I got a phone call today from a pt on the west coast
This particular 50 y/o pt has been on a substantial benzo dose for a couple of decades to treat anxiety/panic attacks and this pt also has some cardiac arrhythmia issues.
This pt has been patronizing a particular CVS store for all these years and the pt sees a very high profile psychiatrist.
The two 50 something male pharmacists at this CVS has been taking care this pt’s needs for all these years.
In steps into this symbiotic relationship a 30 something female Pharmacist/District Manager {PDM) that “ORDERED” the two pharmacists in the store to no longer fill this particular pt’s benzo prescriptions.
Apparently this PDM’s SOP is the overwhelming use of threats, fear and intimidation.. apparently her idea of “motivating employees”.
One of the staff Pharmacists has told the pt that – and rightly so – that she has no authority to dictate to another pharmacist if prescriptions are to be filled or not filled… but… fears of ending up becoming one of CVS’s “infamous floater”…
For those of you who are not familiar with how the typical CVS floater is treated… they are often scheduled 12-14 hr shifts and often have to drive 2 hr each way to the store they are assigned to. So these Pharmacists are lucky if they can get 4-5 hrs sleep… which many believe that a “Tired Pharmacist … is a Dangerous Pharmacist”, but this is how CVS saves paying unemployment and hopefully avoids age discrimination lawsuit.. by getting a Pharmacist to quit or they keep working under such hostile work environment that they end up making a medication error and harming a pt or worse…. which means that the Pharmacist violates corporate policies and procedure and justifies firing the pharmacist.
Apparently this PDM has agreed to allow the pt to have another 30 days supply… to allow her time to figure things out.
Remember… part of the practice of medicine is the starting, changing, stopping a pt’s medication… so.. IMO.. this PDM decides that the pt can’t have any more medication… Is she guilty of attempting to practice medicine without an appropriate license ? Pharmacists are not granted “prescriptive authority” under their pharmacy practice act.
This pt has already had a discussion with an attorney and I advised the pt the 5-6 different legal issues that may be involved with the actions of this PDM.
Filed under: General Problems
Hope the patient can sue to set an example of, basically, descrimination. The pharmacist is practicing medicine without a medical licence (they are trying to be our doctors as well) a pharmacist is not a DOCTOR. Their job is to fill our prescriptions only, a Dr prescribes a medication, how does a pharmacist have a right to not fill that medication? These pharmacists are overstepping their boundaries. They are not in our Dr’s office with us. They have absolutely no right to refuse a patient medication prescribed by our Dr’s.
This is outrageous. …
Whereas this is completely outrageous, it is NOT just a pharmacist’so job so “just fill it”. That is a absolute ignorant comment. No, the pharmacist is not in the office, but MDs are practicing under their professional judgement and pharmacists are also. Both sides make bad judgements. But to demean the pharmacy profession and place medical doctors on pedestals is ridiculous. People have no idea of the triad of care. It used to be doctors diagnose, pharmacists dispense and nurses administer. No longer is that true, and no longer do most people respect the profession of pharmacy. This is due to a lot of reasons… mostly due to retail pharmacy.
This particular PDM had no legal right to interfere with a patient’s treatment. Any reasonable pharmacist, PharmD or not, would know to not abruptly stop treatment. However, no pharmacist MUST fill anything acting under their professional licensure.
Pharmacist are not doctors but at same time are health care providers equally responsible for ur health ppl who think it’s just simple counting pills let me tell u u r not sure how many times ur pharmacist would have saved ur or ur loved ones life by warning u some potential side effects or recommended otc ntrust me try reading some drug literature n they are lot aware of that more than u r n legally pharmacist CAN REFUSE filling an Rx that he or she thinks is not in Pt health interest . N FYI benzo r quite addictive seems like sum one here is totally ignorant
Not very long ago,,like 1 year ago,,,that was exactly thee pharmacist job,,If u had a legal script,,it was his/her job to give u knowledge of your medicine AND FILL IT!!!!what ever happen to,THAT,,hey we are RESPONSIBLE ADULTS OVER THE AGE OF 25,,,,AS A FREE COUNTRY,,,IT IS OUR RITE TO FREEDOM OF ACCESS TO EFFECTIVE MEDICAL CARE,IE MEDICINE,, it was never meant for a pharmacist to be judge,jury and executioner,,U know nothing of that patient medical history,,,u r not her doctor,,sooo I ask again,,,what gives u the right,,,in a FREE COUNTRY,,TOWARDS FREE ADULTS,, to be judge jury and executioner by denying us access to MEDICINE our doctors see fit for our medical care,,..WHY is my medicine and i being discriminated against for the ,”type” of medicine,,Don’t see diabetic being denied insulin do we,,,or been ,”witch hunted,,” for their insulin do we??!!! ,I do not know thee answer to 1 question I am going to ask u,,,,,are pharmacist M.D,’s??????MARY
To ”damnitwtf”,,,’hmmm,” benzo are soo addictive,”’ just curious,,,I have never tried a ,”benzo,” but from your comment about ,”addictive,” logic would suggest you have tried ,”benzo,” in order to make such a statement,,,Sooo why do you feel ,”benzo,” are soo addictive to the entire population??and why do you think you have the knowledge to make such a claim for thee entire adult population of America???thank u for your time in answerring,,,mary
@mary Personal experience and lots of reading other people’s experiences. I’ve been taking them for 9 years. Tried multiple times to taper off them, and I was no where close to succeeding. I’m angry about it too because my pdoc prescribed them too me without telling me the risks. I was young at the time and did not expect such a hell drug to exist. Dependency develops extremely fast and before you know it, you’re trapped. Some people think benzo’s alter brain chemistry permanently, and a person will never be the same. Also it’s said that the brain tries to balance the increased gaba (from the benzo’s) and glutamate. The glutamate rises in the brain to much higher levels than a non benzo user to compensate for the extra gaba. When a person stops taking benzo’s, their gaba drops. But glutamate does not drop. Glutamate is an excitatory neurochemical that, when not balanced by gaba, will not allow you to live like a normal human. You wont be able to function. You might have a seizure, you might even die. You wont be able to sleep. If you have a job, you will lose it. And worst of all, these effects can and will last months or years. And this is not accounting for other reports I read from people who have successfully quit and say they never feel the same again. The only way I see myself being able to quit is if I did not have a job. That’s not possible for me to do until I retire 20+ years from now. Also just being on benzo’s is a crappy experience. They help me sleep but during the day they are horrible downers. It’s incredibly depressing. I think benzo’s are probably one of the worst drugs on the planet
I didn’t see it mentioned but, abruptly stopping benzo’s can kill a physically healthy person. Also benzo’s are so addictive that a lot of people cant stop taking them even if they wanted to. then you have this going on, it’s unbelievable. first it’s schedule 2 stigmatization, now it’s moving on to schedule 3? Pretty soon 4? we need new laws to enforce our liberties and protect us from these ignorant people
I truly hope his attorney helps him!!!!!!!MARY