Has anyone else ever been shorted medications, and been told you were a liar? Well that happened to me today when I spoke with pharmacy staff. Later I asked to speak with the manger before I filed a complaint with the Montana Department of Labor and Industry of pharmaceuticals, she wasn't in so I left a message and said I would come in around 5 to discuss my concerns. I was called about three hours later by the pharmacist at Cole Drug, who apologized very sincerely. He stated a mistake was made and I was able to get the rest of my medication.
I picked up my medication. Before I left I wanted to count the rest of my medication in front of the store manager. She told me I was throwing a temper tantrum because I was very emotional and upset. Remind you, I was upset because this was a scheduled drug and I would not have been able to get another prescription. She continued to berate me and tell me they pharmacy was hurting because there books would state they were short the medication and I should be lucky to get the rest at all.
I work in health care, have friends that work in the pharmaceutical world. I also spoke with Labor and Industry again about policy. They all said yes, their books would be off because it was counted wrong, however, the inventory shouldn't match up with the books because scheduled drugs are counted and documented very carefully and have much higher standards than non scheduled medications.
All I wanted to say to the manager was that if this ever happened again, please take the customer or patient seriously. (Mainly because I was told this happened to a few other customers of Cole Drug who didn't contact outside help). Medications are prescribed to help you. When I told her about the fact this has happened to other people, in her words she stated "yea but they were not scheduled medications" as if to shame me. I told her it did not matter whether a medication shorted was scheduled or not. Unfortunately, this manager would not take accountability, unlike the pharmacist did, which I greatly appreciate.
I will still work with the Montana Labor and Industry who will follow up with the practicing standards of this pharmacy. It will take months as I was told by the compliance officer, but I have never been treated so badly by any other pharmacy/customer service facility EVER. I want to make sure this doesn't happen to another patron. Also, I have never been yelled at by a manger at a facility when all I wanted was for them to be aware they should take these inquires seriously. This was a fail, it only ended in an unnecessary argument and being told I should take my business elsewhere if I didn't like how they did things.
Disclaimer: this has never happened to me at Cole Drug or any other pharmacy. Every one I have ever come in contact with Cole Drug has been nothing but nice until today. My problem was the way it was handled. My suggestion to anyone who fills their medications, at any pharmacy, count them in front of staff before you leave. read more
