I have no words ! 🙁
Subject: Walgreen discriminating against me for valid prescription
I do not know who to call or who can help. I am currently homeless and we
are staying in a hotel for a month now. My husband had a heart attack, we
lost income our home our car everything and I walk into the pharmacy in
orange park Florida with my written scripts in hand completely legal, 100% I
am two day over the last fill date. I’ve been using Walgreen for 13 years
but this pharmacy tells me they refuse to fill my script because I do not
meet the criteria. My drivers license does not match my current address. I
had to explain in front of 10 people waiting behind me about our homeless
situation and I can answer any questions they have I have proper
documentation and even the receipts for hotel were in for a month now. I
went to walgreens because they have all my info in the system my history my
insurance all of it, but now I was called this morning to tell me to come
get my written prescriptions they are not going to fill them. I am being
discriminated against by this pharmacy or pharmacist I think she got mad
when I told her I was uncomfortable explaining my housing situation in front
of all the people and I felt like a criminal like I was doing something
wrong. I can go back to the Walgreens I’ve been getting them filled for
months because it’s 40miles away in fernandina and I have no ride or money
to drive all the way out there when I’m over here. I am humiliated, made to
feel like a criminal and now I have to go get my prescriptions go somewhere
else after waiting over 24 hours for them to decide to fill my medication.
Nowi am out of medication and I have to walk 2 miles to the pharmacy to get
my scripts back and then come all the way back and go 2 miles in the
opposite direction to get to another pharmacy. I need help I am tired of
being made to feel like I’m doing something wrong when I am not. I have all
the info, you can all my doctor you can call the pharmacy in fernandina
Walgreens ask them about my history but instead I am being discriminated
against.
What do I do?
Do I have a case for an attorney?
I’ve emailed a complaint to customer affairs, Walgreens corporate and the
ADA.
I have emailed Ken Amero who is news person for channel 4 here in jax and
asked him to look I to Walgreens pharmacy discrimination against the
homeless.
Help me
Thank you
Filed under: General Problems
damn right this is discrimanation and no one shall infringe on life liberty and the persuit of happynesss what about the pharmacist oath
I have a copy of Walgreens “secret checklist ” and NOBODY could answer all 10 questions correctly. I couldn’t. Dumb things not even pertaining to medical info. I stopped using them when they started with “the truck didn’t deliver yet” or “we’re out of that” & other assorted hoops. Found an independent small drugstore, where you’d expect an out of stock, just by being small & not once yet. Pharmacist even showed me them making Dr write 2 RX’s for 1 med, claimed insurance only covered a certain amounts, when it was covered the whole time! They broke the law there in Florida & sure show their criminal side! CVS, RiteAid, all the same. Find an independent , theyre in every town, easily missed cause no huge building, signs, lights, just a small storefront. And you’re supporting your local economy too, not some other place where the home office is.
From Steve: while the chain store is much larger and much more visible.. how much difference in the size of the Rx dept itself ? NOT MUCH ? With a Independent you are normally dealing with the OWNER.. with the chain you are dealing with an employee at the bottom of the corporate food chain.. The independent is probably more focused on what is good for the pt.. where the chain pharmacist will more likely do what is good for them personally.. if you notice.. most of their quotes of involve around “it’s my license”..
Thanks Steve. I meant “size” in describing they are smaller stores & easily missed, as I’ve heard other folks say they don’t have any independent stores in their town. The one I use is so non-descript on the outside, I didn’t even know it was an open business for many years! Thought it was an old closed store.
Anyone has to go outside of Walgreens for any action, only calling wirhin corporate will get tge same treatment as at the counter in store! State Board of Pharmacy, BBB, State Attorney General, ACLU, Agency on Aging -could be elder abuse. ALL chains are discriminating the poor, Medicare,Medicaid, ACA policies, everything but employer /private insurance & even touchy with that. And not just “pain meds “- insulin & supplies, heart meds, BP meds refusals I’m reading about & I mistakenly thought the other meds was going to turn as bad as pain meds thing, till I stumbled on a consumer complaint board & they’ve (all chain stores) been doing it since 2012! I guess enough diabetic coma deaths haven’t happened yet for the legal community to start a class action suit? How many does it take? It’s just sickening.
There is no money in suing walgrrens. They are a giant. They dont need our business.
There is no money?what?thats exactly why they need to be sued. If someone can sue mcdonalds and win millions for dropping coffee on their lap when that was not even the fauly of a mcdonalds employee and they didnt do anything wrong, then walgreens should of been sued years ago.we should all be getting rich off this discrimination.
This is terrible. I too have had problems with them lately. Thinking about changing over to the other big chain.
Pain Patient…I wouldnt waste time with Obama..hes all symbolism and zero substance. Its going to take the House who has the power of the purse to defund the DEA. He’s not going to reign in the DEA, and I sure dont hold out that Holders replacement will either. She’s real big into civil forfeiture according to her record while she was a federal, prosecutor in NY. Wouldnt a public protestt ie picketing of stores by patients and caregivers be newsworthy and shaming to those stores? The front of those stores is public property. Or public protest at the statehouse at least you would get the attention of the state legislatures and the news, I’m sure Gov Rick would love that
Is the red cross able to help you, or Salvation Army? Was your husband a patient at a hospital that was ‘church based’, like run by the catholic church? Sometimes they are able, to do charity care their medical social workers can direct you to someone who can set you up. I know you have pride, I have somewhat been in your shoes, not homeless, but I laid off as a pharmacist and a single mom to 3 kids, I filed for free textbooks and free school lunches for my kids, and started doing lots of volunteer work in the music dept at school so my kids would get money credited to their band and choir accounts( it was their top talent) . I didnt want to take free books and lunch because I knew there were others whom I felt needed it more than my family, but the book rental lady put it in perspective…you have paid state taxes all, these years, its your turn to use the services you have been paying for. You will most likely have to find an independent pharmacy because they will likely work with the social service agencys than a chain. Keep your faith,god always provides when you least expect it, that I have found many times over. God bless you and your family.
Try going to the outpatient pharmacy at the hospital the prescriptions were written at (you said he had a heart attack so he had been hospitalized).
Hospitals have liability turning people away that perhaps private companies don’t. It’s just a thought.
The other commenter is right… Florida needs to start electing better officials who make real and protective laws for real people. Not electing Crist was a mistake, 37% of people turned out and caused 100% of people a terrible 4 years. And that attorney general…
First Coast News 11/25 here in Jacksonville FL did a story months back about the same situation this person is going through. They also did a story about people with chronic pain unable to receive treatment at hospital ERs even if their doctors told them to go to the ER because their LEGITIMATELY PRESCRIBED medications were not controlling the pain from their illness. Being sick or homeless is NOT a crime but in the state of FL you are shunned and shamed in public if you try to fill prescriptions for any controlled substance.
My husband is a lawyer, and I can explain a few things. First, Painkills2 is correct. Very few lawyers will do pro bono. It SUCKS!! They take an oath as an attorney and promise to help those who cannot pay, and I am trying to find a lawyer who will accept a case pro bono in St. Johns County or Jacksonville, and I have contacted literally hundreds, and NO ONE will help her! This doesn’t even involve a pain patient. I know that my husband does do pro bono, and because of that everybody that has a legitimate legal problem calls him continually, but because of that, he can’t take anymore, because we already have a problem paying our bills from my illness. BUT, here is his legal advice. You can’t find a hungry lawyer to do a class action lawsuit, because they are extremely expensive. we are going to have to find a consumer law group. Other ways are the ACLU, but they have turned us down before. Can’t hurt to try again. One day, maybe they will “get it”. The reason a lawyer won’t help is because there is no money involved. What people don’t understand is that most lawyers are not rich and have to pay their bills too. A class action suit takes hundreds of hours before any results occur, IF they win the case. They have to lay out thousands of dollars in costs. BTW, my husband does NOT do class action. You need to find an experienced class action attorney who can afford to wait years and lay out all these costs, plus pay their staff and bills during the entire process.
Nothing can be done quickly. Wags is a corporation with corporate policy. The only way to change these things is to change the law. Pam Bondi is Florida’s Attorney General, and she is against us. She would like to see all pain meds off the market, same with Rick Scott, our criminal Governor, who also won the election. People voted for these politicians who are against our own interests. It’s going to take four years to clean house in Florida, but when people don’t vote, or don’t realize who they are voting for, this is what happens. I’m sorry for everybody, I’m in the same boat as the rest of you. The only other option is to write to Obama and tell him to reign in the DEA. We can start a letter writing campaign, but how many of us are willing to put our names and addresses on a letter or petition complaining about lack of opioids???
I’m sorry what you and everybody else has to go through, I truly am!! I had surgery and I could’t get a single pharmacy to fill the pain meds because I am already on them! It was horrible, and because of that, I will NEVER have surgery again!! Good luck to all!!
oh another thought is if you want it fixed right away go to the media
who is your insurance co? I live on the treasure coast(Martin Co.) the same thing happened to me and I had no other choice to use my insurance co’s mail order pharmacy. They have there own laws of 80/20 and it takes almost 2 weeks to arrive. But atleast your free of all that discrimanation. feel free to get in touch with me
i have work comp witch hard enuff as is
I understand completely! Walgreen’s in south Florida did the same thing to me in May of 12. I had been getting my pain meds filled at Walgreen’s for over a year and in May they refused to fill my meds. I could never get my meds filled anywhere and I was forced into horrible withdrawals. I too want Walgreen’s to pay for the trouble and 9weeks of withdrawals I was forced into. I’m very sorry for ur situation but I don’t believe it has anything to do with homelessness.
lets start one we need to come together an get a suit going i willing to get together in florida im north of tampa lets organize a lawsuit in numbers there are over 100million in pain we have a voice we should tape every time we go into these stores we keep cryen now need to do. im sure theres a hungry lawyer out there if u know of one or are one please get intouch with us or help us find one
http://jackbcarroll.com/ This attorney has an elderly mom who has been put thru the wringer by this, I dropped him an email thru the contact link on his site, to come visit Patients United for DEA Reform to see all of us in need of a class action.Heard his story thru Pharmacist Steve blog & he’s furious, thinking of taking it on? I’m just one person, strength in numbers works, so more should contact him.Don’t write your whole diagnosis, (people’s eyes glaze over & think “hypochondriac”, rather state the discrimination & life threatening treatment this DEA witch hunt is causing & invite him to visit the FBook page. 🙂
Because I am poor, the local pharmacy won’t even sell me pseudoephedrine I take for my sinus headaches since anti-inflammatories are a no no with my cervical discectomy. The only recourse I have is to falsely accuse anyone I deal with. I do not hesitate in sending the DEA in under false pretenses against any pharmacy or medical practitioner. To date, I have not done so. My ultimate preference is to avoid medical care WHATSOEVER.
What goes around, comes around. I am embarrassed to live in the United States.
I’ve heard of that going on with the behind the counter sinus meds, which if you’re not over the limit, it’s a freaking cash sale! DEA idea this us the way to crackdown on abusers has caused a far bigger monster & guess what? The abusers just have to go back to the street instead if hitting up every DR in town & wrecking health care for EVERYBODY, not just those with RX for pain meds. Chalk up one more fail in this “war on drugs.” I am starting to hear more in authority starting to speak up against this, due to the suffering & death this latest attack on patients. Slowly, but I am hearing more on stopping this abuse & a bit less with the “addict epidemic ” stories every 10 minutes.Too slow, people are dying! If your/my sinuses blocked completely & abscessed, it can quickly go to the brain.
They are discriminating against EVERYONE not just homeless.Been happening for years now. So far no lawyers will do anything and i cannot bekieve theres been no class action suits yet.
And since that ‘good faith dipensing’policy is in place, they’ve probably blackballed her at all the Wags as well as faxed her scripts and info to the DEA as a ‘problem’
Where are all the attorneys? I guess there’s no money in helping poor people. And even if an attorney was interested in the case, how long would it take to correct the wrong? Pain patients need help now, not years from now.
I agree. They don’t care about us “addicts” as we’re ALL now considered, but I’d think they’d take notice its all kinds of meds, insulin to prenatal vitamin RX’s! DEA gave these pill counters(oh, count your pills before leaving, a LOT are being stolen & once you leave, you’re screwed) GOD status & they’ve gone power crazy. But how many diabetic coma deaths or strokes must happen before anyone notices?