So I was just hung up on by a pharmaceutical technician when I called to ask why my son's medications were shorted. His behavior is night and day difference on and off medication, and years ago I noticed that some days he would be spacing out and others he would be restless even though he took the same pill at the same time every day. One day I saw the capsules in the light and there were different levels, so I bought a pharmaceutical grade scale (down to 0.001mg accuracy) and made sure it was calibrated, then did a quality control check on his meds. For a 15mg prescription, what was inside those capsules usually ranged from 12mg-18mg which would explain the shifts in reactions to his meds since as little as 3-5mg changed the reaction and I didn't want him overdosing especially.
Normally I am one of those types that believes the best intentions unless direct evidence is brought forth, but I'm not gullible. It could be a machine glitched or a tech was still training, right? So in the past I would painstakingly make sure that all were 15mg and as a result his behavior leveled off. Problem solved. Today for his 15mg prescription I saw 10.6mg, 10.2mg, 7.6mg again and again 5-8mg less which is a big deal for his stability and the fact that we are paying for more than we're getting, which is upsetting. I called to ask what could have caused this shortage and they did say it was filled by hand by the pharmacist - not a technician, but was told a customer couldn't possibly know what they were talking about... Firstly I'm not stupid and I'm not talking anything overly complicated. It is weighing a single medication to check and make sure the numbers are the same and they're not - by a lot!! So she was rude, dismissive and hung up on me after *they* made a mistake with medication, the latter of which is a very serious deal!
I will calibrate my scale *again* and if I'm wrong I will delete this review, but if I'm right I'm contacting corporate. If they are done by hand and it is this far off during a shortage, it's hard not to wonder if someone is skimming or trying to stretch medications when they should just say "we don't have enough to fill this prescription." While frustrating, I can respect that more than deception. Double check your meds, especially if you find their efficacy is variable or unpredictable.
I would only give one star, but until today they have been neutral or friendly in customer service. But shorting prescriptions is a big deal and the way they handled it was wrong. read more