Sarah Hyland was born with a condition called kidney dysplasia, which is when the kidneys do not form properly in utero. She’s had multiple surgeries because of it and received a kidney transplant from her father five years ago. Hyland is making headlines for her tweet calling out CVS for not having her prescription ready by closing. It was a one-off prescription for antibiotics, suggesting she has some kind of infection and needs to be treated as soon as possible. TooFab reports that Hyland may have needed dialysis if she didn’t get the medicine on time. (She possibly tweeted this but I didn’t see that particular tweet.) What’s more is that CVS promised they would call Hyland and have the prescription ready by closing but no one did this until after closing and she was left to wait until the morning to get her medicine. She tweeted this about it:
Hey @cvspharmacy when you tell a kidney transplant recipient that her medication will be ready before you close and that you will notify her when it's ready to be picked up. FUCKING DO IT BEFORE YOU CLOSE. PEOPLE LIKE ME CANT AFFORD TO GO WITHOUT MEDICATION. 🖕🏼
— Sarah Hyland (@Sarah_Hyland) December 19, 2017
Hyland went on to explain that they were antibiotics, that she needed them and that she wasn’t informed before closing time, which was misleadingly listed online as 10pm when the pharmacy closes an hour earlier, at 9pm. I’ll let Page Six take over from here instead of embedding tweets:
A follower tactfully suggested Hyland try out a delivery service instead of running to the pharmacy for refills. “Antibiotics that were called in today. Which my Dr. had to call in multiple times because they claimed they never received them,” she responded.
She claims she called at 9:02 p.m. and was told it’s closed despite the hours of operation being listed at 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“Also @CVSPharmacy maybe put the correct time you close on the internet,” she added. “Just a suggestion from a long time customer who needs medication for the rest of her life.”
After that someone from CVS did call Hyland, but only after she had to deal with a-holes on the Internet calling her out for her privilege and hubris in assuming her debilitating health issue was important. In response she recorded a video defending herself and saying she had told the CVS representative other stories she’d been tweeted about people not being able to have access to their medicine due to CVS’s errors. In case you can’t watch the video, here’s most of what she said:
“I would really, really appreciate it if you would all stop telling me to be [sic] an irresponsible, privileged millennial, because that is everything that I am not, so f-ck you.
“Also, I would like to say that someone from CVS called me last night. That is probably a privilege because I am verified on Twitter, but I didn’t just tell him my story, I read him tweet after tweet after tweet of everyone that told me their story, whether it was insurance wouldn’t cover your asthma medication, whether it was they calling in a prescription and you had to wait three weeks for transplant medications for your wife, I read every story that I wrote on Twitter to him, to show him that this wasn’t just a regional thing, that it wasn’t just this location, that it was a nationwide issue with CVS and he needs to go to corporate and tell them what I have told them
“I would also like to say for everyone else who has dealt with CVS problems, I feel your pain. Thank you so much for reaching out and telling me yours so that I don’t feel like a crazy person. You guys are sweet and awesome. I’m also just in a bad mood because I’m in a lot of pain. So call me a b-tch, I really don’t f-cking care.”
[From Twitter via TooFab]
I get that she’s in pain, she needed her meds and CVS told her they would have them but didn’t follow through. That’s got to be incredibly frustrating and it sounds like this is an issue for CVS. Twitter is a cesspool though, there are always going to be people who will be insulting and nasty, especially to celebrities, even about something that affects their health like this. My local CVS is decent but I live in a small town and I remember the delays and difficulties I had filling prescriptions at CVS and Walgreens when I lived in a metropolitan area. It really depends on the pharmacy I think, and many people on Twitter are encouraging people to try local pharmacies instead of chains. Maybe she just helped a lot of people by bringing awareness to this. It’s possible CVS will try to address it with new policies and procedures, but I doubt it.
Here’s Hyland’s video and it does have the f word in it.
Please do not assume. It only makes an ASS out of U and Me. @cvspharmacy has been notified of all your issues. Not just mine. pic.twitter.com/TuNm0QJwRh
— Sarah Hyland (@Sarah_Hyland) December 20, 2017
photos credit: WENN.com
My BFF goes through the same thing at her local CVS. She’s been taking the same drug for years. She gets them from the same store and yet, it’s a running joke with us that she has to call 2-3 days before she’s out to get her meds. She’s about 50/50 on them having it even with the extra notice.
My husband is a pharmacist at local hospital. I think what most people don’t know is that there are many, many drugs shortages in America. Many drugs are perpetually on backorder. In many cases, only 1-2 factories in the USA make the drug. It’s fairly common for pharmacies to run out of drugs and be unable to order more quickly. They often have to locate a nearby pharmacy to have it delivered. Often, the pharmacist has to call the doctor to have them change the prescription to a similar drug that they do have. (They also do this if the drug your doctor prescribed isn’t covered by your insurance. Many people don’t notice when they do this — but they are doing you a huge favor and you may not even know it). Anyways, thank your pharmacist the next time you see them. They are doing a lot behind the scenes .
FYI, this does’t happen in European counties. If England does’t have an antibiotic, they just buy some from Greece and slap an English label on it. The USA is screwed up and the FDA won’t allow that. So, more reasons the USA kinda sucks.
After being an in-patient pharmacy technician, I trust pharmacists more than doctors most of the time.
Agreed. You wouldn’t believe how many drugs and medical supplies are on shortage right now due to the hurricane in Puerto Rico. Flagyl, one of the main antibiotics for colon diseases, is on a shortage because of that and it’s a fight to get anytime it’s needed.
This happens in European countries. This happens nearly everywhere. Meaning the shortage. Not the topic of not being informed.
Personally, this has happened to me too. Twice. Once for antibiotics. Once for my rescue inhaler.
Whoa, wait. The UK gets medications from a potentially less regulated (let’s face it, it’s Greece) pharmaceuticals market, “slaps an English label on it,” and…this is a good thing? Frankly, I’m very happy to know that, when I go to CVS to get my life-saving medications, that the FDA has regulations in place preventing my pharmacist from ordering in a bunch of counterfeit shit from Tijuana and “slapping on a label” to make them look legit. That’s actually kinda why the US doesn’t suck…at least in this area…
Enny, I just made up two countries in my example. But yes, from my understanding most EU (or, I guess, formerly EU) countries could buy drugs from each other. I’m sure it’s more complex than I’m making it out to be and that they regulate it pretty well.
The FDA pretends this rule is for regulation purposes, but it’s done largely to prevent competition. I’m sure Canada’s drugs are fine, you know?
So they intentionally run up shortages to jack up prices? This is a multi-trillion dollar industry, but there are only a few places that manufacture medication?
@ Enny
You realize the EU regulations (which Greece is governed by) is significantly more strict than FDA regulations right? As in there are several things that are approved to sell in US but is considered unsafe in the EU?
Contracted C Diff last year,was called by my MD and told Vancomycin was called to my pharmacy,and of course begin taking immediately.Went to pick it up and they said they wouldn’t have it for 24-48 hours.Cannot understand why some antibiotics are not even in stock and have to be ordered.The medical system in the US is often lacking.
AV
Yes.
And just wait until the CVS pharmacy of Aetna health insurance fully gets moving.
What could go wrong?
Um yeah, the FDA is a joke. I don’t trust them anymore then any other big business that’s only in it for the money.
From what I have seen, CVS is chronically understaffed as a business model. They know people are limited in their pharmacy choices, so they don’t care about the quality of service they provide.
With CVS merging with Aetna, with Express Scripts being both pharmacy and insurance carrier, service is just going to get worse. No competition.
My mom has used Target pharmacy for almost ten years. They sold out to CVS and my mom had to switch services. But my cousin, a breast cancer survivor, has always used CVS and loves it.
@AV, Big Pharma is the problem. I put them up there with the NRA for their corruptive tactics. There was a story the other day of an old med used for glaucoma, which is extremely effective for people with intermittent paralysis, and how the cost was manipulated. Although it was dirt cheap as a glaucoma med, Big Pharma resubmitted it for paralysis treatment and was able to jack up the price tremendously, as well as gain the seven year restrictions on generics.
After horrible publicity, the drug company then stated they would simply give the med for free. That lasted until they sold out the drug to a new company. New company is charging $1,000 a month. So it went from free to outrageously expensive, and it’s outside most people’s ability to pay. Prepare for it to get much, much worse as the Republicans continue to dismantle Obamacare, and work on behalf of their cronies in Big Pharma.
My mom currently uses a mail order service, OptimumRx. She has been receiving her meds for mostly free, with a few costing $50 each/per three months. Out of the blue today, almost all of the meds will now cost, which will probably triple what she’s currently paying.
it’s easy and popular t say the us sucks. the fda regulates drugs from overseas because many of them are counterfeit, yes, including countries like greece.
Babykitten
So horribly accurate! It’s rage inducing! Meds can often have multiple uses. Sometimes more effective in ways they’re not marketed for. And many, many times a med’s patent will be up. Cheaper generics around the corner. And 1 component that might not be relevant to the drugs effectiveness will be altered. Just enough to keep hold a patent and make sure your only choice for possibly life saving meds will be with them at whatever cost they choose.
Rage. And this is not even a scratch on the surface.
Babykitten, I’m glad that your mother has had a good experience with OptumRX, but I’d suggest that she – along with anyone else forced to use them – get a notebook and keep track of every interaction/conversation/agent name and so forth. Optum is our pharmacy provider, and I haven’t done home delivery in 4 years because their sloppiness and incompetence makes it an endurance trial just to complete an order.
It’s especially disgusting because I worked for a healthcare industry entrepreneur once, who incidentally also tried to launch a pharmacy biz. That’s the heart of these life-and-death operations: not doctors, not pharmacists, not public health professionals, not even skilled businesspeople with adequate checks and balances on them. Just a couple of greedy schmucks with a box of resume stationery from OfficeMax and a boat show model in a lab coat.
It’s not hard to figure out why U.S. healthcare is such a mess – too many pigs at the trough.
@ENNY Greece has strict regulations when it has to do with drugs, get your facts straight and your comment is ignorant and insulting…
I get my meds through CVS (that’s who my insurance is contracted with), and they are AWFUL. I always call in early, only to be told that “you’re not due for 4 days, or 3 days, etc.). So, I’ll tell them to fill it and put it through on the correct day, but nope, won’t do it. And when it *is* filled (I signed up for text alerts) I call, and they *say* it’s ready, but i get there and it’s still not ready! Or they “can’t find it”, or it’ll still take an hour, and to “be patient”. I’m so fed up with them, but I can’t go anywhere else without having to pay the whole thing out of pocket.
My mom used Target pharmacy until they sold out to CVS, and for ten years they were a perfectly oiled machine. They had the same pharmacists and pharmacy tech and they gave very individualized service, as well as color coded bottles to distinguish amongst family members. It’s all over now.
CVS is merging with Aetna. Prepare for their failings to become 1,000 times WORSE.
same experience with cvs! always had a much much better experience with walgreens
I live in a fairly well populated area, I use Walgreens, I’ve had problems over the years with certain pharmacies, but for the most , I make dayum sure that if a prescription isn’t ready when they say, it will be an issue they will not enjoy. Don’t mess around with people’s health. I don’t bother with CVS anymore, though.
P.s. I really love 24 hour pharmacies. Always go with them if possible. Almost never disappointing. And always confirm your meds are in stock ahead of time and sign up for text alerts and automatic renewal. I minimize problems big time that way, as well.
This happens to me all the time at Walgreens – it’s not just a CVS issue. I have asthma inhalers and other meds I need on an monthly basis that are not ready, on back order, etc. You have to be really prepared and organized when you rely on certain medications. Also, the fact that a drug is not covered by insurance has nothing to do with the pharmacy’s fault – take that up with your insurance, and vote for state and federal congress members & executive leadership who aren’t in the back pocket of the drug companies (which is probably like, NONE of them). I think pharmacies are completely overwhelmed – although that’s not an excuse to not have scripts ready and to indicate correct hours on your website.
Audi, find a really well managed pharmacy with knowledgeable staff, even if it’s a little further, and use them. Or, as some people say, the independently run smaller pharmacies really give more personal attention and are on top of things.
Lol wasn’t there a time when becoming a pharmacist required a lengthy degree?
In Australia every pharmacy has most drugs. It’s a ten minute wait. No bullshit calling ahead.
I lie- once, I was at a regional (2 hours from Sydney) pharmacy and they asked me to come back the next day.
That said, I’m sure we have less on offer (pretty sure we don’t have the stuff that has a 30 sec add with 4 minutes of “may cause anal bleeding….” also- prescription brand drugs can’t advertise- wasn’t always that way but some health regulation got that sh*t shut DOWN) but you guys should be marching in the streets over this. This is Soviet Union Bread Line crap. GET ON IT.
You are right. It is wrong. Our government needs an overhaul on every level and contrary what people who squawk about deregulation have been brainwashed to believe by greedy people, regulation puts a stop to a lot of this pharma gaming.
My CVS is terrible. People steal products. For example, taking half the icy hots out of the package and you get it home and only 3 of 6 are in it. Then you bring it back and the employee interrogates you for a half hour. Prescriptions are late all the time. Like serious ones like anti depressants and birth control. You’ll have auto refill and they forgot to refill until you show up and it’s not there. But I think it’s the area and management. The other larger CVS about 10 minutes down the road seems fine most of the time.
Agree with everything you say here. My boyfriend has crippling depression and bipolar disorder, and if he runs out of his meds, he ends up spending days unable to get out of bed. We have to have the prescription sent over at least five days before he runs out to make sure they will have it on time. It’s ugly when they don’t.
ENNY, Greece and UK have the exact same standards in medication manufacturing due to EU legislation. In fact, Greece has some of the top pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities (checked and monitored by EMA etc so better educate yourself before you feel the need to leave your precious opinion in the world.
@BBA I totally agree (like, why pick on Greece of all places?) . Here in the states, though, the bigger chains (CVS, Walgreens, Walmart) will always buy generics from the cheapest vendor. I have received anti – anxiety medication from a pharmacy in w/its headquarters in China. For a long while my Generic Wellbutrin was from Teva-an Israeli company, which ended up being pulled from the market here in the US due to lack of efficacy. Though, for the most part, I think the FDA is a joke, and would be willing to believe Europe gets better quality generics. Shortages, though, from what I understand, can happen anywhere. I can also believe that is the result of big pharma, in a bid to drive up prices. My psychiatrist says, quality wise, you’re usually better off going to smaller pharmacies. Blue Cross/Blue Shield FL recently took CVS of their list of recommended pharmacies due to quality control issues and the number of complaints they have received regarding their practices.
???
Lirko, I have a friend who works for a pharmaceutical company here. He told me that some generic drugs can be up to 40% less effectivethan brand name. That in itgself is pretty damned scary, as insurance MAKES you take the generic unless you want to spend a huge sum out of pocket.
@lmqrious2 I cannot tell you what a relief it is to, straight up, hear that from an “insider”. What drives me nuts is when you mention this to the pharmacists, they have their spiel down pat-how the generics have to go through a rigorous testing process by the FDA before they’re allowed on market. Well, I can tell you, as a patient, the differences can be absolutely noticeable, as in, “Hey-that new generic you gave me last month did NOTHING for my anxiety attacks-FACT.” But, they’ll still look you straight in the eye and basically imply that “it’s all in your head.” Pfft…
SO, taking matters into my own hands, I started a journal to keep track which generics worked best for me. This resulted in me driving around town, utilizing different pharmacies, which I’m willing to do (you know, bc I NEED my meds to work-that’s kind of the whole point!).
I eventually had a Walgreens pharmacist confront me about this (perfectly legal) practice in an accusatory tone-like I was somehow being nefarious getting my meds from different pharmacies. I let him know, I did not appreciate his implications, and that, if his pharmacy focused more on quality generics as opposed to their bottom line, I would gladly purchase them all from Walgreens, as it is a 5 min drive from my home. That shut him up!
Thank you, so much, for your post! It’s nice to hear you really aren’t crazy, you know?
Thanks, Lirko…I so agree!
Happy holidays!
@BBA, I’ve lived in the EU. I’ve also lived in the US. I’ve filled prescriptions around the world, and I have a law degree. I’m pretty sure my “precious opinion” on this subject is just as valid as anyone else’s.
@lirko- appreciate what you do. My mom went on a downward spiral from a cocktail of drugs prescribed to her to help treat her bipolar. She had a hard period to watch and I worry she is in a similar place 10 years later, she tries to reduce her reluctance on meds and sometimes I get scared
Listen, when you have people behind the counter, answering phones, and restocking, taking home a minimum wage pay-check, do you think they care? Why would they try to be a good employee? They have their own problems. We want awesome service from everyone, but we don’t want to pay for it.
She got frustrated, and called them out for not having her prescription. In my opinion, she should have called them out for not paying for quality employees, that would care about her, and anyones, medication.
Pharmacists are not minimum wage employees. Also, as a prescriber, CVS is awful for me and for patients. I’m delighted they’re getting bad press.
Agreed! CVS has been ridiculous for me as a patient and a prescriber. Glad I’m not the the only one.
I was thinking…aren’t pharmacistsmaking no less than $60 starting? Please give a damn
People in the pharmacy area are not paid minimum wage, far from it.
Wait are you saying the PHARMACISTS at CVS make minimum wage? That doesn’t seem accurate to me. The floor staff/cashiers sure, but not the pharmacy?!
Pharmacy technicians make about 8-10$ hourly.Pharmacists in retail make anywhere from 36$hourly up to six figure salaries.
The pharmacist fills the prescription and moves on to the next one. The beleaguered counter staff have to answer phones, manage the drive through, and help customers, make calls etc…
I’ve watched pharm techs fill scripts. The pharmacist will do consults. Pull pills off the shelves. Paperwork. Set up a station for the techs to just assemble.
The answer phones. Make sure there’s no conflict with whomever has issued the script with other scripts. Etc…
And it varies state by state. Establishment to establishment who physically fills your pill bottles.
It’s a messy system that most don’t know how it works.
Florc- if the techs rather than the pharmacist are filling the prescriptions, that can be a major problem. The pharmacist is a specialized chemist and has training way beyond a tech, and the attitude is very different. More is on the line for the pharmacist also. There are individual techs who are certainly exceptions, but even when they are careful they do lack the extra knowledge the pharmacist has to spot potential problems. I see this with vet techs also, and learned from very sad experience to always insist on talking directly with the vet when getting instructions for post-op care. Knowledge and experience matter. Techs, sincere animal lovers though they may be, tend to think they know more than they do, with disastrous results sometimes.
I also took chem labs with many med tech students, and they had a strong tendency to be sloppy (the fires always seemed to occur around them..) and some would just make up the numbers. I went to high school with one of them, and although she was a very nice person and I liked her – I was appalled at the prospect of her being responsible for important medical tests that could mean life or death. She meant well, but just wasn’t careful enough by nature. A friend at another college reported the same experience. There can be fraudulent slobs with advanced degrees also, but there was a very disturbing stronger trend with the med techs. The less intensive degree might just attract the less careful types for some reason.
There is good reason why modern analytical work tries to be so automated that it’s hard to mess up with human error, but errors still occur at an alarming rate. This is why I always suggest at least using two (preferably three) separate labs for any medical testing that is crucial. When the American Chemical Society periodically sends out known samples for analysis to various labs to test the labs, the error rate is that bad.
@jwoolman
You are very right about labs. Our doctors insist on individual labs for different tests, and that was how I learned what you just said. It never occurred to me before.
Someone I know was feeling tired all the time and had her thyroid checked, and it was normal from one lab, years later after feeling sick and gaining 30 pounds she switched to a new doctor, and this doctor did a full panel with a new lab, and she is hypothyroid and anemic.
That is pure B.S.. If you are paid to do a job, you do it! I don’t care how much you get an hour. No one feels like they are earning enough for what they do, and I agree a lot aren’t, but the bottom line is that is your job! I am so sick of people using that as an excuse to be lazy!!!!!! 😐😐😐
Exactly! When I worked in a high stress job where the workload was crazy and I was paid basically a little above minimum wage I still did the work. I had to, it was my job.
Also, my cousin is a pharmacist at Walmart and she gets paid very very well by she does work crazy hours.
I don’t think a pharmacist, filling a one-off antibiotic prescription, is making minimum wage. They honestly have one job; filling prescriptions. She may be on lifelong antibiotics. She may have a UTI. The point is, CVS is in the Med filling business. They should be able to do that ONE THING without jeopardizing people’s health.
Uh, pharmacists are professionals, like dentists and lawyers. They have to complete a four year graduate program in order to become a pharmacist. They make salaries and have enviable jobs.
Yes sometime in the past 10 years it moved from a master’s to a PhD level certification, at least in the US. I think fewer years of education are required in Canada, but the pharmacists I’ve used here seem to be just as knowledgeable.
Yes, Puerto Rico has provided many prescription medications and the hurricane knocked out is manufacturing capacity. When the Republicans neglected to aid the island’s recovery, they hurt not only the people of the island, but all the millions of Americans supported by its advanced drug-manufacturing industry.
Puerto Rico is not just some backwater.
Yes ,I inquired about entering the pharmacist program at my local university,it’s very competitive and you now must complete a doctorate program no longer just bachelors degree level.
Try 8 years.
We’re doctors of pharmacology.
Also- we’re in the business of filling prescriptions (& listening to people drone on about nonsense, give vaccinations, counsel patients, & a million other things with minimal budgeted hours).
If we get them from the doctor, we’ll try to fill it (insurance/c2/c3 regulations permitting). Doctors offices routinely say they’ve called something in when they haven’t yet for various reasons (the doctor hasn’t signed off on it yet, etc.).
It sounds like Hyland didn’t do anything wrong besides NOT listen to the automated hours of operation every time she calls. She’s just frustrated.
The store I work at opens an hour after the front store, & closes an hour before. It was a change that was implemented a year & a half ago.
Everything about this is irritating the hell out of me. Thats all I’m going to say.
Desertreal
Those are my thoughts too. She was frustrated from not being aware of the hours.
She made an assumption. Yes, partial blame to the staff for being slow to fill the script. Or maybe they were extremely busy and couldn’t fill it within the hours of operation.
Some is hindsight to say she should have called as the day went on and made them aware the antibiotics were in need.
Hope others realize it’s partially on them to be proactive.
This isnt her fault. We should just all be proactive and educate ourselves.
Retail pharmacists are paid exceptionally well compared to clinical and hospital pharmacists. The problem is the workload is intense. Depending on the region, they can easily go through thousands of prescriptions a day. And places like CVS continuously cut back on costs for staffing by reducing the number of pharmacy technicians (that’s who actually fills your meds, by the way, and they’re underpaid in most places), placing more of the workload on a pharmacist – who is only human at the end of the day. Calling out CVS is just fine in this case because she’s targeting the corporation and not the people overwhelmed in the pharmacy.
^ this – a good friend is a pharmacist. She was at a grocery store chain for 5 years. She was SUPER well-paid, but extremely overworked and stressed, and was always dealing with addicts trying to scam the system while the grocery store was cutting pharmacy staff.
She recently obtained a position at a college pharmacy. I think she’s making 1/3-1/2 to what she was making at the grocery store (and she’s still making $$$), but the hours are a lot more reasonable.
My BFF is a pharmacist too, and she worked at a small local chain for a few years – in a huge senior citizen community. The workload was insane. She transitioned out of that into the development side of the industry and is much happier.
If a company promises something that day, especially something serious like medications, they need to fulfill it before they close, or if they can’t, notify the patient ASAP so they can go elsewhere. This sounds like an ongoing problem with CVS, and I’m glad Sarah took the opportunity and her privilege of having someone call her to share not just her story but those of many others.
Pharm techs: the one entering the Rx in system, counting pills, at cashier; they are not the Pharmasist and make little more than retail jobs.
Not everyone behind the counter has a PharmD.
Absolutely and that really sucks. I knew some real idiots that were techs also and it scared me that they were filling meds, compounding, IV cocktails, etc. But, yeah, the person filling your med does NOT make much money and it IS hard work.
On the same note, if you aren’t filling my medicine by when I need it and it messes with my health that can NOT be compromised any more. Hell no. Notify the customer.
They do make a lot less than a pharmacist. But I had looked into both programs at one point. A pharmacist is paying WAY more to get their degrees than the pharmacy tech is. A pharmacy tech can often go to something like a community college and save a ton of money, while a pharmacist likely has at least two university degrees under their belt. They’re also making a good few bucks / hour over minimum wage where I live. Something around 13-15/hr.
But lets also not assume doing data entry and counting pills is somehow a super hard job. Overwhelming at times – sure. But not difficult. And here at least, the pharmacist approves everything before it goes to the patient. Pharmacist has to go through side effects, drug interactions, etc. They can also prescribe to some degree where I live.
And I’ve had the head pharmacist and other pharmacists at my pharmacy pill counting and ringing people through cash whenever needed or when they have a spare moment.
I knew a girl who was working as a tech at a different pharmacy. Ex-friend. She was only in the first or second year of her bachelors degree and somehow kissed enough butt to get to work in the pharmacy part time. She messed up a patients prescription and was going to hand it off to the patient. The pharmacist caught it and she still to this day blames everyone else – and was completely baffled that it was a big deal. Scarily enough, she’s now in school becoming a pharmacist. Girl has a horseshoe up her butt.
Do they generally only handle the pharmacy area, though? I’m sure they get slammed, but I’ve usually seen the actual CVS cashiers do stocking, front counter ringing up, the photo center, customer service etc and the pharmacy techs usually just handle pharmacy stuff.
This is about CVS, not the workers. They intentionally understaff to save money. They know if you need meds, you won’t get out of a long line because you NEED the rx.
Well I know they have the CVS non pharmacy employees stocking, ringing up, answering phones, doing returns, manning the photo lab, cleaning up etc so I’m sure the pharmacy is equally slammed and understaffed.
@Tiffany Yes! To me, this is the bottom line. I don’t think this is the fault of the lazy staff, etc, but more like a need in policy overhaul. Nail, meet head.
I work for CVS. I work front store but always have to help pharmacy because they are always short staffed. We have the least amount of tech hours in the district. It’s hard and I’m my store I know they care about what they do it’s just so hard to do it. With the Aetna deal, a lot of stores are now going to see big cuts in hours just in time.
you are right. most people think it’s the pharmacists that fill the prescriptions but it’s the pharmacy techs, isn’t it? they barely get $10/hour
Pharmacist are not making calls. Techs are. And no. cvs is not paying ANYBODY well. And to the person that typed: “That is pure B.S.. If you are paid to do a job, you do it! I don’t care how much you get an hour. No one feels like they are earning enough for what they do, and I agree a lot aren’t, but the bottom line is that is your job! I am so sick of people using that as an excuse to be lazy!!!!!! 😐😐😐”
Are YOU SERIOUS?! what country do you live in? have you not seen the news lately?! do you know how much 7.15 an hour gets you?! are you calling single moms working 40 hours a week and taking home no more than $250 a week lazy?! not making enough to feed your family is an escuse to be lazy? have you not heard of tthe fight for 15? or do not know what Senator Sanders and Senator Warren are fighting for? after I read your comment, it smelled of racism and deplorability! IT matters a lot how much a person makes! AND NO NO NO to “its your job!” People need to be compensated accordingly!!
But there are jobs that absolutely require your proper attention and care even if you are seriously underpaid. The pharmacy is one of them.
I’m a scientific translator and run into this situation myself. A translation job can involve so many problems that my normal fee (not usually based on time but on words or characters) gives me as little as $5 per hour. Too many other times, I figure I would be better off working at Walmart. I also have to waive any rush fees today, even if I am a limp noodle incapable of doing anything for days afterward, because the market changed forever in 2008. I am making so much less per hour today in real terms than in the early part of the century on many jobs and can’t raise my fees. But if I promise to do a job, I don’t take shortcuts even if it’s turning out to be a financial disaster.
I understand the frustration. I’ve been there on more than one occasion and have been made to feel like it was my fault and suffered throughout the night with a spinal migraine. I refuse to deal with CVS at this point unless absolutely necessary.
I lost all patience with CVS when they only filled half my (admittedly huge) prescription. When I brought it to their attention, I was told that as a courtesy they would fill the rest at no charge. Ummmm, no. That’s not a courtesy. That’s filling the rest of the scrip THAT I’VE ALREADY PAID FOR.
They are notorious for this
@Kristen820 Their use of semantics there would make me stabby! Like, “No… See? We’re actually doing you a favor!”. Gah, just no! You screwed up – at least own it!
I hate this, but is it not clearly due to those that have large scripts and unfortunately abuse?
I’m glad she was able to stand up for herself even while she was in pain and her body wasn’t strong.
One of my best friends has multiple severe health issues and she’s very different to Sarah – very sweet and accommodating, to the point where her health has suffered because she hasn’t always been able to get the things she needs for her health care. It’s not nice to see. So I’m all for people calling out corporations that don’t meet their needs and put their health in danger!
Does she think she’s the only one that this has ever happened to? This happens to me all of the time at CVS and Walgreens. Get real, Sarah
She was pretty real and mentioned other people this happened to. These kind of delays can be life threatening
Seriously? You think it’s not “real” to be outraged that your kidney transplant was compromised? A kidney, by the way, that she was blessed enough to have a perfect match in her father, and should she need another kidney, would have to miraculously find another perfect match in the country. Do you have any idea what kidney dialysis entails?
She used her visibility on an under reported problem for the millions relying on prescription drugs to maintain some level of good health and avoid needless suffering or death. These are unsexy and ‘pocketbook’ kinds of problems that could be addressed by a government more invested in workable health policy and corporate oversight.
Meh, I see this as a celeb calling out an issue that affects a lot of people. I have no issues with it.
She isn’t saying this only happens to her? You are way reading into what she actually said about it. If you watch her video she even goes into how they have done this to a lot of people.
I am glad she did this. I go out of my way to avoid the pharmacy that is closest to me because they are always out of something and the techs are inept. I needed something for my child, and they kept messing it up and then saying contradictory things.
It makes no sense.
“That is probably a privilege because I am verified on Twitter, but I didn’t just tell him my story, I read him tweet after tweet after tweet of everyone that told me their story.”
In the article is says how she took her opportunity to share everyone else’s stories as well as her own.
I was prepared to read this and be like ugh Sarah nooooo but I’m actually okay with this. Especially because she told the CVS person about all of the bs other people had to put up with too. For a lot of people, waiting for medication isn’t an option but they also may not be able to take their prescription somewhere else so they get stuck in a painful and awful limbo. I hope this all leads to change but I doubt it will 😞
Doesn’t the USA have 24 hour pharmacies? Is it because I live in Toronto? We have pharmacies here that literally never close. And tons of chains and local ones to choose from. Maybe it’s because we have healthcare…. This is sad and should happen. I’m glad she’s speaking out, but the thought of a pharmacy just not filing a prescription before closing is terrible. If we went to a pharmacy here and they for what ever reason couldn’t fill the script, they’d send you somewhere else!
I would think so nyc does la should but I guess not near her.
I wish I knew of these 24 hrs pharmacies you guys have. It would make our life so much easier.
Eh, I’ve got a 24 hour pharmacy near me, a Walgreens. They have the worst customer service I’ve ever encountered. I would never recommend that anyone go to them, ever. There’s no excuse for a person to wait a week for a prescription, which is what happened to me.
Locally, we have a 24-hour CVS, but the actual pharmacy is not open 24 hours. (So you can buy candy, OTC meds, etc., but not pick up prescriptions.)
There are “24-hour” pharmacies in my area in Michigan. However, a handful of them in a 50 mile radius or so rotate late night and weekend hours. So even though they advertise the service, it’s not true. I’ve had to travel to a “nearby” pharmacy that was 35 miles away for emergency medication.
I live in small town burb, and both cvs and Walgreens are opened 24/7…I’m not negating her experience, but my cvs has been great at contacting docs for me (Walgreens not so much)..I guess it depends where you are.
There are 24 hour pharmacies in some places but not all. It really depends on the business demands of the area. But remember, Americans also have PRIVATE insurance plans, so that 24 hour pharmacy may be open, but that doesn’t mean it’ll accept your coverage. Certain insurance plans will purposefully lock people into using mass pharmacies like CVS because they either own or are partnered with that company and save money by sending you there.
Big cities anywhere are more likely to have more 24-hour pharmacies, whether New York or Toronto or LA. But maybe her local pharmacy is not the 24-hour type. When I lived in a mid-sized US city, we had just 1 or 2 pharmacies that stayed open late, but the rest closed with the stores.
I’ve seen some stories in the past year about problems with drug supply chains, not only after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. It’s worrisome. This is the kind of thing that highlights the role that good government could play in aiding citizens, but unfortunately that’s not what the Republicans are all about right now in the US of A.
There are 24 hour pharmacies all over the GTA (one is walking distance from me). Not only that, but they ask you when you drop it off if you want to wait or come back later. If you wait, they give you a pager and it is ready within 10-15 minutes.
Personally, my pharmacy is in downtown Toronto (by my work). I live outside the city. I can do the auto-refill at 9pm and the script is waiting for me just after 7am when I walk by.
This situation is just weird to me, I would understand not having the items in stock and letting people know it will be late (that has happened to me), of shorting the script (happens to my parents but the fill 6 months at a time).
But I am the type of person that if I was filling a script for a life-threatening condition, I would be camped out at the counter and not rely on other people to communicate to me.
The CVS by my house is open 24/7, but I don’t know if the pharmacy counter is.
YES CVS IS THE WORST!!!! My daughter has epilepsy and when we moved to this area three and a half years ago I went there first for her meds and quickly switched. They were rude, they lied and no one cared that an epilepsy patient cannot just skip a few days of medication!!!! We went to a local pharmacy that I absolutely loved. They all ended up knowing us, since we were in there so often, and they always asked out my daughter and our family. Then horrible news came this summer. CVS effing bought them out! So now we are back to being stuck with them since there isn’t another local pharmacy around. CVS is just getting bigger and getting worse. It’s like Comcast and it’s not going to change no matter how much they screw people of get negative press. I hate them.
Pharmacists don’t even ask my name anymore because I’m there so often. I have uncontrolable epilepsy and if I miss a dose of my meds, it’s worse and I have seizures all day. Walgreens and CVS are both slow so often, especially when I’m starting a new medicine, so my neurologìst ended up giving me samples so I would never run out. I don’t know what I’d do without the samples to keep me a little more prepared
Samples and a staff that know you and your loved one’s names are greatly needed in pharmacies and it is awesome when it happens. I go to Rite Aid, they are so wonderful. I have many complaints with CVS about my meds as well.
That’s awesome your neuro does that for you. People don’t have a reasonable understanding of epilepsy in general. I mean one seizure and my child could die. She is also at high risk for SUDEP. The things that angers me and is the most frustrating is that the people that work with the medication have zero idea what it’s for or why people need it and often don’t care to learn. My daughter used to be on one med that you could only get through a certain specialty pharmacy and there was a special team just for that drug. We had so many problems with not being able to get her meds in time each month and the people I would speak with on the team that literally only worked with that med would just tell me she’s going to have to miss a few days. If they knew anything about it they would know that’s not acceptable. Learn about what you work with!!! A pharmacist at CVS also told me that once.
A lot of people also don’t realize that some insurance companies will not approve a refill until literally the day before you run out so if it’s coming through the mail you have to figure in weekend and holidays. Luckily there was another company that would send us bridge medication overnight when this would happen to get us through the weekend or whatever. We also had this same issue with her food, since she is g tube fed she got a special formula. There were multiple times where we would run out and they would either lie and say it was sent when it wasn’t or the insurance wouldn’t improve it early enough. In that case the company would tell us to just give her pediasure to hold her over. After doing that three times and her throwing it up every single time we just switched her to a completely different food and haven’t had a problem since thank goodness. I could go on and on about my experiences over the last five years. I’m sure it’s taken years off my life and I spent so many hours on the phone I’m sure it ends up being a full time job.
And besides the obvious, when one experiences breakthrough seizures their driver’s license is compromised. In my state, a driver’s license is suspended for six months if reported by one’s doctor.
Argh. I’m on a monthly prescription while pregnant that is essential to the health of my baby. During my last pregnancy, I was forced to do the CVS mail service, and it was THE WORST. Nevermind that the medication had to be kept between 50-70 degrees and when I got my medication fresh from the truck it felt radioactively hot.
I have a great local CVS and I feel lucky that they’ve worked with me this pregnancy to ensure that I get my medication on time.
I read somewhere don’t remember that she was using a 3rd party search engine and that is where the 10pm closing time came from, on the CVS site it says 9pm. However they made a commitment to call her and they didn’t.
Most pharmacies, that aren’t 24 hour, close an hour before the general store closes. I’d almost be willing to bet that is where the difference is, if she didn’t scroll down. I talked about this with a relative whose child had a transplant, she knows the pharmacy hours of her primary location as well as the closest 5 after that.
It’s also unfortunate that in many cases insurance will not allow you to refill anti-rejection meds until you are at the end; you can’t pre-order to have on hand since they are so expensive.
I went to my mom’s Walgreens for a one-off antibiotic prescription. The pharmacy tech grabbed a bag and started to ring it up before I realized they were my mom’s. I stopped her, and in a bitchy tone, she stated “well, you have the same birthday”. I responded that since the other person was my mother, that was impossible by definition (we were both born on the 12th day of different months, and were clearly born decades apart). She remained so absolutely unconcerned that I made myself call to talk to the pharmacist, and tell him his tech almost committed Medicaid fraud, and didn’t care when I stopped her.
A second Walgreens incident – my mom was taking a monthly injection for osteoporosis, and it was hundreds of dollars out of pocket each month (which I provided). She picked it up at Walgreens, and came home to realized the bag contained her shot as well as another woman’s. My mom called and they unconcernedly told her to bring it back. If she were a different person, she would have kept the second shot and the pharmacy would have eaten the cost.
As a comparison in service, my mom was an assistant manager at JCPenney before she retired. In the rare cases an employee would forget to remove an ink tag, my mom would got to that customer’s house and take care of it. It was the store’s mistake, and on them to correct the problem. In my career as an RN, in the very rare instances that a patient was discharged without IV removal, someone would go to that patient’s house and remove the IV.
Baby kitten I was a nurse for years and cannot tell you how many medical errors I have stopped while in hospital,and that’s because of my background.One time I was being discharged from ER and the nurse began quickly reading my discharge papers-Said my CAT scan showed a mild concussion and began handing me RX for pain meds.I said “I had an abdominal CT what do you mean”She just left and sent someone else in with my correct papers.Think how many out there don’t have medical training and or are just too old or ill to catch medical mistakes.These things should not be happening
@Spice cake 38, I’m an RN, too, and I am vigilant about my mom’s care. She recently had surgery for lung cancer, and has COPD. I walked into her room and her O2 cannula was jacked up to 6-7L, and her chest tube had not been connected back to suction. I reduced her O2 to 2L and connected suction, and twelve hours later I witnessed the night nurse state to the day nurse that my mom had been on 6L all night. The day nurse was like – what???? She has COPD.
I also diagnosed new onset A-fib, and I’m furious at myself for not demanding to see the EKG. They caught the A-fib, but didn’t note the ST depression. I try very hard to hide my profession, because it understandably makes people defensive. By my mom’s second night, it was so obvious what I was. She was held in the recovery room for 7 hours because they performed surgery knowing there were no beds available in the monitored pulmonary unit. And having cared for VATS patients myself, I knew for a fact how behind she was for day one surgery. She was given ice chips and kept flat in bed, when she should have been up in a chair, then up in the halls, and on general food at this point. They didn’t even catch the fact that she hadn’t voided by 8 hours postop. I actually had my cousin sneak in her flask of vodka because I was getting so anxious.
The manager checked in with me the next day, and asked my goal. I stated up in the halls four times a day. He wrote it on her dry erase board, and spoke with the day nurse. I went home to sleep and shower, and when I called to check up on my mom she hadn’t been out of bed all day! And this was a huge, excellent hospital.
Years ago, when my grandfather was hospitalized, my mom drummed into him “ASK WHAT THE MEDICATION IS, AND WHO IS IT FOR” each and every time. Good thing he remembered to do it, because as we were walking down the hall, leaving one evening, a nurse was walking into his (semi-private) room. I walked back in time to hear him asking, and she ignored him and tried to put it in his IV. I stopped her, and it’s a good thing I did: it was for the patient in the other bed, who had an accelerated heartbeat. That Med would’ve slowed my grandfather’s heart to the point of stopping it! And all she did was say “Oops”. Unbelievable.
Baby kitten my best to your mom for a healthy happy holiday and an even healthier 2018.She’s lucky to have a daughter like you
Yes, pharmacies can be a pain, short staffed and short on medication and all for calling out when due. I saw her post though and IIRC the screenshot was the store hours, plus she said when she called she asked for store, not pharmacy hours. Unless it’s a 24 hour pharmacy most places, at least where I’ve lived, the pharmacy closes an hour or so before the store itself closes.
I didn’t know this about her. Chemists shouldn’t eff up orders for customers with chornic illnessess. If my chemist forgot to fill my prescription for hypothyroidism and insulin resistance, my body would be wrecked.
I’m no fan of CVS but whether or not SH’s friend’s asthma med is covered or not is up to her insurance company, not the pharmacy. Also, Rx meds are rarely “called in.” The usual method is to send them electronically which means a pharm employee has to check the fax/printer to retrieve an rx. When clerks are swamped at the counter, that may not get checked hourly as they say they do. (Some meds, not antibiotics, require hard-copy records & can’t be phoned in.)
Since SH’s meds are so critical, she’d be better off switching to a pharm that offers delivery service, as many do in her town. It would give her one less thing to tweet her aggravations about.
Btw, Von’s pharmacy, prevalent in SoCal is as bad or worse & the only 24 hr pharms I know of are some Walgreens.
I call my in and think its processed a lot faster. When I submit under my account online it takes at 3-4 days. Phone, I usually have it by closing.
It is true that CVS sucks.
I used to think that is just how pharmacies are until I started using a few others (Walgreens and Meijer) and realized they were much better. Especially Meijer, they blew CVS away. They even helped me get my daughters medication cheaper. Like by a lot.
My daughter takes depression meds and we lost our health insurance, her med was $167 a month and the pharmacist at Meijer found me a coupon code online that brought it down to $11!!! Yes, ELEVEN DOLLARS.
Thank you Westland, MI Meijer! 🙌🏻
If your medication is that important to your health….why would she leave it to the last hour?
Depends whether it’s a maintenance med or she developed a sudden infection and it took time for either the doctor’s practice to phone/fax/digitally send it in, or whether they gave her a paper slip to drop off.
This. I had the same question. If these are maintenance drugs for her condition, why wouldn’t she have filled it earlier? The CVS near my house is absolute crap, too, so I totally understand her meltdown. But if these drugs are that important to your condition, you need to be more proactive and make sure you have them in advance. No one cares as much about your health than you. Certainly not some random CVS pharmacist.
It was an antibiotic, so it was probably for a sudden infection. And she had already been in contact with the pharmacy, and they reassured her the prescription would be ready and they would call. Even then, she made sure to contact them an hour prior to closing, and realized she was SOOL. If my kidney transplant was in jeopardy, I would have been enraged. Her father gave up his kidney for her, and it would be difficult to find another match. Dialysis sucks, and it’s pretty time consumptive. I think it would be difficult to hang on to her job and perform dialysis 3x’s a week. I think Modern Family is protective of their “child” actors, so they would accommodate her, but other jobs would be in jeopardy.
Yeah, no. I call in my chemo maintenance med one week in advance (they will not put the order through any sooner) and God help you if UPS loses it, as they just did mine! Especially with this being a holiday weekend! Calling CVS Specialty (because that is the ONLY carrier for my insurance and they will only fill it through mail) is no help, nor has UPS been any help. So now, after my last pill on Tuesday, I may be SOL. Because this med is a few thousand per month, they won’t even overnight a few pills until they find the shipment. It’s frigging unbelievable how callous CVS is.
Why are you assuming she waited? It sounds like her doctor just prescribed it and she needed it quickly. It was an antibiotic. It doesn’t sound like it is something she takes regularly, but rather, a response to a new medical issue that could impact her ongoing medical issues.
Our 13 year old daughter has severe, life threatening health problems as well. We’ve dealt with several pharmacies all over the country and the world for over a decade. Sarah needs to take some accountability here. She didn’t check with the actual CVS she was using to get their closing time. She went through a third party website that is not required to have the correct information. That was her mistake. She cannot expect a pharmacy staff member to be held responsible to contact her before the cvs closes regarding her prescription. With the prescription load they have, that is virtually impossible. If her life was seriously in danger to the point that she couldn’t wait until they opened the next morning for her first or next dose, then she needed to be in the hospital under medical supervision. That’s where my daughter would have been in that situation.
Its awful to experience a severe illness and when looking from the outside its easy to judge. I have severe Asthma with destroyed lung tissue from a tumor (since I was a child). I’ve been told several times my prescription was ready only show up and there is nothing for me. Nothing, nada. “Sorry we are out of your inhalers or steroids but they will be back in stock in a week”. When I then tell them I received a call or an email alerting me my prescription is ready, they will say “oh sorry it accidentally automatically sends out sometimes or a pharm tech was wrong, it was a mistake”. It sends me into a tailspin making my Asthma even worse, there is nothing worse than not being able to breath. Also, rescue inhalers are needed in case you can’t make it to the hospital or medical assistance. It gives you time. There have been times where I can barely move across the floor let alone get myself to the hospital. Seriously collapsing from not being able to breath. When you have any severe illness its not just as easy as “going to the hospital”.
I didn’t mean to judge. Just giving my opinion on this specific situation with the information provided.
I’m so sorry about your asthma! That must be so scary.
I don’t think it was as life threatening as your asthma because she went into a major Twitter rant, interacting with fans after she didn’t get her meds. I think Sarah will be just fine. 😉
It was serious enough that she was in pain and any med for a transplant patient is likely to be urgent. I can’t imagine them not giving antibiotics priority especially in that case. Missing a dose can be very serious for some conditions.
And as others have pointed out, insurance may tie you to a particular pharmacy. Antiobiotics can be very pricey in the US. The standard one for UTI was worse than the disease for me, so the doctor had to prescribe two different ones. I was very sick and needed the oral prescription to take a second dose that night (he had given me an injection to get me started). A week’s worth of each cost $60. That was ten years ago, they are most likely much more expensive now. But at least I was able to get them fast enough. Waiting a couple of days was not an option.
PLEASE this happens to everyone and she used her position as a celebrity because she thought it would bring CVS to their knees. I’m a type I diabetic, without insulin I WILL DIE. Not being hyperbolic, my body will slowly shut down and even one day without insulin will have my body and blood sugar doing crazy things to my system. Saying that as when i notice my supplies looking short, I start calling my doc and my pharmacy to make sure i never run out last minute. If it was a last minute RX she needed, you bet your a $$ I’d be at the pharmacy waiting for them to fill it before they closed. Humans work at pharmacies meaning they are prone to error BUT If my life is dependent on it, you don’t wait for them to call you then bitch about it online when it didn’t happen. You take action and go down there and wait! She’s mad she wasn’t treated like a princess and given royal treatment. If it’s a priority for you, get off your butt and take action, not wait for a phone call then get on your phone and complain. This girl is a spoiled child who was pulling a tantrum.
She took proper precautions but just made the mistake of thinking they were telling her the truth. They told her it would be ready and that they would call her. She checked again an hour before. There was no clue that it wasn’t proceeding on schedule.
She took the opportunity to relay many stories to CVS that other non-famous people have had with CVS, since they tweeted in response to her story. She read those tweets to the person who contacted her (certainly because she was known) over the phone. This is not spoiled behavior. This is called using your more privileged position wisely to help others without such privilege.
My insurance says I’m too old to have acne (tell my chin that!), and they refuse to pay for my medicine. In the US, it’s $375 per tube. I order from a pharmacy in Canada and pay $87 shipped. I believe it’s actually manufactured in Greece.
I’m also a pharmacist – hospital, and I agree, shortages are awful. Trying to explain to a physician why I can’t get a medicine – it’s awful.
My uncle had ankylosing spondylosis for years before he developed multiple myeloma and died, and he would drive from Arkansas to Mexico to get his meds at a better price. It’s outrageous how people jump through hoops, and yet there’s still so much corruption.
I had a friend who was a nurse for an OB/GYNE practice. The doctor’s wife was his nurse practitioner, so they made money hand over fist. I’m not sure if it’s still legal, but at the time a woman could sign her baby over to her OB’s guardianship. I think it was for last minute decisions to give the child up, and just a formality to hand over the case to a social worker. This doctor actually kept the baby and adopted it. Then, he and his wife personally took all the free formula and other goodies they received free from reps. It was absolutely disgusting to me.
Everyone has their own experiences to go by when forming opinions
For myself CVS has been a godsend. I take various mental health medications and they have enabled me to actually afford them because they worked so hard to come up with a compromise between what my insurance company would pay for and what my doctor would prescribe.
As with anything it’s luck of the draw on who works at what location. It could be the greatest people work at Walgreens or CVS in your area
When I was having trouble with my insurance company not paying for my one script the CVS pharmacist came up with a go around by increasing the dosage of each pill (from 15 mg to 30 mg) because my insurance would only pay for 30 and I needed 60.
I dealt with a mail away company that ended up being put out of business because it was so incompetent. I would not receive my medication and when call they would tell me it was out of stock.
With CVS they always call me to say do I want a refill.
When I first moved to my current home there was several Mix-Ups with my prescriptions as far as being told they weren’t ready and by the time I got home there was a message on my answering machine saying I could come pick them up
A corporate rep from CVS brought them to my home at rather late hour because it was too cold and dark for me to walk back there
Shortly after this incident there was a revamping of the pharmacy personnel and for the last eight nine years I’ve had nothing but good experiences
1 convenience that CVS offers is that when I travel to take care of my elderly mom my doctor can just fax my scripts to her local CVS and I have no problems picking them up there
So I guess what I’m trying to say is luck of the draw on Staffing of any drugstore chain / location
For full disclosure purposes LOL I do not work for CVS nor does anyone I know.
I think you are blessed with a very conscientious pharmacy staff, and they overcome the flaws in the system.
I don’t understand why anyone is hating on her for this. She has every right to be pissed off and complain. My dad has kidney disease and I have a coworker who has had a kidney transplant and normal illnesses can escalate very quickly if not taken care of. She may be privileged but this is not a case of her being a special snowflake. Any kidney transplant patient in her situation would be ranting and raving if this happened.
Agreed. I just googled and she’s had ten surgeries since birth, and didn’t receive her transplant until she was 22, so she would well remember what she endured before she had the transplant. And besides all that, it’s not like she’s going after some mom-and-pop pharmacy that would be ruined by her actions. CVS is a behemoth, will not be overly damaged by her actions, and could use the opportunity to review their issues. Plus, a clever PR person could use this experience to come out ahead at the end.
I use our local grocery store pharmacy. My daughter has chronic and life threatening issues and my middle child and myself have health sustaining meds we need. Our pharmacists are wonderful and especially the head pharmacist. She always waves and says hello, even if I’m just shopping and don’t need meds. She knows my daughter’s birthdate by heart. They call to make sure we have all the meds we need and let me know if there are any issues. I often forget to refill my thyroid medication on time and she always has some free days worth to get me through until my script comes in. They have argued with my insurance company to get meds paid for, etc. I will always support local over big chains like CVS for this reason.
CVS in my book stands for CONSISTENTLY VERY SHI**Y. Equally thrilled she called them
out. It is a legitimate problem that they are woefully understaffed, do not pay a fair living wage, and treat employees as awfully as they treat their customers.
I get my medication from Rite-Aid, and at least the one here is on point. They text me when my medication is ready and it’s so far been always earlier than I expected it. Girl, you may wanna switch pharmacies, cuz that’s some bullsh!t. I don’t blame her one bit for being upset.
Reading through most (but not all) of these comments makes me sad and angry for everyone from the US. These issues would not come up in places we might call developing nations. A lot of drugs are dirt cheap but hearing how you have to have your insurance cover it blows my mind- another reason for free healthcare! And that you can’t just wait 15min- 1 hour to collect your drugs?? That it could take days?? I’m so confused how do you go to work if you’ve come down with a nasty bug but you have to wait potentially 24 hrs to collect your medicine? I’m from Australia where we have subsidised/free national healthcare; our system isn’t flawless but I’ve never waited more than 10 min to collect a prescription. Actually something I did notice when travelling to the states is that there weren’t a Lot of small independent pharmacies, is that fair to say? Whereas here there are very very few ‘chains’ (Priceline is the only one I can think of). I’m rambling but my heart hurts for you guys who have been in pain and dependent on a broken system.
“is that there weren’t a Lot of small independent pharmacies, is that fair to say?”
Yes. The big ones are buying the small ones out. They can also buy medications in bulk, and offer cheaper prices than the small pharmacies. Additionally, insurers enter agreements with pharmacies, sometimes requiring that you get your medication from a big chain or it won’t be covered.
Express Scripts is both a prescription insurance carrier AND in some cases the pharmacy itself. They buy long term medications and sometimes will require that you get your medication mail ordered through THEM or it won’t be covered. Then they don’t respond timely to doctor’s offices, and medications that can only be delivered through mail gets delayed.
It really, really sucks.
It’s just so unfair! Culturally I find us Aussies love to complain about our system all the time and mock policy makers but all the Americans I’ve ever met have a really positive outlook on life in a really earnest way even though structurally so much is pitted against them, like the things you mention here.
Never wait until the last day to get your prescriptions and never rely on the internet for store hours. The store itself is not responsible for websites claiming to have the right hours.
It wasn’t her standard recurring prescription. It was antibiotics her Dr prescribed one time only
I get she’s upset but why not call the store first thing in the morning and talk to the manager. I feel like a lot of the public calling out on Twitter is just passive aggressive and done by people who aren’t comfortable actually having an adult conversation or talking through their issues / problems with another adult.
Also is CVS the only pharmacy in town? Just take your business elsewhere.
These Twitter freakouts / smackdowns just turn everything into a fire and collectively it has become useless. It used to work to get attention from companies but now everybody does it so it doesn’t have the same zing. And companies will now fight back.
Also I’m going to bring up something that’s not popular around here: personal responsibility. If the medication is that important take your ass down to the pharmacy and speak face to face with an adult and make sure they have what you need and can give you want you need when you need it! You don’t call and say hey just give me a call at your leisure but make sure you do it before ya close.
I’ve found that pharmacies tend to have the same sense of urgency you have. If you’re calling on the phone – well guess what they are going to be giving those people at the store waiting priority over a faceless person over the phone. Calling and saying give me a call doesn’t present the same sense of urgency.
If I call my pharmacy and I know I need something right away and they say we can have it tomorrow – I’m like no, I need it by this time and I will down to get it at this time. They aren’t going to have a sense of urgency if you don’t. They probably deal with 1000’s of people a day – all of whom they think their issue is more pressing than the next person.
My daughter takes anti seizure medication and every time it’s due for a refill, I have to call my CVS a week in advance to make sure they order the medication since they won’t keep it in stock. Stupid, huh? Just let them screw up and I will go full-on Shirley McClaine up in there.
CVS needs to hire more pharmacists to work in their pharmacies. I too have had very serious issues with CVS. I am sure this was not the first time she has had problems with CVS. We all have repeated problems with them. CVS needs to do something. I am glad yet another American citizen called them out about this and this was done publicly.
Merica! Fuck yes
ITT: A lot of people talking crap about what they don’t know.
I use a local pharmacy for my personal and family meds. Switched from Rite Aid years ago and never looked back.
When I call in scripts, I usually physically call the pharmacy my patient uses, tell them I am sending an e-script, and I want to ensure this script can be filled that same day. If the answer is no, for whatever reason, I work together with the pharmacist to ensure my patient gets the med they need when they need it, even if it means subbing out a med as a stopgap or seeing if I have samples that can fill the time between when they need the med and when they can actually get it. But I have a small practice and the time to do this.