More Walgreens customers sue over insults on their prescription printouts

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-pwalgreens23mar23,0,5994094.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

Less than a month after a Palm Beach woman sued Walgreens for labeling her CrAzY!!" and "psycho" in its nationwide computer system, two more Floridians have come forward with similar allegations.

A Palm Beach Gardens grandmother, 64, filed suit Wednesday, accusing the retail chain of negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress for typing in its system in May 2003: "WATCH CONTROLS SHE SEEMS SHADY."

For nearly 20 years, Elizabeth Noah has patronized the Fairway Drive Walgreens near her home in PGA National, she said. So when the retired United Technologies financial analyst picked up a prescription for anxiety medication the evening of Feb. 6, she began to cry when she read the notation on the Drug Utilization Review -- or DUR -- stapled to the bag.

"It hurt my feelings so bad," she said. "I'm always nice. I've been going there forever. I've had secret clearance and never even had parking tickets. I'm always dressed nicely and have my makeup on and my hair done. I was raised that your reputation goes with you everywhere."

The other Walgreens pharmacy customer, Erin Cutler, 30, and a married mother of three who lives outside Ocala, was shocked when she saw that her Walgreens DUR labeled her a "b----."

[MissB]

1. Uh, wow.

:wow:

[Nickster]

2. I wonder if this is a case of poor computer security and someone is having

a good laugh at the expense of Walgreens and their customers. Just seems real odd that stuff like this would happen all over the place. We don't know something about this story.

[rodeodance]

3. computer clitches. letting the beans out of the bag

[xultar]

4. As a systems designer we never allow free form fields for this reason.

So bad bad bad on Walgreens.

[BlueIris]

5. Insane.

Yet one more reason not to shop at Walgreens, I guess.

[DRoseDARs]

6. I wonder how many of you have ever worked in customer service...

First impressions are everything and if you treat a checkout person like shit, they'll remember it and tell their co-workers. Such as it goes in any job where you have to deal directly with customers. A nametag says a name, it does NOT say "I am an hourly worker. Please abuse me." A pharmacy is no different. However, and this is important, in most circumstances YOU DO NOT LET THE CUSTOMER KNOW THEY ARE AN ASSHOLE and for God's sake don't print it an a bag or receipt that they are. That just builds a lawsuit for them to file.

While we are hearing the customers' side of the story, we're not hearing the workers' side. I would sooner believe the workers' but printing what they did was an extremely bad idea.

[FredScuttle]

17. I worked in customer service

and I don't really care about the worker's side. There is no excuse for this...NONE.

[Rich Hunt]

47. no shit

This behavior is unnerving and crosses the line into threatening behavior.

I would feel threatened if someone did this.

I can't believe someone thinks there is a good excuse for this. Anyone who has worked in public
service and has a modicum of pride thinks otherwise.

Methinks it's a disgruntled employee trying to make both Walgreens and other employees look bad.

[DRoseDARs]

64. Apparently, neither of you actually READ my post...

"A nametag says a name, it does NOT say 'I am an hourly worker. Please abuse me.' A pharmacy is no different. However, and this is important, in most circumstances YOU DO NOT LET THE CUSTOMER KNOW THEY ARE AN ASSHOLE and for God's sake don't print it an a bag or receipt that they are."

My post seems pretty clear and well-written. Sounds like a problem on your end. :eyes:

[FredScuttle]

84. I can read well enough

your post queried if anyone ever worked in customer service...I replied that I did. I'm not interested in hearing how bad the workers had it (I don't doubt that they did) because it is completely irrelevant to the matter at hand - abusing the customer in an egregiously rude manner.

[DRoseDARs]

85. How's NOT confronting the customer abusing the customer?

You can't possibly be this dense. :eyes:

[6th Borough]

72. Agreed...and this is worse than simply badmouthing a customer.

The "comments" appearing on these leaflets is not limited to an exchange between the customer-clerk; it is connected to Walgreen's' network such that anytime you fill a prescription out at ANY Walgreen's in the country, the pharmacist, tech, and or/clerk will read these comments while processing your prescription.

[LostinVA]

73. I didn't think of that...

We really getting into defamation of character here, and privacy rights.

Good point.

[Darth_Kitten]

80. I work in customer service now.....

trust me that in the short time I've been working in cs that there are times I'm sorely tempted to make such a notation on a file, but no, you may mention the person was being stubborn or difficult, but no name calling or putdowns.

Yes, we have our own private opinions but we have to be professional.

[HuffleClaw]

20. i rather suspect these notes are more or less true.

i've seen some pretty appalling behavior in stores, be it a pharmacy or walmart, and its never the clerk doing the tantrum.

[Rich Hunt]

48. why?

Why would someone show no solidarity with their co-workers whatsoever by destroying trust
with Walgreens employees and intimidating customers?

Threatening a customer in this underhanded way is never right.

Something tells me that Walgreens employees would agree with me - after all, I see them every day.

[Megahurtz]

61. But "SHADY"???

Give me a break! What the fuck could that mean?

Sounds like someone's own personal interpretation.

[LostinVA]

68. To me, that would mean kinda dishonest, having a bad character

That's way worse than being called a bitch, imo. Unless you saw someone shoplift or something, that's stepping over the line a bit.

[Megahurtz]

69. Yeah, that's totally

in bad taste.x(

[ThomCat]

66. I deal with customer service people every day.

Mostly with telecom carriers around the country, but also in some other industries. Blaming the customer is a load of bull. I can't tell you how often piss-poor customer service people have a bad day and take it out of the rest of us.

I'm going to take this out of the pharmacy context for a moment and put it in the context I experience.

There are customer service people who deliberately get orders wrong, deliberately loose orders, hang up on calls before even saying hello, deliberately transfer calls to wildly inappropriate places, etc. They make normal day-to-day business excruciating because we're imposing on their free time by calling into their call center.

This even happens at the small call centers that are reserved for large customers, even though these smaller call centers are supposed to have the best staff and provide the best service.

This is a fairly small percentage of people (or else these industries would collapse) but it's often enough that it's hard to see see customer service people as blameless.

They aren't paid enough, trained enough, or supervised enough. Their jobs are often poorly designed so that they don't have the authority to resolve the situations that are given to them. They are bored and frustrated, and they take it out on all of us.

[Darth_Kitten]

81. I work in a call centre....

though fortunately I am well-paid and get good benefits.

Yes, there are a few bad apples in every bunch. There are the well-meaning though thick reps, there are the ones just waiting for retirement and let everyone know about it, there are ones that sound so sour and mean on the phones that it's no wonder why ***some*** people think the worst of us. :(

On the other end there are those that try to be super-upbeat and unfailingly polite to the customers, who are for the most part, pretty normal and decent people who appreciate you addressing their concerns.

Then you get the customers from H.E.L.L. Nothing will make them happy, they want THEIR way and nothing you try to do/explain/attempt means squat with them. "How could you do this to MY children when I haven't paid for XXXXX ?" (I work for a utilty)

Right, your children matter now to you and I'm the big bad person for doing my job, just handle your own responsibilities and none of this would have happened in the first place.
But of course I don't say anything, I try to do everything in my means and control to help them. Not that they care really. :(
You get the whiners/complainers who aren't happy with anything. Case in point: Got a long distance call from Arizona (I'm in Canada) regarding a 90 cent late payment charge on an account. Sorry, sir, but that gets added when you don't pay your account. He said he sent a cheque and it's OUR fault for not getting it on time. Well, sir, I'm not responsible for the U.S. postal service and I'm not going to apologize on our company's behalf because we didn't do anything wrong. (he wanted me to apologize) I'm thinking be happy, you are in a warm place and it's winter where I live, don't sweat a bloody 90 cent charge!!!

I could go on, but won't..... :)

[rfranklin]

21. In the pharmacy that took over our town, scrips are filled by teenagers...

just out of high school who treat the job (because they are treated like crap) the same way they would if they were flipping burgers or collecting movie ticket stubs. These companies have turned the friendly local business into another repulsive chainstore experience. They drove experienced pharmacists out of business. And is anything cheaper than it used to be? No way , Jose!

[bleedingheart]

44. how is that legal?

are you saying that your prescriptions are being filled by 19 year olds without a pharmacy degree?

[LostinVA]

49. Scripts aren't allowed to be filled by some kid right out of high school

Some Pharm Techs can do certain things. I would report them ASAP to the proper State authorities. The law is being broken.

[Bassic]

41. I agree, I used to make a lot of fun

of customers where I used to work, but never to their fucking faces.

[OnyxCollie]

7. I have some experience with this.

I used to work for a large bookstore chain and, as one would expect with dealing with the public, I came in contact with many people who abused the rules. Once while taking a special order for a customer whom I knew was deceiving me, I put a cautionary statement for the special order clerk on the order. I think I wrote, "Customer likely to return book." (Non-stock books couldn't be sent back to the publisher.) The SPO clerk didn't notice the warning, and attached the slip to the book. The customer came in for the book, was given the slip to initial, and saw the note. He made a small scene, and an effort was made to appease him. I still stand by what I did, and I think that should be taken into account before making judgment. Customers earn their reputations.

[DRoseDARs]

8. This is why God create the Post-It note...

We've had to deal with shitty customers too, but we always have a supply of those little 1 inch post-its handy. ;)

[sarcasmo]

10. Customer likely to return book, much different from Insane or Crazy.

[Darth_Kitten]

82. I agree...

:)

[Miss Chybil]

14. I think a record of returns is sufficient evidence of return behavior

without editorial comment.

[rodeodance]

43. yes,

[OnyxCollie]

74. Did you ever stop to think

that the "record of returns" is the communication between employees? Customers can return gratuitous amounts of merchandise over long periods of time before corporate notices. It's up to employees to keep shrink down. A week wouldn't go by without some warning provided by managers and employees, sometimes from other stores of suspicious returns or "shady", that's right, shady characters. If I helped a customer and found the shrinkwrap of the DVD I handed them stuffed behind the books in the reference section, I told my coworkers about it. And if someone had a phone call from a scammer, they told me about it. I believe the comments in question were not meant to be seen by the customer. Perhaps an ill-trained employee was not aware of what was printed, or entered the comments in the "wrong" field, or someone attached the store's copy of the reciept to the customer's bag, but comments about customers who are shoplifters, returns abusers, or hostile/irrational are common and necessary. Granted, language like "bitch" is inappropriate, but notifying other employees of customers who are return abusers, shoplifters, and/or hostile/irrational, is just courteous to your coworkers. Forewarned is forearmed. Nobody likes to be yelled at, no one wants to be put in a stressful (or even dangerous) situation. If you took a phone call from an angry customer, would you give the manager notice or would you just hand over the phone and say, "It's for you."?

[LostinVA]

22. I was a manager at a large bookstore chain

And I would have at least written you up for that. Many, many customers are abusive asses, and many would return non stock books. I was cursed at, pushed, screamed at, etc. literally thousands of times in five years, but I had to suck it up. That's the horrible side of retail. But you do it. Customers do earn their reps, but unless it's a sexist, racist, homophobic, etc. comment -- you take it. You have to. That's retail.

And yup, that's what Post-It notes are for. OR you tell the manager about the possibility. I would have eaten the cost of the book and comped the customer, and prayed home office wasn't called. Because if they were? I would have been told to fire you. Because, that's retail.

[OnyxCollie]

36. "And I would have at least written you up for that."

That's why I no longer work in retail. Five and a half years of supervising. I was tired of getting bullshit from the customers and the GM. The comment was typed on the part the SPO clerk was to keep, not the part the customer was to sign. The SPO clerk didn't look at it and stuck it with the book. I tried to save the store some money. I caught shit.

My experience with GM's of large bookstore chains is that they are little dictators, GWBush on a micro scale. The first bookstore I worked at went through 32 people in six months, most leaving because they couldn't stand the GM. The second store I worked for, the GM didn't like dealing with people. So, instead of confronting the part-timers who were being picky about what hours they would work, he went heavy on payroll and created a deficit. That way, he could just say, "These are the hours available. Take it or leave it." When the new budget came, it was lower than he expected, and everybody had their hours cut. I lost $250 a month for eight months because of that. (I know this because I confronted him.) I reported him to the district manager, and when the DM confronted him, he changed his story. That's when I knew I was fucked. He came after me with a vengeance, making my life miserable at every opportunity. The final straw was when he decided to write me up on a bullshit charge. "FUCK YOU, YOU SICK, TWISTED FUCK!!!" I yelled at him. (I had been abused when I was growing up, and coincidentally, just hours before I was to be written up it occurred to me that he had been acting the very same way my abuser did. To a tee.) "I KNOW WHAT KIND OF ABUSIVE PERSON YOU ARE! FUCK YOU!!!"

I had filed a harassment charge against him with HR a week before but the contact info in the break room was outdated, and my paperwork was shuffled off from person to person and ignored.

He didn't show up for work the day the DM handed me my walking papers. Called off the next day, too. Probably thought I was gonna kill him. Fucking worm.

[LostinVA]

39. Guess you don't know me at all

I was far from a little dictator, and was finally asked to leave the company because I continually reported them to the government for trying to take advantage of employees. My turnover was extremely low, because I was a good manager, and treated like them people, instead of cannon fodder. I also treated the customers that way until they gave me a reason not to. Respect for everyone.

But, you would have been written up for that, because you would have broken the rules you were expected to follow -- and would have signed off on promising to follow.

Your bad GM experiences gives you no right to judge everyone by the same standard. They are alot of good people out there in retail, who risk their ass every day with home office to protect their employees. I could list a zillion things emmployees did to me, from stealing to getting stoned during work hours, but that's not the point. The point is that customers deserve a bit of courtesy, and writing derogatory personal details in their files steps over the line of professionalism.

[OnyxCollie]

53. Derogatory?

Did you actually read what I wrote? Giving the SPO clerk a heads up that the book she would have to use her limited time and resources to try to acquire would only be returned, as the customer had with all the other expensive books on ancient Egypt he had ordered. Notifying the SPO clerk that the person placing the phone order is lying to me and will lie to the cashier, is abusing our system, and will return a book that will generate the standard employee meeting fodder of "We've had a lot of people returning non-stock books. You, as the employee, need to make the customer aware that non-stock books cannot be returned..."

You said "My turnover was extremely low, because I was a good manager, and treated them like people, instead of cannon fodder." So did I. When the GM would would launch an unwarranted, abusive attack against one of my staff, who was the one to calm them down and keep them from quitting? Me. When the GM would dismiss one my staff not having the "capabilities" to do some stupid job he was applying for, who was the one to reaffirm that he was intelligent, insightful, and articulate? Me. (Now that he's in his second year of law school, I guess it doesn't matter.) When the SPO clerk came to me, tears rolling down her face, because she had so much work to do, so little time to get it done, and was being ignored by the GM, who was the one to hug her and calm her down? Me. I was well-liked by my managers, fellow supervisors, and subordinates. The GM's I worked for were assholes.

"I also treated customers that way until they gave me reason not to. Respect for everyone." So did I. I enjoyed my job. I took satisfaction in providing people with what they were looking for. However, if a customer was trying to steal from me I would be right on them, or if a customer was trying to intimidate an employee to get some deal, I would defend my coworker. I assume from your post you would give the customer what he wanted and write the employee up for insubordination. And people are surprised to hear about bad customer service...

Guess you don't know me at all.

[Darth_Kitten]

83. What an abusive moron....

sorry you went through that experience. :( That's bullying to a "T". :(

[NashVegas]

57. I Don't Think It's So Horrible to Give Abusive Customers a Clue

I can remember a time, before corporations, when independent owners would tell certain customers that their patronage would no longer be welcome and refuse to be drawn into any sort of shouting matches. Just someone know their money is no good in the establishment. Offer to have them escorted out if things got out of hand.

People who have crap manners don't think they're doing anything wrong until someone gives them a reason to.

[LostinVA]

59. The point is, you can't

No corporate office will allow either a manager or an employee to dress down a customer, unless it's sexist, racist, homophobic, etc. (and, that last one won't be covered by all companies!). You will be fired if you do, and you know that when you're hired.

I agree with you on principle, and believe that if it's your own store, you SHOULD do whatever you want towards a customer. However, you can't do that when you work for someone else. You have to leave. It's why I left -- I refused to play their game.

[davsand]

60. Those books were always "out of stock."

When I managed a general book dept. in a college bookstore, I had a handful of guys who would order really expensive technical materials from obscure publishing houses and then bring them back a couple of weeks later after they'd absorbed the research materials they needed.

It didn't take more than a couple of times where we got stuck with $100-$200 books that were returned to us (and not returnable to the publishers) before we posted a "No Returns on Special Orders" sign.

The first time they'd come in wanting a refund we explained nicely that our posted policy was no refund on any special order. A couple of them argued with me about it and insisted they should get a refund anyway. The store manager (in the interests of good customer PR) gave the refunds while explaining he was only doing it to keep them happy.

I was not happy about it and made a comment to him privately that my department profitability could not take too much more of his "PR." He looked at me, smiled, and told me to give instructions to my clerks that when either of those guys came in again that any book over $25 that they ordered was to be "Out of Stock at the Publisher" and unavailable for order.

We did all we could to work with those guys, but there comes a time, sometimes, when you can't allow a customer to screw your store. We didn't see it as any different than somebody running out the door with an armload of books because, essentially, that returned special order book that can't be sold is profit that is lost--it is a markdown.

I do NOT miss retail. I ran a legal service hotline for years, and I deal with property taxes and pissed off taxpayers every day now, and I still think retail was more painful...

Regards.


Laura

[Rex]

9. So that explains it

My Best Buy receipts always say, 'you suck, stop playing video games and get a life'. I thought it was just a generic greeting! :(

[senseandsensibility]

56. LOL

That's funny; thanks for adding a little comic relief.

[cboy4]

11. Some of these pharmacists truly believe they're doctors

when in fact, they're damn pill counters. (No offense to the truly professional pharmacists)

While some of these idiots may understand the pharmacology of a particular drug, the last time I checked, no pharmacist is in the examination room or the emergency room where the doctor makes his/her decision about which medication the patient needs to take.

Just count the pills and put them in the bottle.

If you have a problem/question.....then contact the doctor. Don't argue with the customer!!!! :mad:

[1monster]

12. Although it was fifteen since, I worked in a pharmacy for nine years.

All of the pharmacists I worked with over those years (and there were quite a few) were very professional and knowledgable. They know their stuff. They quite often do know more than the medical doctors about the beneficial and nasty side effects of medications. Seven years of college and post graduate education is required to become a "damned pill counter."

The pharmacists generally will spend more time with the patient/client/customer explaining how the drug works and what side effects may be encountered.

While there are jerks in any profession, most pharmacists I have encountered truly care about the welfare of their customers. They are not only "pill counters." Pharmacists must keep track of the other drugs customers are taking to make sure that there is no adverse drug interaction.

I witnessed more than one occasion when a pharmacist caught a potential harmful drug interaction when the doctor missed it or was unaware of the other meds their patient was taking. When that happened, the pharmacist called the doctor and the doctor changed the Rx.

Yes, if you have a question, you can contact the doctor and wait hours usually for the doctor to return your call.

Or you can ask your pharmacist who usually can answer your question about your meds. If he/she can't, they can contact the doctor for you. And you know what? Quite often the doctors will call the pharmacists back sooner than they will the patient.

Doctors and pharmacists are not competitors or enemies. They work together to the benefit of the medical consumer.

[cboy4]

24. I suggest you review the original post

If I understand it correctly, the pharmacist had an issue about this person taking anxiety medication...it had nothing to do with the medication being dangerous.

The Walgreens pharmacist didn't know why the doctor prescribed that medication. He/she prescribed it for a reason after diagnosing the patient.

The only job of that pharmacist was to make sure the patient was following directions and to make sure the patient wasn't taking other drugs that might/would cause dangerous side effects.

[Doremus]

26. I worked in the home office of a national drug chain for a dozen years

and your portrayal of pharmacists is mostly correct. However, people being human, pharmacists are just as prone to mistakes -- in judgment, which is what we're talking about here, and otherwise -- as the rest of us.

Misfills are commonplace (dispensing the wrong drug). So are instances of drug interactions. Both occurrences are often injurious and sometimes lethal. They occur more than you know in busy pharmacies, which includes most under-staffed chains. Actually, almost all pharmacies are busy these days with the dearth of pharmacists, and it is that shortage that allows the more marginal Rphs to hold their jobs perhaps longer than they ought to.

[LiberalFighter]

27. In my experience...

pharmacists have been mostly behind the scene. It is usually a young girl that retrieves the package containing the prescription(s) and taking the cash. Little if any explanation about the prescription by the pharmacist.

Nowadays warnings and instructions are printed on an attached sheet and pretty much nothing more.

[1monster]

30. Yes, that is true in the larger chain pharmacies like Walmart,

Target, K-mart, etc. Until recently, I have used a pharmacy (now closed) in a grocery store where there was no pharmacy clerk or tech. I dealt directly with the pharmacist when I dropped off my Rx and picked it up. I miss that.

The pharmacy I worked in did have clerks to facilitate the pharmacist. However, if a customer wanted to speak to to the pharmacist, they were readily available to give advice on OTC and Rx products alike.

[brer cat]

45. This deserves a separate thread

I think pharmacists are greatly under appreciated by many people. My father had Parkinson's, and for years was on medication that greatly restricted what other meds he could safely take. I always took his meds in when he had to see a new specialists for another problem, but twice his pharmacist caught that he was being prescribed a drug he could not take. In both cases the pharmacist immediately called the doctor's office and obtained a prescription for a safer drug. Later, she monitored my mother's meds when she developed ovarian cancer and was also being treated for hypertension, arthritis and other diseases. She always asked me if mother was undergoing chemo when I brought in a new prescription or asked for a refill because a lot of her meds had to be discontinued during chemo.

This pharmacist was an essential member of our health care team. I could go in and say "Daddy has a cold" or whatever, and she would go with me to the aisle of over-the-counter meds and show me what was safe for him to take--or tell me that even though it seemed minor, he needed to see his physician before treatment.

[LostinVA]

50. And, they have ALOT of education, very specialized

My doctor told me it's harder to get into Pharm school than into many med schools.

[karlrschneider]

16. Well, my brother has been a pharmacist for 35 years, with a college degree

and has been doing continuing education for all that time. No, he's not an M.D. but I have a lot of medical doctor friends and while I admit some bias, I honestly believe he's very nearly as qualified as many docs to evaluate the actual needs of his customers. Yes, he counts pills, but don't forget that many MDs do little more than experiment with medications, many of which are pushed by very expert salesmen with no medical knowledge.

[cboy4]

19. It is absolutely NOT the job of the pharmacist to "evaluate the actual

needs of his customers."

I'm sorry, but show me where it says the pharmacist has the discretion to overrule the doctor.

[CAG]

31. It IS the pharmacists job to notice if a patient is getting narcotic

prescriptions from multiple physicians, who probably don't realize they are being hoodwinked by a drug seeker.

The pharmacist doesn't have the "discretion to overrule the doctor", as you put it, however thats not the issue. The pharmacist does have a responsibility and duty to share information with the physician if they suspect harm may come to the patient. I somehow sense someone here would be sending his/her righteous indignation at a pharmacist if a news story was posted here about a pharmacist blindly filling a patients oxycontin prescriptions every 4 days from 3,4,5,6,7 different physicians who all have no idea the others are seeing that patient. This stuff happens all the time.

And before I get accused of somehow being in favor of the lewd and inappropriate comments that the original post refers to, I'm not. And before I get accused of being unaware of appropriate narcotic pain control therapy in patients suffering from chronic pain, such as cancer, arthritis, degenerative joint disease, etc, please, don't waste your breath. You KNOW I'm not talking about these patients, so don't start some mindless personal attack to deflect from the issue at hand.

[cboy4]

33. No idea what you're talking about, but we have some nice parting gifts

:eyes:

[Nevernose]

29. Perhaps you don't understand what a pharmacist's job is?

One of the main points of having scrips filled with a pharmacist, as opposed to, say, a vending machine, is that the pharmacist is knowledgable about the drugs he prescribes: She is supposed to evaluate the medicines, explain them to the patient, and second-guess the doctor if necessary. Frequently, the pharmacist knows more about the drugs than the doctors do; that's what they're paid for.

I suspect that the reason the pharmacist doesn't contact the doctor is because the goddamned doctor is impossible to reach, and even if she was, she'd (probably) be so damned arrogant that she wouldn't admit to a mistake if it was biting her on the ass, and couldn't admit a mistake due to the potential of malpractice.

The state of medical care in this country, needless to say, is truly messed up on all fronts.

[FlaGranny]

51. If that's all you think pharmacists do,

then 19-year-olds COULD do it. Fortunately for patients, pharmacists do a LOT more than count pills.

Edit: A pharmacist must be familiar with drugs and their interactions with one another. They must know what dosage is appropriate. They must know all the side effects and precautions and indications of a drug. Many times a patient will be seeing more than one physician. The pharmacist will notify one or both physicians if the patient is being prescribed drugs that interfere with one another or will cause problems for the patient. A pharmacist also knows how to compound drugs (although they don't do that much any more). A pharmacist must know when he is seeing a prescription form with an error in dosage, etc.

[HannibalBarca]

54. More responsibility

...Actually, as a trainee pharmacist, we must learn not only in depth pharmacology, (surpassing in many cases what doctors study) but must have detailed knowledge of potential interactions and must also clean up after sloppy prescribing (overdose, serious interactions etc). We are the last safety net before the drugs find themselves into the hands of consumers. This of course doesn't even take into account extemporaneous compounding where specific dosage forms actually have to be made by the pharmacist (more commonly in a hospital setting) and a myriad of considerations have to be taken into account, one mistake literally could mean the death of a patient.In many countries pharmacists are also beginning to prescribe and offer diagnosis in an attempt to offset some of the workload of Physicians. There are also regulatory pharmacists, industrial pharmacists and the actual course covers in depth chemical synthesis of drugs along with a host of other topics too numerous to discuss here. So as you can see while "pill counting" is one function, I hope you can appreciate that the job can be a little more expansive.

[AngryOldDem]

55. Or better still, go to med school

If they're that convinced that they are right and the doctor and patient are wrong, then go to med school and get your license. This is different, however, when a pharmacist notices that two medications can possibly counteract each other. But more often than not these days, especially as it concerns birth control, you hear of pharmacists wanting to second-guess and argue with customers about a legally prescribed medication. Not their job.

[Ouabache]

78. Oh yes, we had a Walgreens pharmacist that was abusive

Always making snide remarks about how many prescriptions we brought in, but we had a good plan and he was getting paid....I finally got ticked enough, we took the prescriptions elsewhere and Walgreens got a big-assed complaint on him with details. I mean he was like passive-agressive abusive. It was terrrible. I don't know what his fucking problem was, we just brought in the prescriptions to get them filled as the doctor ordered, the plan was paying, he was getting paid...and we are not disrespectful or outrageous retail customers either. Actually, I would have preferred not to have had so many to get filled at the time, so snidely commenting on how many I had just really PISSED ME OFF. I stayed out of the store completely for over two years, and now I NEVER get a prescription filled there. I still see that bald beady eyed little bastard lurking around. If I knew which car in the lot was his, I would pull out all his valve stems with needle nosed pliers some night.

[KT2000]

13. Yeah for computerized

medical records. Everything that goes into them becomes part of your "permanent record" now.
Know a woman whose doctor wrote such horrible things about her in the records, the next doctor she saw was so disgusted he told her to file a complaint with the medical board. She did not.

She has a way of questioning things. At the present time she is drugged out of her mind on anti-psychotic and anti-depresant drugs in a nursing home. Her permanent record caught up with her.

I bet if you read most medical records on most women there will be lots of denigrating remarks included - especially if they have been treated for what docs call stress. In our computer age these impressions and remarks are passed around.

[lumpy]

15. A friend took a peek at

her records in the doctors office. Was she mad to discover that her doctor made note that she looked much older than she is! The moral of this story is "what you don't know can't hurt you". You won't cathch me looking at my doctors records, hehe.

[bobbieinok]

18. in the mid 70s I was in a Canadian hospital for diagnosis

I took my records with me back to the states when the sabbatical year was over. Reading the doctors', interns', residents' (it was a major teaching hospital) was really interesting. The language sounded like the reporting of a court case: the patient 'alleges', 'claims', etc.

[oscar111]

23. DONT DELIVER, yet claim to be eager to serve you

only delivering drigstores are good

[superconnected]

25. I worked in an elementary school in my early 20's

and I was upset to find one 5th grade teacher had written the childrens names with their parents occupations, in a list in back of her grade book.

She told me she prefered to keep it in mind when dealing with the students.

I never liked that she did that.

------
These random comments on computer are bad because 1. the service person could be having a bad day, 2. the customer could be having a bad day, and the comment will follow the person everytime it comes up, giving people a pre-concieved notion of someone, they don't even know. Glad they got sued.

[ThomCat]

67. There is no good reason for someone to keep a list like that.

I wouldn't have liked it either.

I wonder what she thought that list meant? If a kid's father picked up trash did she treat the kid differently that another who's dad was a doctor?

[saddemocrat]

71. walgreens

I think it's terrible that they have those notes and that the customers ended up seeing them. I'd hate to think of what my walgreens 'note' says. Last time I went to pick up a prescription they didn't have it in and so they told me to come back the next day after 1pm and it would be filled and ready to pick up. I arrived at 1.30pm and was told that I would have to wait for it to be filled. An hour later, I was getting...well...mad. We'd already been in the day before and the Rx was supposed to be ready. It was being 'checked' by the pharmacist the entire time that we waited.

I ended up having to leave without the Rx after waiting over an hour in order to meet the school bus and wouldn't you know that when I came back I had to wait all over again?

It was the first and last time we'll ever use that pharmacy. I don't mind waiting, but that was ridiculous. The sad part? I was picking up glocose sticks for a glucose meter...not medications. They come in a box and simply needed to be looked at. I think I'll start my own walgreens secret note!

[kainah]

28. unbelievable

I've been chronically ill since 1978. Throughout those nearly 30 years, I've followed a couple of pharmacists all over town as they seek to maintain their independence from these chains. They know me, they can and have handled many emergencies for me. They are as much a part of my continuing existence as my doctor.

When WalMart first came into town, my original pharmacist got seduced into a job there. Within a few years he'd left to preserve necessary services -- billing, delivery, etc. But it has been very difficult to keep their independent pharmacy going. I worry what kind of stresses Medicare D is putting on them.

In any case, the relationship you have with a pharmacist is a very significant part of your very survival if you are chronically ill. It should be a warm and trusting one. I would be shattered to find this kind of mean-spirited comment on my Rx.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

32. I'm so glad there's a real pharmacy near me.

It's a family-owned business with one location nationwide.

I suppose there may come a time when this proves inconvenient in some way. It may cost more than Walgreens; but I'm willing to pay the price to have a pharmacist I know and trust.

[cboy4]

34. Well said

;)

[donheld]

35. I really am surprised at this

I guess I should pay closer attention to what they print about me. I never read that stuff.

[Kailassa]

37. Thank god for Chemists.

1. My mother was upset because I was single and pregnant, but surprised me when she insisted on driving me to her doctor's over a sniffle. He prescribed something, and the chemist pointed out to me it was not supposed to be prescribed during pregnancy because it was likely to induce a miscarriage.

2. I took a sick kid to the doctor's, and he decided I needed a wonderful new slimming drug, and assured me it was non habit forming and not addictive. I asked the chemist the same things I'd asked the doctor, and he showed me its write up in his drug book. It was just a form of speed.

3. A local doctor recently, on my first, and quite short visit to him over a lump in a private place, (he wanted to know how I knew what size it was, and was horrified when I told him I'd looked in a mirror,) diagnosed me with manic depression. I asked him if he didn't think it would be more appropriate to refer me to a psychiatrist that to prescribe ... I think it was thallium, ... immediately.
His answer? "I'm perfectly capable of diagnosing manic depression. You wouldn't believe how many people I diagnose with manic depression each week."
The chemist, seeing that on the same prescription as the oroxine I take was horrified, and refused to make it up. He explained that thallium was absolutely contraindicated in cases of thyroid insufficiency.

A chemist's job is not just to fill prescriptions; if it was, anyone could do it. A chemist (in Australia) has a legal responsability for the drugs he hands out, even if they are exactly what a doctor has prescribed. I don't know what the law is in America, but many chemists will feel responsible for what they sell regardless of who prescribes it.

[LostinVA]

76. They do in the US, too

[Supply Side Jesus]

38. hehehehe.....

Funny. They could've been more careful.
When I use to deliver pizzas sometime ago one guy's name was Sam Robinson, but in the pc it was labeled Stiffy because the prick never tipped. Emotional distress my ass, freakin spoiled self-centered pricks don't have anything else in this life but to give some schmo a hard time because they've had a bad day.
I definitely don't miss the customer service ass kissing biz.

[Bassic]

40. These morons didn't stop to think they would read the fuckin' notes?

I used to work in a store, and I admit my co-workers and I would make fun of the regulars, but never in their friggin faces. Our intention was never to hurt their feelins, but rather to relive the stress of having to deal with them up to 10 times a day(we had a peculiar clientelle)

This, however, is much worse. It means that such terms were used by pharmacists to characterize this person to the benefit of pharmacists all over the country. It's just fuckin dumb.

[rodeodance]

42. Those of us who use Walgreens should go see our files NOW!

[0007]

46. Something is indeed wrong with this picture.

Not saying it isn't true. I believe it may be an isolated incident. Why Walgreen's?

[noonwitch]

52. I hate getting perscriptions filled at any pharmacy

I usually go to CVS. I just hate the waiting. I miss the little pharmacy we used to go to when I was a kid. The doctor would call the scrip in and it would be waiting for us when we got there.

Also, the little drug store (Town and Country, in Grand Rapids, MI) had a soda counter and the employees knew everyone who shopped there.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

62. See my post above...

It's tough to find privately owned pharmacies, but there are some out there. I read in Consumer Reports that they provide better service than any of the chains. I couldn't find the article, but here's a link to a site that talks about it: http://reclaimdemocracy.org/independent_business/independent_drugstores_beat_chains.html

You deserve better than what you're getting. I hope you can find it... :hi:

[Freddie Stubbs]

58. Suing because their feelings were hurt?

How about getting over it and finding another pharmacy with better customer service?

[K-W]

63. Lawsuit?

Im sorry, but finding out that the people who work at your walgreens think you are a bitch or shady doesnt entitle you to take legal action in my book. Its a very good reason to use a different pharmacy though.

[October]

65. Our pharmacists are ALWAYS grumpy

Our pharmacy workers are miserable. No matter how cheery or polite I am, they're just seriously unhappy. They seem to hate their job and never make eye contact. It's so bizarre. I'd like to write them a few notes.

:)

[wickerwoman]

77. A lot of pharmacists work 12 or 14 hour days.

I used to work at Walgreens and the pharmacists often worked 12 hours shifts every day for a week and then had a week off.

As for the notes, it doesn't surprise me. Most places I've worked have posted lists of "shady" characters- suspected shoplifters, people caught stealing or defacing merchandise, people who abused promotions, etc. Some even posted pictures. We were near a large gypsy population and were catching shoplifters and scammers literally on a daily basis.

They were stupid to put the notes on something the customer could see but it's hardly illegal to track customers. By the same reasoning, amazon.com could get in trouble for keeping track of your past purchases and using them to make recommendations.

[genieroze]

70. I'm glad I don't go to Walgreen's.

I have asthma induced anxiety, which my doctor says is common in many asthmatics. Get a asthma attack, you panic, having a panic attack can lead to a severe asthma attack.

[Tab]

75. It's not just pharmacies

I once worked in a resort in a management capacity, and I remember an incident when one of our front desk clerks was entering tickets for guests and either she was in a pissy mood or the guest was annoying - I don't recall which - but she entered the dinner charge and described it as "din din", but it showed up on the guest's folio, and the guest was none too amused. Neither was the rest of management.

[symbolman]

79. When I worked in a Pizza place in Maui, Hawaii

we would take people's names for their orders, then when the pizza was done, we'd deliver it to the patio where the customers waited at their tables.. well, being in the Pacific where you get people of all races and languages we had problems with some of the Japanese names, so we just created a little system where we'd draw a little smily face, only Asian on the ticket so we'd know to look for an asian person when we brought the pizza out..

One day I walked out with one of those tickets and called out the name - a japanese guy waved at me frantically, trying to convince me that it was HIS pizza.. I checked the ticket for the asian smily face and it wasn't there, and rightly so.. as I told the customer, while standing there with the pizza,

"Dude.. I KNOW YOUR name Isn't LYLE.." :) He caved after that.. Lyle was in the bathroom I guess..

It was funny watching all the Japanese tourists sitting there looking at our money in their hands and laughing at it, I never thought about it much, but our money IS pretty funny to look at, a bunch of fops wearing curly sue powdered wigs :) I started laughing at it too once I saw it from their perspective.

I love pharmicists and respect them for what they do, it's a tough job, and many of them I have met are pros all the way, some of the most sane people I've ever met, like airline pilots..

Give me a psychic bartender and a Pharmacist with X-Ray vision and it would be a perfect world for me :)

Tho it sounds like either these crass clowns were dipping into the pills, or needed to.. wonder if they'd be the same ones to refuse birth control pills?

(I have an answer for that one - if a Pharmacist refuses to dispense birthcontrol pills then any child that results from the union of the folks who were refused the pills should have the right to drag the pharmacist into the court room and make him pay 18 years of CHILD SUPPORT...)