I am someone with a degenerative spinal disease, so I suffer from chronic pain. In the past I have had trouble getting CVS to fill legitimate prescriptions for pain killers. They would claim that my doctor had not submitted the proper forms to my insurance company or that the insurance company had rejected the claim. I would go along with this, and usually after 2 to 3 days, my prescription would be filled. This caused unnecessary stress, but I had planned my refills correctly and had become used to it. Recently, I had major back surgery. While in the hospital, I received a text from CVS telling me that they would not fill my doctor's prescription for pain relievers because I did not have pre approval from my insurance company. At the time, my pain was tremendous without pain killers. What I did not know at the time was that my pain was going to get worse before it was going to get better due to surgery, which is why the doctor was sending me home with stronger pain killers than the ones that had been prescribed by my pain management doctor. The idea of going home from the hospital without pain relievers was unacceptable, and to top it off, the idea that the insurance company would not cover a $42 bottle off pills on discharge of over $100,000 of insurance was absurd. So, I called CVS. The first person I spoke with told me that they needed to get pre approval and would fax my doctor the forms on Monday and then it would take 2 to 3 working days to fill the prescription. I explained that this was ridiculous and that I was in the hospital and everything that I already stated. He said that I could pay cash for the prescription. I said, "Great, I will do that and you can reimburse me once the pre-approval comes in." He said they couldn't do that. I said that's bullshit. I have already been preapproved, and you very well know that. I needed CVS to fill my prescription. I could not imagine going home from the hospital without adequate pain meds, so I worked my way through the initial guy who answered to another guy, and finally to a guy who claimed to be the manager. None of them were accommodating. Their explanations were inconsistent, and they all lacked basic customer service training. They blamed my doctor, my insurance company,... everyone except for themselves. The "manager" even started to tell me about the time he had surgery. I shut that down quickly and told him to do their faxing and whatever and that I would pick up my prescription in 2 to 3 business days. My nurse said that another patient had had a similar experience with CVS, and that my doctor would help me out upon discharge. Upon discharge, my doctor said that there is preapproval and to let the CVS prescription run its course and pick it up in 3 days. He wrote me another prescription for a 3 day supply of the same pain meds. I took it across the street from the hospital to Vons, showed them my insurance card, and Vons filled it for no charge to me. 3 days passed, and I called CVS. They told me that I had not been preapproved, and they would not fill my prescription. I called up my insurance company and discovered that had been approved from the very beginning, and they could not explain why CVS would not fill my prescription. So, I called my doctor, had him cancel the CVS prescription and call a new prescription to a nearby independent pharmacy, and the prescription was filled for no cost to me. I have since transferred all my prescriptions to the independent pharmacy. They are much nicer and easier to deal with and even had the humanity to recognize that the reason I was in need of their pharmaceutical services was because I was suffering. I do not know why CVS lied to me and would not fill my prescription. They are a very large corporation who does not need my business. I think it was very unfair of them to put me through all this stress immediately after being discharged from the hospital, but obviously, they don't care. read more
