http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20111125/NEWS01/111250334/Law-bans-drive-thru-pain-scripts
Law bans drive-thru pain ‘scripts…
In our continued war on drugs and its “fill & chase” program… the drive thru window has apparently become the new gateway to get bogus controlled substance Rxs past pharmacy staff.
While apparently pharmacies have focused their digital security cameras to the inside of the store, monitoring the drive thru and the rest of the property around the store, has been a low priority.
Thus those trying to avoid notice and security have taken notice and are now using the drive thru window to attempt to pass forged/bogus Rxs. First of all the camera often can’t see the person(s) in the car and if the person has to make “a break for it”.. they are already in their car and besides not being able to identify the person(s) in the car… can the car be described or the license plate noted?
Delaware has a law going into affect Dec 11,2011 that will prohibit the picking up of C-II’s from a drive thru window. Surprisingly – or not so much – the only objection to the new law came from Walgreens.
This seems to a a trend with Walgreens after a recent reporting by the DRUG MONKEY http://drugmonkey.blogspot.com/2011/10/walgreens-bold-vision-of-future-as-it.html from a previous Walgreen’s “Power System” Pharmacist stated that :
“The following scenario played out quite frequently. The caller wants to pick up his Lortab or Xanax refill but wants to pick it up at a different store in the area. The specialist, without looking at the last time the prescription was filled, processes the refill at a different store. The patient is then able to refill whatever prescription he wants extra early without anyone noticing because he is paying cash price. I saw many examples where this problem happened. The worst one was a customer who filled the same prescription (for Lortab 10/500 quantity of 240) 5 times in 5 days at 5 different Walgreens stores. (Yes, you can transfer a controlled substance prescription more than once if all the pharmacies have a shared database.) What made that example so much worse was that the authorized refills on that prescription were authorized by a specialist, and the “original” prescription was a bogus verbal prescription (I called the doctor to check on it) taken by one of the pharmacists at the call center.”
The question has to be asked… should controlled substance Rxs be accepted without the staff being able to verify driver’s license with the person presenting the Rx?
In this particular article, the person presenting the bogus Rx also presented a bogus driver’s license. If the “powers to be” are really interested in putting a dent in diversion, should pharmacies be allowed – even mandated – to verify driver’s license against the state’s database? If the information presented doesn’t match the on-line information… shouldn’t we be confiscating the Rx(s) and calling the authorities?
Filed under: Mistakes/Errors
Leave a Reply