This is my SECOND EMAIL from PORTAGE, INDIANA in the past week… and according to Meijer’s website there is only one store in portage.. Both of these pts have file complaints with the Indiana Board of Pharmacy… I understand that the other one has been referred to the AG office.. but.. we all know how opiophobic Indiana’s AG Greg Zoeller is… will this get any attention ? Apparently the BOP does not consider this at least unprofessional conduct .. which they should have been able to deal with. I have looked up the managing Pharmacist for this Meijer’s and Purdue and Butler are off the hook for training this one.
I went to my local CVS pharmacy (Portage, Indiana) on 9/23/15 where I usually fill all of my prescriptions. The pharmacist there refused to fill my prescription with no reason or explanation other than she didn’t have to.
After CVS, I went to the Meijer pharmacy at the Portage Indiana location 9/23/15 to have a prescription filled. The pharmacist refused to fill it. My prescription is for a medication called Embeda 30/1.2. I am on this medication for severe back pain caused by herniated discs on both L4 – L5 in my lower back. The disc is causing pain to radiate through my back, through my buttocks, through my legs, all the way to my feet. My doctor (a spine specialist in Munster) has tried me on different medications to find a way to relieve the pain. We have finally accomplished this with Embeda. The pharmacist told me that he was refusing to fill my prescription and his advice is that I seek a second doctors opinion. What he failed to realize is that this is the second doctors opinion until I see a spine surgeon on October 6th. The pharmacist essentially condemned me to live in unnecessary pain with no reason given. His advice was unwarranted and unwanted. If he feels that he is in a position to give medical advice perhaps he should go back to medical school and become a doctor. Or perhaps he could have contacted my doctor to verify that I should have this prescription filled. He was abrupt and cold and sent me on my way.
I have already contacted my doctor this morning to inform him about the issue that no one in my area is willing to fill my prescription. I have also filed complaints with the US Department of Health and Human Services against each pharmacy, and with the Indiana Board of Pharmacy against each as well. Are there any other steps that I can take?
Thank you for your time and all of your help,
Filed under: General Problems
As a patient, who am I to second guess a pharmacist? For one thing, I’m the one who is being treated and has to live with the consequences of my treatment decisions, not the pharmacist or doctor. I’m the one who paid to see the doctor to gain access to these drugs. I’m the one who filled out the forms to see this doctor; spent time with her to decide on the right course of treatment; agreed to the drugs prescribed. I’m the one who’s taking the drugs — the one with real experience. All the pharmacist can say is that he’s read about them and studied them.
It turns out that many patients are more knowledgeable than their pharmacist and even their own doctor, not only about their medical condition, but also about the different drugs available to treat it. Patients don’t have to go to medical school to have the right to question or second guess anything involving their own treatment.
Instead of judging patients, perhaps you should start judging those who are giving your profession a bad name.
i saw a prescription for embeda once. i didn’t have it in stock (and still don’t since i’ve never seen another script for it). so i called 4 other nearby pharmacies and none of them had it either. i offered to order the product but since it was friday evening i wouldn’t have it in until monday. after much grumbling and whining from the patient we decided it would be okay to go ahead with ordering it and then we found out that it isn’t covered by his ‘insurance’. the patient was not willing to pay the $10 per pill price so he left unhappy. i heard the next day that he showed up at 3 of the 4 other pharmacies i had called. giving each of the pharmacists a hard time. maybe he thought things would be different there.
when i hear stories about rude pharmacists refusing to fill legitimate prescriptions i have to wonder, did they refuse to fill it or was it not in stock? were they rude to you or did you walk in with a chip on your shoulder? were you advised to get a second opinion or did they say your doctor would need to change the order or get a prior authorization? we’re not here to NOT fill your prescriptions. we always hear about the patient saying that pharmacists don’t have the right to question if a prescription is good, bad or otherwise. but, as the patient, who are you to second guess the pharmacist’s judgement? if you want to suggest that i should have gone to medical school maybe you should have gone to pharmacy school so that you would have the education, training and expertise needed to make the decisions that i make.
As a 15 plus year Chronic Intractable Pain Patient it does piss me off that some Pharmacists act like there God.And trust me i happen to know as much if not more about my pain meds then you.I don’t claim to know a little about all,just mine.As a pharmacist your job is to make sure all paperwork is in order and fill script NOT second guess if i’m really in pain or warrant my scripts..Thanks for the rant..
All the fuss over creating abuse-deterrent medications, like Embeda, and STILL the pharmacy won’t fill it.