Your life is only worth a $25 gift card

Went to the pharmacy to pick up a couple of scripts after I went to the Doctor.
My doc and I had talked about trying a third medication for my asthma because it is starting to worsen...however, he said we would go ahead and wait on it for now.
So when I get to the pharmacy, they told me there were 3 scripts. So, I assume that the doc changed his mind on the third one. I got halfway home and was sitting at a traffic light and I glance through them to see what he ordered.
Flomax. Hmmm...this is a drug that is typically given to men for prostate issues. To start with, I am a woman.
Here is the specific warning on the drug: FLOMAX capsules are not indicated for use in women. Not to mention, it interacts with a specific medication that I already take.
So, anyway, I called the pharmacist and ask him about this. I noticed on the top, this medication was called 10 minutes AFTER my other medicines were phoned in. I rationalized that perhaps my physician had a change of heart and decided to put me on the medication after all. So I asked the pharmacist about it, he said that it was a medication for urinary symptoms. So then I ask him about the interaction with the OTHER medication that I take (that is specifically contraindicated). He told me I needed to talk to my physician. I then asked if there was ANY other respiratory condition that this medication is given for--he said no, but I needed to talk to my doctor. You could tell he was a little exasperated that I kept asking HIM questions when my doctor could surely answer them better than he could.
My last question to him was the zinger. Can you make ABSOLUTELY sure that this was MY medication before I call my doctor. A heavy sigh followed a "be right back"...then THAT was followed by an "Oh my gosh. It isn't your medication at all and can you please bring it back". Sigh.
Now, follow me here. ANY lay person could rationalize this medication FLOMAX as a possible respiratory medication. That is frightening.
I know better and I almost rationalized it.
So, for all my trouble, I got my $60 back and a $25 gift card (which did come in handy), but a paltry sum when you think of the implications if I had gone home and taken my 90 days of medication that the pharmacy prescribed for me.
Be careful when you are getting a new medication from the pharmacy that you are not expecting. It could spare you some unpleasant side effects.

but taking meds IS a shared responsibility.

I'd never tale a pill that my doctor has supposedly prescribed without knowing what it was and why he prescribed it.

with me when I pick up a new RX. I once had a Walmart screw up on a medication that said specifically "not to be taken with" another medication I was on. I realized it when I got home and read the insert. I went right back. The Walmart pharmacist would do nothing about it. Said it was my Doc's fault.

The mix up may well have been my Doc's fault initially but they should have caught it. He would not refund my money. Don't trust those "automatically checks for drug interactions" boasts by pharmacies

I am now a Target Pharmacy customer.

I forget which pharmacy but it made her very sick. I believe she was in a wheel chair. She sued and won millions of dollars. She almost died.

It was Eckerds--they gave a women seizure medication in a mislabeled bottle. She picked it up on her lunch hour and took the first dose, then suffered grand mal seizures at work.

and likely to be different sizes, colors and/or shapes every time I get a refill. I use http://www.drugs.com/pill_identification.html to make sure I've got what I'm supposed to be getting.

It's always a reasonable precaution to make sure you're getting the right drug in the right amount for the right condition.

That pharmacist blew it in two ways. First, he made a mistake on the label, which is understandable, shit happens. Second, he didn't tell you not to take the drug when you called with a question, but got defensive and tried to turf you off to the physician instead of checking his records.

He was damned lucky you were alert enough to catch it yourself.

I also always count my pills. You'd be amazed at how many times they shortchange you.

arguably, a leading (if not THE leading) cause of death in the US.

fwiw, i do not take ANY medication without reading the entry in the PDR. but i'm anal like that.

Actually this might be easier than judging doctors or specialists. They have many years of strictly studying drugs in their degree programs. They should never essentially blow you off to the doctor's judgment in regards to harmful combos, side effects. However they do have business ties to doctors and clinics and have a line that can';t be crossed regarding diagnoses, etc. The signs though are obvious.

Makes mistakes. Generally you might assume that potentially harmful errors in your case are repeated in just the same way for others. Generally you may assume when you question something, especially a contraindication and the response is to get blown off, that too is a very bad and in essence dangerous practice indicating a general and repeated failing. We had a pharmacist like that who was let go after a slew of errors. That was a drugstore chin whose very existence depends on quality pharmacists. I am not sure if big non drugstore chain have a laxer attitude that filters down.

First, IMHO, you are obliged to complain all the way up the chain because the lives of your neighbors are at stake and this is something that can be done. Second, you should go elsewhere rather than yourself having to second guess doctors or pharmacists with degrees and having to double check everything. Third, responsible self education will enhance your ability to survive the bad ones, good online medical or simply reading the consumer labels that were imposed to prevent misuse.

'cause this is nothing new... Oh, and they got off easy with a stupid $25 gift card.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/rx/cvs_rx.html

This is the second time in the last 10 years that they have filled the wrong medication--the last time they gave me imapramine instead of imitrex. They told me my Doctor changed my prescription...so I called my doc and he said no he didn't.

hire morans...

Maybe a call to their HQ's should be in order?
Woonsocket, RI 02895-6146
Phone: (401) 765-1500

I think I will do that.

are probably sitting around the pharmacy yuckin' it up after almost KILLING YOU. "Hey, we gave her a $25 gift card and no one will ever find out what dumbfuckers we are..."

People have to go to college and be accredited to become a pharmacist --- but a lot of them get high on their own supply and the quality of their "work" suffers... and when they make a mistake, people die.

Please keep us posted if you pursue this any further. :)

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/rx/cvs_rx.html

Like this:

"My 6 yr. old daughter was prescribed Singulair for asthma/allergies. She took the medication for 26 days. At the end of the months supply I called CVS to renew the prescription. An hour later my pediatrician called to tell me that the prescription had been filled incorrectly. The pharmacist had given my 6 yr. old 10mg as opposed to the childrens dose of 5mg. Another pharmacist picked up the mistake when he went to fill the order and called my pediatrician. My daughter had to go for a Liver Function Test which thankfully came back negative. CVS was very apologetic about the mistake but I have changed pharmacies and have no plans of ever using CVS again.

Read more: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/rx/cvs_rx.html#ixzz0IpYwX9Oi&C

The people seem more intelligent and know the customers better. My local pharmacy got bought up by the Mediquik chain, and the first time I called in to fill a script, I was handed a bag, containing a bottle with the correct label. The trouble was that there was nothing in that bottle.

After that I switched to another local pharmacist and have gotten excellent service.

then we had a local pharmacist go to work for a small, regional chain.
I have tried to use them, but their costs are very high, it takes hours to get a prescription filled, and more often than not, you have to wait "until the truck gets here tomorrow". Almost every transaction ends with owed pills--another trip to the pharmacy.
I still use them in emergencies, but to make 3-4 trips to the pharmacy for one script is too overbearing.
I will NOT use Walmart and we have no other alternatives. :(

I sent in an Rx for a client once. When I got it back I knew it was wrong and called the pharmacy. They insisted it was filled properly (Lamictal 25mg, which is for epilepsy). I had to haggle with them for a while to make it clear that the prescription was for Lamisil 250mg, a drug prescribed for fungus under the nail bed of the toes. I even told them that the doctor who prescribed it was a podiatrist, not a neurologist, and that I'd taken the person to the appointment myself so I knew very well what had been prescribed. Finally they had someone else look at the prescription and they realized their error.

They're polite, knowlegible, efficient, and more than willing to help. They never fill a new 'script without explaining everything, and if the Dr. or Tricare changes to a generic, they open the bottle, show me the med,and explain why it looks different. You couldn't drag me to another pharmacy with a team of wild horses! Nothing like doing business with an employee owned business.