Walgreens

[MadMonk]

I'm curious about how your doctor will react. Please keep us updated.

[corwin1968]

Update: It WAS the pharmacy manager who instigated all of this! Wow, this situation is truly insane. I went into the store with a smile on my face, was very calm and collected and made every attempt to be respectful and civil. Nevertheless, the pharmacy manager's hard-line position was, literally, "Your physician isn't authorized to prescribe [this drug]. It's not within his scope of practice. He's a [naming his specialty]. He can't prescribe [that drug] to you." Just as the nurse had done, I explained this firm's various areas of practice, what they treat, how they treat, etc. I then provided her with an explanation about a connection with what this doctor treats and the particular medication he had prescribed. It's very logical and straightforward. No matter. She was like a robot. Once again she said he "shouldn't be prescribing [this drug]."

In the end, I reminded her that yes, in fact, he has a DEA number and is very much authorized to prescribe a controlled substance, including this drug. She disagreed with me again. I then asked her if she felt his firm was practicing quackery and whether or not I should give them a heads-up that she was going to report them to the medical board. She said the conversation was over and I asked for my prescription back. She gave it to me. The end.

We will be pulling our prescriptions out of Walgreens first thing in the morning.

j

Utterly ridiculous and I would be LIVID if a pharmacist tried to dictate what my physician can prescribe to me. Please let us know if it's Walgreens policy so I can make sure to never got back there.

[turnpup]

Corwin, if you click on the link at the very first post on this thread, there's an article from a news station in another state detailing this whole thing. Supposedly it's geared toward the people who are prescribed pain pills, but in my case it wasn't pain pills. Within that article, there's a place to click on the Walgreens policy. That's got all the detailed information, what the pharmacist is supposed to look for, what their options are, etc. It's quite disturbing.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that now I'm flagged as a problem child, even though I have done nothing wrong (this is from the linked article):

"If a Walgreens pharmacist refuses to fill your prescription for pain medication, that denial must now be entered into your online customer profile that can be seen by pharmacy staff at more than 8300 Walgreens nationwide. According to the GFD Policy, Walgreens pharmacists will also notify the US Drug Enforcement Administration that your prescription has been refused, and the pharmacy must maintain detailed documentation to justify the reason."

Lovely, isn't it?

[Jersey Boss]

^ I hope you are not on blood pressure medicine. You did say it was not pain medication so it seems that policy should not snare you. Then again...

[turnpup]

^ I hope you are not on blood pressure medicine. You did say it was not pain medication so it seems that policy should not snare you. Then again...

Love it! Nope, no BP meds for me. My usual pressure is around 110/65. I'm very fortunate, health-wise. Until about a year ago, I wasn't on ANY prescription meds for as far back as I can remember. Almost never went to the doctor. Still only go to the one that's at the heart of this controversy. The meds I'm on now are very few and merely for the management of typical issues for someone my age and gender. That's another reason this whole situation is a head-scratcher. When this pharmacist looked at my charts going back ten years, it would've (should've) been abundantly clear that I'm clean as a whistle. But she wasn't wanting to help me. She wanted to wield power. I'm sure everyone reading this thread knows somebody like that, someone who gets a tiny little bit of authority and crams it down everyone else's throat because they CAN.

Walgreens motto (that they force the pharmacists and techs to greet you with at the drive-through): "How can I help you be well?" Well, you can start by getting you @$^*^%$ nose out of my personal, confidential doctor/patient relationship. Then you can quit trying to practice medicine without a license. Finally, you can actually make an attempt to do some good in your field. You purport to want to help people, right, seeing as how you got into the field you're in? So how about you focus on that?

/end another rant/

[Plutonic Panda]

You need to complain to Walgreens corporate. She doesn't get to decide things like that, and chances are she'll be fired over that.

+1

I'd definitely take this up with corporate. You shouldn't let people get away with things like that.

[zookeeper]

I'm curious about how your doctor will react. Please keep us updated.

Yes, I'm as curious as MadMonk about how the doc will take this. I would also make sure you aren't flagged for any reason. It sure seems harder to trust that anything is done right these days.

[Mel]

You have to go through more steps to get Sudafed without a script than you do Percocet with a script.

[bluedogok]

The problem is all the measures to try and prevent drug abuse will do absolutely nothing to prevent it. What it amounts to is another "feel good" measure for the politicians to say they are "doing something" about the problem with no real results.

[RadicalModerate]

When my wife was battling cancer (and beating it) she had a prescription for some pain pills (among other medications). I was usually the one who made the visit to the pharmacy (the Walgreens at May and 122nd). I don't recall any major roadblocks to acquiring the prescribed medications. All I had to do was to produce a valid Oklahoma driver's license and answer a couple of questions. I found it interesting that in order to get my blood pressure medication refilled a second time, I was required to make a visit to the doctor. Which was probably a good idea anyway. (btw: the pain meds were Oxycontin (sp?) and Morphine, two drugs with probably the strictest controls. go figure).

[RadicalModerate]

Corwin, if you click on the link at the very first post on this thread, there's an article from a news station in another state detailing this whole thing. Supposedly it's geared toward the people who are prescribed pain pills, but in my case it wasn't pain pills. Within that article, there's a place to click on the Walgreens policy. That's got all the detailed information, what the pharmacist is supposed to look for, what their options are, etc. It's quite disturbing.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that now I'm flagged as a problem child, even though I have done nothing wrong (this is from the linked article):

"If a Walgreens pharmacist refuses to fill your prescription for pain medication, that denial must now be entered into your online customer profile that can be seen by pharmacy staff at more than 8300 Walgreens nationwide. According to the GFD Policy, Walgreens pharmacists will also notify the US Drug Enforcement Administration that your prescription has been refused, and the pharmacy must maintain detailed documentation to justify the reason."

Lovely, isn't it?

"Totally Sucks" doesn't come close to describing that situation.
Welcome to The Brave New World. Your 'scrip' wasn't for Soma was it? In the novel, Soma was supposed to remove all care and anxiety. If this were the case, one could cut the irony here with a knife.

[turnpup]

^^^

Funny! Nope, not Soma. The way you describe it reminds me of Mother's Little Helper...now I'm going to have that song in my head all day. Oh well.

[easternobserver]

You need to complain to Walgreens corporate. She doesn't get to decide things like that, and chances are she'll be fired over that.

Them pharmacist absolutely gets to decide things like that. The pharmacist is the licensed professional, not the store manager or the corporate manager. If something about a prescription seems wrong, especially for a controlled substance, the law gives the pharmacist broad discretion to not fill the prescription. Period. Any corporate policy that said otherwise would be highly illegal.

[ljbab728]

Them pharmacist absolutely gets to decide things like that. The pharmacist is the licensed professional, not the store manager or the corporate manager. If something about a prescription seems wrong, especially for a controlled substance, the law gives the pharmacist broad discretion to not fill the prescription. Period. Any corporate policy that said otherwise would be highly illegal.

Of course corporate can certainly decide if the pharmacist is following the law correctly even if they are allowed to make that decision. A pharmacist can be wrong no matter what they are allowed to do and have to be answerable to someone for that.

[RadicalModerate]

Them pharmacist absolutely gets to decide things like that. The pharmacist is the licensed professional, not the store manager or the corporate manager. If something about a prescription seems wrong, especially for a controlled substance, the law gives the pharmacist broad discretion to not fill the prescription. Period. Any corporate policy that said otherwise would be highly illegal.

Does the law also give the pharmacist broad discretion to fill the prescription? Even if it is from an Osteopath? (DO) I have nothing against Osteopaths (nor Chiropractors), yet I'm still a bit offended about the time--back in the late '70s or early 80's--when I visited one (a Dr. Feelgood DO) out in the country and he looked at me, over his reading glasses, and, before I said a word to him, said: "No Preludes, No Quaaludes and No Diet Pills." I was only there to get a penicillin shot that someone told me would help to prevent some form of pneumonia that was going around. Geez. Talk about jumping to conclusions . . .

[turnpup]

Quick update—I sent my doctor the audio recording of the conversation with the pharmacy supervisor. To say he was livid would be an understatement. He immediately said he's going to file a complaint against her with the pharmacy board, and he's also going to complain to Walgreens corporate. He may have already spoken with corporate, because just a few hours after he told me this, I came home and noticed a missed call from Walgreens on our home phone. The number on the caller ID was from Arlington Heights, Illinois. Walgreens is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. Both Arlington Heights and Deerfield are part of the greater Chicago metro area and are only about 10 miles apart. No message was left, so I have no idea if it was a random coincidence or not.

[bombermwc]

Keep at it! This person deserves to be corrected! Not only did the manager totally misunderstand how the law works (and is intended to work), but I'm pretty sure she's violated about a dozen corporate policies by going out on her own like this.

Track records speak volumes, and I would almost bet that she has a complaints file already. These things don't generally come out of no where.

[fortpatches]

I know that Walgreens has shuttered a couple stores. But, at their 4400 NW 23rd location, they are shuttering the Pharmacy only, and leaving the rest of the store open.

Has anyone heard of them doing this before?

The letter I got in the mail did not indicate that this was a temporary arrangement. I wonder if it is in response to the Pharmacist walkouts that have happened due to the crummy working conditions. Does anyone have any more input on this?

[TheTravellers]

I know that Walgreens has shuttered a couple stores. But, at their 4400 NW 23rd location, they are shuttering the Pharmacy only, and leaving the rest of the store open.

Has anyone heard of them doing this before?

The letter I got in the mail did not indicate that this was a temporary arrangement. I wonder if it is in response to the Pharmacist walkouts that have happened due to the crummy working conditions. Does anyone have any more input on this?

Bet that's going to make the pharmacy at the one we go to on NW 23rd/May fairly unpleasant since I'd bet a lot of the customers will move to there.

[jn1780]

I know that Walgreens has shuttered a couple stores. But, at their 4400 NW 23rd location, they are shuttering the Pharmacy only, and leaving the rest of the store open.

Has anyone heard of them doing this before?

The letter I got in the mail did not indicate that this was a temporary arrangement. I wonder if it is in response to the Pharmacist walkouts that have happened due to the crummy working conditions. Does anyone have any more input on this?

I bet this is probably it. Just seems crazy that they would have a Walgreens without the Pharmacy. If anything this would be a prelude to a full store closing.

[fortpatches]

Bet that's going to make the pharmacy at the one we go to on NW 23rd/May fairly unpleasant since I'd bet a lot of the customers will move to there.

FYI, my letter stated that all pharmacy customers will be automatically transferred to the nearest Walgreens Pharmacy... the one on "5901 NW 39th St, Warr Acres, OK 73122" even though that one is 0.3mi further than the 23/May location.

[SEMIweather]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a locally-owned pharmacy in the core? Been meaning to move my recurring prescription from the Walgreens at NW 50th/May because they keep reducing the pharmacy hours at that store and the lines continue to get longer and longer as a result, but not sure where I should move it to. I don’t see a point in moving it to another Walgreens given that the entire company appears to be in a death spiral of some sort.

[Urbanized]

FYI, my letter stated that all pharmacy customers will be automatically transferred to the nearest Walgreens Pharmacy... the one on "5901 NW 39th St, Warr Acres, OK 73122" even though that one is 0.3mi further than the 23/May location.

It’s super easy for you to change to whichever Walgreens you prefer. Just tell your doctor where to send it. You can even do it yourself in the app if you refill/manage your prescriptions there.

[warreng88]

FYI, my letter stated that all pharmacy customers will be automatically transferred to the nearest Walgreens Pharmacy... the one on "5901 NW 39th St, Warr Acres, OK 73122" even though that one is 0.3mi further than the 23/May location.

We live two blocks from the 23rd and May location and all of our prescriptions go to the CVS at 50th and May as they have been faster, cheaper and nicer than the one at 23rd/May.

[Watermelonsugar]

Midtown drug is incredible! The owner is awesome. I switched from Walgreens a few months ago.