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I guess I've been lucky so far in the 4 years since I was dragged kicking and screaming onto the become a senior/get on meds merry-go-round.
I've never been shorted a pill. And I know that not because I count them upfront (I do make sure it looks reasonable for the count it is supposed to be), but because I keep detailed daily records of all medications taken - with notes made as to when I start a new bottle/pkg of anything. It has always been perfect. And I must say I'm a little surprised by that, since human error runs rampant in nearly everything humans touch.
I looked at my generic Oxycontin bottles today and yes, it says manufactured by Purdue pharma. The placebo effect is notoriously strong with pain medicines.
Myself and the other poster are not your customer that was stealing pills to make it look short. I actually know of a few people that would do that but with narcotics. We are 2 people posting here that have had pharmacists screw us. With mine, he could have an addiction; or he could be "selling what he takes" to pocket the money from the next customer that fills that script. In my case, he's probably got an OP habit. I don't know why the other pharmacist would short that type of medicine when I doubt they're able to even take the cash from the short sale.
I used to go to a Walgreens in another town. One time I got home to find half of a 10/325. The pill was obviously cut lengthwise in a counter or something on the manufacturers end. I called the pharmacy when I got home. The gal pharmacist was nasty and loud, accused me of taking that 1/2 of pill without even looking at it. It has cut marks, like a piece of wood would have from a saw. My cutter does one clean cut, it doesn't cut leaving a circular pattern.
I went back and showed the manager. She got a talking to. I was never once rude to her after she yelled at me and in fact I made like it never happened. She was obviously having a bad day. Normally she's pretty nice and was nice to me after that. I was happy, the manager took the cut pill and gave me a good one.
I can't even imagine being shorted 30 pills and not knowing until day 61! How horrible! It makes me wonder how many other people were shorted at that pharmacy. You have to wonder what that pharmacist got from shorting you a few pills here and there or the 30 pills. Is it an expensive prescription? Was it a small place where he could take money out of the register to pocket the money?
I assume that weights and measures comes at least once or twice a year to check the machine is accurate. They used to come to our gas station to make sure my dads pumps pumped a gallon of gas correctly. I'll have to ask Greg how often they come to check his pill counter.
Well, I have to say that this particular pharmacy was the only one I've ever used where I was treated that way, the Walgreens I have used been very helpful, professional and friendly- and I've never been shorted of medication anywhere except in this one place.
I can only think that the problems I encountered with this particular CVS pharmacy came about as a result of local pharmacy management issues, personnel indifference or maybe some incompetence thrown in, and lousy management. You may have heard of the old saying about not attributing to malice what can be attributed to mere incompetence, something like that. But whatever, this place was a doozy!
Like you, I'd generally give people the benefit of the doubt when a mistake has been made, but I do expect that mistake to be corrected, and I don't expect to be treated rudely when I point out an obvious error. And I will do my best not to be rude or insulting to others under any circumstances- I think we get more flies with honey, as the saying goes.
With my shorted prescriptions, I would notice at first that I'd run out of the pills a couple days before I should have, and then I started counting them at home about halfway through taking that batch, and finding there were a few less than there should have been. I figured no one would believe I'd been shorted at that point, so I'd wait till a renewal and mention then to be careful with the count as I'd been shorted in previous prescriptions. They denied that would ever happen, or brushed it off, but it continued to happen- not all the time, but on several occasions. That was when I felt the need to count the pills in front of the pharmacy techs when I picked up a prescription, and lo and behold I was missing 2 or 3 pills, and that was when the pharmacist commented that the gizmo they used to count pills must not have been calibrated, they'd give me the pills, but were rude and the pharmacist insulting when they did it.
The meds I got were for hypertension and/or control of a supraventricular tachycardia I've had for years, NOT opioids or other controlled substances, anti-anxiety, sedatives, or anything that might be desirable to others for the buzz or whatever it is they get from these drugs. So I can't think that anyone was sneaking a few pills out of my prescriptions for personal use, IMO it was just plain don't give a d@mn incompetence, or indifference that resulted in careless dispensation of drugs, when it occurred, and poor oversight by the management.
That incident when I was handed a 90 day prescription consisting of 60 pills ( with 30 pills removed) from a presealed 90 count bottle was the last straw, and that was so obviously a royal screwup I saw it when I picked it up. The 90 count printed on the bottle had been crossed out, and the number 120 handwritten over it. Then that was crossed out, and the number 90 handwritten over that. And the count was 60, not 90. Hard to guess where in LaLa land the pharmacist who dispensed that medication came from, perhaps she was trying to "multitask", I'd speculate worse explanations, but we will leave it at that. I asked for the pharmacist ( who absolutely hated me at this point, and the feeling was mutual) handed him the bottle, and asked him to explain that. He tried a few ridiculous excuses, then tried to tell me it couldn't be an error because the pharmacist who had filled this was "one of his best"-.
Well, the messup was so blatantly obvious ( and being witnessed by other customers who couldn't believe it either) that he had to acknowledge it and refill that prescription with another- with a prepackaged 90 count bottle).
The pharmacist was again rude and insulting, and IIRC he did tell me he never wanted to see me in his store again- well, at that point, I ROFLED and told him I had no plans to ever return, especially if I wanted to keep my hypertension under control- a hard task with the number of times I had to go without my meds due to being shortchanged by him and his minions.
And that's when I switched my prescriptions to Walgreens, wrote a letter to the CVS corporate headquarters and filed a complaint with the Florida Board of Pharmacy outlining my experiences at this place.
I guess I've been lucky so far in the 4 years since I was dragged kicking and screaming onto the become a senior/get on meds merry-go-round.
I've never been shorted a pill. And I know that not because I count them upfront (I do make sure it looks reasonable for the count it is supposed to be), but because I keep detailed daily records of all medications taken - with notes made as to when I start a new bottle/pkg of anything. It has always been perfect. And I must say I'm a little surprised by that, since human error runs rampant in nearly everything humans touch.
LOL, I'm now on that senior meds merry go round too. And I can also say I've not been shorted any pills since that fiasco I experienced at that CVS. Not even one time since then, and I've picked up a lot of prescriptions, some including 180 or even 270 pills. I have counted them at home on occasion, but none have been short. Glad to see it.
A few years ago I had a doctor who told me that the manufacturers are allowed to vary a certain % from the exact formula. I don't remember what that percentage was offhand, but that dr told me she thought it was too much. The generics do vary from the brand and each generic varies from every other generic.
Also, the generics come in different colors and they can have different fillers. People are sensitive to artificial colors and other ingredients.
Anyway, yesterday I went to Walgreens to let them know that the first 20 pills they had given me were the generic that doesn't work for me. (They had to order the rest of them and those turned out to be the generic that does work.) I thought maybe they could make a note of it but the pharmacist said there's no place in the computer to put that. All I can do is to tell them every time I order a refill. And my strategy will be to call long enough beforehand so that if they don't have it, they can order the right generic. That is, if they're allowed to designate. This is really getting out of hand: people not getting the correct number of pills so they run out, the store not being able to specify which generic they need, understaffing, etc.
Walgreens is LYING to you because the Walgreens near me can keep track of anything they want in the computer and based on the looks of hatred I get when I walk in, they have certainly made some notes on me. They are trying to discourage you going through (or really putting them through) the trouble of ordering. And the pharmacist on this thread said that if the generic that works costs more, they don't make a profit. I HATE Walgreens and if there was anything else closer than 20 miles, I would switch in a second.
I looked at my generic Oxycontin bottles today and yes, it says manufactured by Purdue pharma. The placebo effect is notoriously strong with pain medicines.
They can make placebo pills in different colors with all inert ingredients and if they're not the same, they don't feel the same to all the patients. Your stamp can come off the same assembly line and have the same stamp, but that doesn't mean it has all the same ingredients, or in the same amount.
They can make placebo pills in different colors with all inert ingredients and if they're not the same, they don't feel the same to all the patients. Your stamp can come off the same assembly line and have the same stamp, but that doesn't mean it has all the same ingredients, or in the same amount.
As a doctor once told me, "Two people can bake a cake using the same recipe but the two cakes won't necessarily be the same."
LOL, I'm now on that senior meds merry go round too. And I can also say I've not been shorted any pills since that fiasco I experienced at that CVS. Not even one time since then, and I've picked up a lot of prescriptions, some including 180 or even 270 pills. I have counted them at home on occasion, but none have been short. Glad to see it.
Can't say that I'm surprised to hear that about CVS. Out here, they bought out Longs stores to enter this market and I can't think of a single good thing to say about what they've done to them. There are several competitors that are better in every way. Including, of course, GoodRx drug prices. On Telmisartan 80 mg 90 days, for example, CVS is 4 times Safeway's price.
Can't say that I'm surprised to hear that about CVS. Out here, they bought out Longs stores to enter this market and I can't think of a single good thing to say about what they've done to them. There are several competitors that are better in every way. Including, of course, GoodRx drug prices. On Telmisartan 80 mg 90 days, for example, CVS is 4 times Safeway's price.
Well, I can't dump all CVS pharmacies into the same category as that one where I experienced all the shortchanging and other issues, but I have to admit the experience sure has soured me on the brand.
My husband uses the CVS in the small town we live in and he's been happy with their services. But I'll stick with the Walgreens I use down the road from the CVS.
As I understand it, drug prices vary not only among different pharmacies, but also among the same pharmacy chains in different locations.
Well, I can't dump all CVS pharmacies into the same category as that one where I experienced all the shortchanging and other issues, but I have to admit the experience sure has soured me on the brand.
My husband uses the CVS in the small town we live in and he's been happy with their services. But I'll stick with the Walgreens I use down the road from the CVS.
As I understand it, drug prices vary not only among different pharmacies, but also among the same pharmacy chains in different locations.
4 times higher is not a legitimate variance - it is gouging. I don't know know where you are in Florida, but I just input Miami and CVS gouges to the same degree there....with the only difference being that you don't have Safeway there, so Winn-Dixie has the lowest price and CVS is 3.28 times higher.
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