Mr. Ariens,
I am writing you in regards to a recent incident that occurred when I was trying to obtain a prescription from a local pharmacy. The prescription was for a narcotic that I take on a daily basis and have been doing so for several years now. I take this medication for severe chronic pain that has failed to resolve/improve despite several other modalities of treatment including but not limited to physical therapy, chiropractic intervention, multiple epidurals, acupuncture and massage, as well as a long list of other medications. I’ve been a patient of the same pain management office for the duration of my treatment. Of recent, my doctor prescribed me my usual monthly pain medication and upon learning that my pharmacy (CVS) was out of stock he then sent it another local CVS. I was leaving to go on vacation and since my renewal date was 2 days early he changed the frequency from q 8 hrs to q 6 hours so that I could obtain my medication prior to leaving on my trip. When I called the pharmacy to inquire about when the medication would be ready the Pharmacist stated that although the frequency was changed she wouldn’t be filling it at that time. I explained my situation to her regarding my trip and she stated that she “did not feel comfortable filling the medication two days early”. After going back and forth with her she then also added that the med was not in stock and would need to be ordered. I told her I would have my doctor contact her directly. My doctors assistant called her and despite reassuring her that I was a long time patient of theirs with no history of abusing my medication, the pharmacist again stated that she would not fill the medication early. My doctors assistant contacted me to make me aware of the details of the conversation and we decided that it was best to not push the issue further and wait for the pharmacy to fill it on regular schedule. The following day I called the pharmacy to get an estimate of when it would be filled knowing that ordering the medication could take a few days. At that point the same pharmacist from the day prior got on the phone and stated that the prescription couldn’t be filled until march 1st. I stated that I knew it would be filled on the scheduled date but wanted to see if there would be a delay due to having restock it. She then went on to say “well I thought you were going on vacation so I cancelled the prescription.” I informed her I had to cancel my trip due to the wait for my med. She said she spoke to my doctors office yesterday and according to her they had canceled the prescription. I informed her that they had called me after speaking with her and the doctors assistant specifically stated that she had not canceled the prescription. (I purposely asked the doctors assistant that specific question because I was debating on just having them send it back to my usual pharmacy.) The pharmacist said that’s how their conversation ended (the doctor cancelling the script) and the pharmacist said she cancelled my prescription. She told me that I would now have to contact my doctor and with me being in mid-sentence hung up on me. I proceeded to call my doctors office and spoke to the same doctors assistant who reassured me she indeed never canceled the prescription and commented on how unprofessional and rude the particular pharmacist was with her as well. We ended up sending my script to a different pharmacy entirely at that point because I knew the pharmacist would go to whatever lengths necessary to make it as difficult as possible for me to get it filled.
My experiences over the years of being on a narcotic for pain have unfortunately subjected me to the cruel, treatment of people such as that pharmacist. For the most part you are treated with a lack of compassion, a dismissive attitude and are judged harshly. I rely on this medication daily to have any kind of quality of life for without it I’m not able to perform the basic activities of daily living without being in terrible pain. My question now to you is am I able to file a complaint against this pharmacist for the incident described above, not only for myself, but also to help prevent it from happening to the next victim. People who live with daily pain have it bad enough and this kind of treatment is unwarranted and frankly heartbreaking. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and I look forward to your anticipated response.
Just another CHAIN PHARMACIST that is all “about the numbers”.. 30 days means 30 days… change of dosage… still means 30 days.. You try to rationalize the issue with them.. the just dig their heels in more. They are ALWAYS RIGHT – just ask them … As usual, I recommend that this pt find a independent pharmacy http://www.ncpanet.org/home/find-your-local-pharmacy It is the rare situation where a pt takes my advice and changes all their medications to a independent and they still have complaints. Having had my own independent pharmacy for 20 yrs… I understand the mindset of taking care of pts is JOB ONE.
Filed under: General Problems
I had to take my laptop in the TV room to read this to hubby. We know how the pharmacists are in CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid. I found a small town independent pharmacy where my pain management is and only 1 time did I run into a problem but that was because the owners went on vacation and the fill in pharmacist didn’t know how to order the narcotics. I brought the prescriptions home to try and fill them at K-mart, Walgreens and CVS. No Go. I was treated so rude it was unreal. The sad part is I get my other monthly prescriptions at K-mart and they would not fill nor order for me. I think you will see many many many more of these e-mails in this coming year.