicine.

I pay, and leave.

My dad had a follow-up appointment with his doctor about 10 days later.

I was in the waiting room, while my dad was in with his doctor.

Next thing I know, she comes storming out yelling at me, "What do you mean he's only been taking ONE medicine?!"

I was like, "What do you mean, 'What do you mean'? They only gave me one."

As it turned out, my father had walking pneumonia, and CVS pharmacy never gave me the other prescription!

So, a call was made to CVS pharmacy, and they told the doctor, "Oh, we showed it to her, but she said that she couldn't afford it, that it was too expensive.

In other words, they flat-out bald-faced LIED to my dad's doctor.

When she told me that CVS had said that, my blood immediately began to boil.

I told the doctor, "That's not true! That never happened! They never gave me the second prescription!"

The doctor said, "Relax. I believe you. I know that you wouldn't leave medicine for your dad behind. This isn't the first time that CVS has done this."

I was so angry that CVS was so cavalier with my dad's health, an elderly person who had walking pneumonia, which could have easily, and quickly gone south, that I wrote the President of CVS pharmacy an angry letter.

I named the store by address and by store number, and told him how they had flat out lied to my dad's doctor, and what had really happened.

I told him that you do not mess with pneumonia in the elderly, because it can kill them very easily, and very quickly.

I also told him that if anything had happened to my dad, that he would've been looking at the business end of a lawsuit.

I sent the letter by registered mail.

Of course, I never heard anything back.

No letter of "I'm sorry. That was unacceptable. We're looking in to it, and people will be held accountable for their actions. Thank-you for bringing this to my attention", because that would be admitting guilt.

But a few weeks later, I was walking by the same CVS, and on the front window, was a job posting for a pharmacy tech.

Maybe my letter did have consequences after all.

But both my dad and I pulled our prescriptions from CVS faster than you can say "Spit", and I will never use them again, and I told the president of CVS pharmacy that, too.

They have forever broken my trust in them.

I flat-out refuse to use them ever again, and I haven't.

Oh, I was 100% full on "Mama Bear" when it came to protecting my dad.

Try to "mess" with him, and you were going to have to deal with me, because that **** wasn't going to fly!

I've also have been having a problem with CVS. I've been trying to get my prescription for Losartin filled and too often lately they either don't have it (out of stock) or it's back ordered. This has been an ongoing issue over the last year.

So when I went to a doctor's visit a week ago I mentioned this to him and he told me that he didn't like CVS but preferred RiteAide. He even called in my RX in right there while I was in the room with him and spoke to the pharmacist to be sure that it was in stock.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

Nuttmeg — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 11:11:40 GMT

@Abrowneyegirl wrote:
@millieshops wrote:
@Goldengate8361Is Amazon going to underprice the CVS and Walgreens paks?

Amazon is not going to solve the problem of people working at high volume and very high speeds.
That sounds like a healthcare nightmare!!!!

I am sure Amazon will have strict metrics as to how many prescriptions are filled per min. just like everyone else at Amazon. Time is money$$

However, for those who value fast and inexpensive service over health and safety Amazon would be a good
option
.

I try to use small family-owned pharmacies.
@Abrowneyegirl

I live in a large city. There may be only two family run stores left.

The RiteAids and Walgreens closed most of the neighborhood stores .

I use CVS. The service is good, but Amazon will push them to give customers a better buying experience. The CVS app and the online pharmacy do not work very well.

CVS Health owns Aetna, and it has a nice site with useful patient information and tools.

My concern is always product and patient safety.

I use a site Drugs.com. It helps me with how to take the medicine and the appearance of the pills.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

songbird — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 12:33:30 GMT

First time I've heard about pill pack (and I live and breath Amazon) I only have one prescription so I don't know if they allow for that. I had the impression for people with a whole bunch of prescriptions. Right now I just go to my local Rite Aid. Once every several months.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

Nuttmeg — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 11:59:17 GMT

@songbird wrote:
First time I've heard about pill pack (and I live and breath Amazon) I only have one prescription so I don't know if they allow for that. I had the impression for people with a whole bunch of prescriptions. Rite now I just go to my local Rite Aid. Once every several months.

The pill pack may not be for you. It is for a person taking a few maintenance meds each day. Some companies allow customers to include supplements with their pack.

Starting a pack can be expensive. Your meds have to be on the same cycle 30 or 90 days.

I have a blood test before I see my doctor and she may change my meds.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

I am still oxox — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 12:45:46 GMT

@Anonymous032819

You have to double check you are picking up, I always ask the doctor and never go in to the pharmacy blimdly. I always check out the scripts when I get home too.

@Anonymous032819 wrote:
@cindyNC wrote:
Not surprised. I had 3 prescriptions I renewed at CVS in November. They needed to contact the doctor for refills.

1 - I called them a week after I requested the refills and the person who answered the phone told me they were not done and it was probably an issue w/my insurance company.

2 - I called the insurance company after we got back from Thanksgiving and they said there was no issue from their end.

3. Checked the doctor's website and they had done the refills - 2 days after my first call to the pharmacy..

4 - Called the pharmacy again, the same staff member checked and realized they had the refill orders but hadn't updated the website. Told me I could pick them up in 2 hours.

5 - Emergency w/car, couldn't get there until the next morning and found out they had not been filled. I explained what had happened, told them I had phoned corporate that morning* before I arrived at the pharmacy and they were filled within 15 minutes.

*Corporate customer service was horrified when I phoned - especially when they found out it was 3 prescriptions and said that being told it was an insurance issue was an unacceptable answer from their employee. They turfed it up the chain to the pharmacy director.

I believe it was one pharmacy staff member who did not know how to work the computer system. So it was about 2 weeks to get my refills.

I have nothing but bad things to say about CVS pharmacy.

Several years ago, maybe 6 or 7 years ago, my dad had a really bad chest cold.

My dad was about 87 at the time.

At this point, he could still drive, so he took himself to his doctor to get looked at.

Meanwhile, I'm at work, and he calls me from home, and asks me if on my way home, if I could pick up his prescription.

I said that I would.

So, after work, I swing by CVS, and go to the pharmacy and get his medicine.

They bring me one item, prescription cough medicine.

I pay, and leave.

My dad had a follow-up appointment with his doctor about 10 days later.

I was in the waiting room, while my dad was in with his doctor.

Next thing I know, she comes storming out yelling at me, "What do you mean he's only been taking ONE medicine?!"

I was like, "What do you mean, 'What do you mean'? They only gave me one."

As it turned out, my father had walking pneumonia, and CVS pharmacy never gave me the other prescription!

So, a call was made to CVS pharmacy, and they told the doctor, "Oh, we showed it to her, but she said that she couldn't afford it, that it was too expensive.

In other words, they flat-out bald-faced LIED to my dad's doctor.

When she told me that CVS had said that, my blood immediately began to boil.

I told the doctor, "That's not true! That never happened! They never gave me the second prescription!"

The doctor said, "Relax. I believe you. I know that you wouldn't leave medicine for your dad behind. This isn't the first time that CVS has done this."

I was so angry that CVS was so cavalier with my dad's health, an elderly person who had walking pneumonia, which could have easily, and quickly gone south, that I wrote the President of CVS pharmacy an angry letter.

I named the store by address and by store number, and told him how they had flat out lied to my dad's doctor, and what had really happened.

I told him that you do not mess with pneumonia in the elderly, because it can kill them very easily, and very quickly.

I also told him that if anything had happened to my dad, that he would've been looking at the business end of a lawsuit.

I sent the letter by registered mail.

Of course, I never heard anything back.

No letter of "I'm sorry. That was unacceptable. We're looking in to it, and people will be held accountable for their actions. Thank-you for bringing this to my attention", because that would be admitting guilt.

But a few weeks later, I was walking by the same CVS, and on the front window, was a job posting for a pharmacy tech.

Maybe my letter did have consequences after all.

But both my dad and I pulled our prescriptions from CVS faster than you can say "Spit", and I will never use them again, and I told the president of CVS pharmacy that, too.

They have forever broken my trust in them.

I flat-out refuse to use them ever again, and I haven't.

Oh, I was 100% full on "Mama Bear" when it came to protecting my dad.

Try to "mess" with him, and you were going to have to deal with me, because that **** wasn't going to fly!

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

VaBelle35 — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 13:14:26 GMT

None of this is new information. We read about this years ago when people were flocking to Canada (and websites that were pretending to be in Canada by putting a maple leaf on the home page) for cheaper prescriptions.

It's all about making money and the patients suffer.

Your doctor is rushed, your pharmacy is rushed.

It's up to you to pay attention and question things and verify your pills.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

Still Raining — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 13:44:52 GMT

At bigger problem for those on several prescriptions is the total lack of cooperation in getting 90 day cycles in sync.

Because I have to relay others, I often just stop talking taking the prescription until the 90 day birthday or don't bother to start a new prescription.

A good way to see a cardiologist or Neurosurgeon's head explode.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

Laura14 — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 14:17:21 GMT

As someone who has actually worked filling these prescriptions at Walgreens, there are so many layers of protection that this is human error in spite of some epic security protocols.

For Walgreens, I can tell you the procedure is as follows:

1. The pharmacist must review and approve the prescription before any computer will spit it out to be filled.

2. Once the form is printed, you must select the medication from the shelf and swipe the prescription bar code with the bottle or packet to ensure you picked the right one. Then and only then will the computer spit out a label.

3. Count out or package the medication. Affix the label. If this is a scheduled drug, you must count it twice, circle and initial that you've done a double check.

4. It then goes on the line for the pharmacist to open and make sure the medication matches the prescription, it's packaged correctly with a label applied correctly and then he or she staples the med form to the bag and places it in the bin for pickup.

5. When you pick up, the bag is swiped again at the register to make sure the correct prescription is being given.

The metrics they are talking about ensure that the staff is processing your prescriptions in a timely manner and not standing around doing nothing. Is it also used to measure sales and volume, of course. Any good business has a sales report and uses it for all kinds of management issues and employee compensation.

Lastly, pharmacist's licenses are personally liable meaning if they make a mistake, they are personally liable to the victim not just the chain. That's unbelievable incentive to get it right or literally lose everything you own and your career that took 10 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to get into. No one wants to hurt anyone. We all, including techs, carry liability insurance for a reason because we're human and stuff can happen.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

NickNack — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 14:31:13 GMT

That's interesting @Laura14 . I've always wondered how that was done. Many years ago, maybe before these important measured were taken, CVS gave me an incorrect prescription. When I opened the bottle the pills didn't look the same. I don't know why I didn't just think they had changed companies or something, but I called them or brought them back in. They told me they had picked up a bottle that looked almost like the one it was supposed to be. It was right beside it on the shelf. I was very upset. They did apologize but basically said it was something that wouldn't have hurt me. I wouldn't have been taking what I needed though. I thought they should have been more apologetic than they were.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

Laura14 — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 14:47:10 GMT

@NickNack Technology has really eliminated a lot of the human. The way it can happen today is if someone doesn't pick up, the medication is put back on the shelf in the prescription bottle with the label torn off. For medications that have different brands, if you are filling the prescription, it is possible to swipe the brand bottle and then take the pills from the prescription bottle which we are instructed to do to prevent waste.

If the tech doesn't open the brand bottle and the prescription putback to make sure they are the same, they can package a similar drug but not the one you were prescribed. That should still be caught by the pharmacist at the final check but if pills look similar, it can get through. Rarely, but it does happen. It happened to me during one of my first weeks out and my pharmacist caught it and pointed out the putbacks don't always match the shelved bottles next to them and I needed to check. Understandable newbie mistake correctly caught with the protocol in place.

Re: How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

Effie54 — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 15:05:48 GMT

There's always chaos at Walgreen's. They're so busy and understaffed that you have to wait - the help is exasperated, and once I got a Z-pack along with my prescription. I don't think I would ever use Amazon though. As it is, our generics are made in foreign countries, where the standards are not up to the US standards. I'm a die-hard small, local pharmacy lover.