CVS screws up my RX AGAIN!

[deenass]

Several months ago, a local CVS screwed up DS's antibiotic (first didn't give me enough, then didn't MIX it - so three trips for a 5 day dosage). I called customer service, spoke with the regional pharmacy manager, logged my comnplaint and moved on (after being assured that in the end, I had rec'd the correct amount of medication for DS). They also refunded my co-pay and sent me a gift card.

Fast forward to last week when DH goes to fill my RX for Ambien and goes BACK to the same pharmacy. A few days after I started taking it, I noticed that there were a lot of pills in the bottle. I look at the quantity and it says 15, I count the pills and I have 26 - THEY GAVE ME TOO MUCH MEDICATION! Now, it's Ambien (and a few people have offered to take the extra off my hands LOL) but COME ON! 2 Mistakes on 2 different RX? I just got off the phone with the regional supervisor AGAIN (who didn't offer me any compenstation this time - nor did I ask because I'm too damn mad!) who ASSURES me that next time mine and my family's RX's will be TRIPLE checked (as opposed to their standard "double check" procedure).

What kind of fool would I be to go back there AGAIN? In my opionion, this place is DANGEROUS - just trying to figure out how I can tell as many people about this as possible before someone gets seriously HURT by them dispensing something incorrectly.

[Marisa6826]

I have had so many bad experiences with CVS, that I won't go there anymore. The problems ranged from something as innocuous as them sending my DH home with somebody's birth control pills instead of my prenatal vitamins ( I was probably about 6m along at that point), to one truly terrifying experience where they gave me FOUR times the dosage of my beta blocker. Thank God I was paying attention and noticed the pill was a different size and colour. I would've stopped my heart if I'd taken it absentmindedly.

Walgreens is even worse. Never ONCE in the 10 different scripts we filled there did they get it right. NEVER. (We had to transfer there after Aetna refused to pay our nice Mom and Pop place down the street).

Surprisingly, I have been getting consistently personalised service from Target Pharmacy. They know me on a first name basis, both in person and on the phone. All three pharmacists, along with the two assistants are just WONDERFUL. I honestly can't say enough good things about them. It's a 10-15 minute drive, and they have kind of strange hours (they close for lunch and aren't open late all the time), but hands down, they've been the best we've dealt with in a LONG time.

-m

[deenass]

Hmm ... never had a problem with the local Walgreens (and they are currently building a drive - thru YAH!) and the local "mom and pop" was actually WORSE than the CVS I mentioned above. Had a problem with an RX filled for my son and when I went in to talk to them about it, they had no way of tracking who had actually FILLED it (vs CVS which notes on the RX WHICH person actually did the filling). SO, at least at the CVS someone can be held responsible for the mistake (if they are indeed following "procedure") vs the mom and pop where they were like "oops!"

Guess you just have to find the best of the worst when it comes to this (and pray a bit!) :)

[egoldber]

I too have had a number of terrible experiences with CVS. Unfortunately they are the closest most easily accessible pharmacy for us.

Oddly enough, my FIL is a pharmacist at CVS (in another state). The horror stories he tells about working there, its no surprise to me the number of mistakes that are made. There is a huge shortage of pharmacists in this country. Generally there is only one pharmacist working and then a number of pharmacy techs. They are expected to do an incredible amount of work under far less than ideal conditions. I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS double and triple check every prescription I have filled ANYWHERE for these reasons.

And FYI, the name on the prescription is the pharmacists name, but it was almost certainly actually filled by a tech and only glanced at by the pharmacist.

[kep]

>Surprisingly, I have been getting consistently personalised
>service from Target Pharmacy. They know me on a first name
>basis, both in person and on the phone. All three
>pharmacists, along with the two assistants are just WONDERFUL.
> I honestly can't say enough good things about them. It's a
>10-15 minute drive, and they have kind of strange hours (they
>close for lunch and aren't open late all the time), but hands
>down, they've been the best we've dealt with in a LONG time.
>
>-m

I was just going to suggest Target. We just switched from CVS to Target for Rx, and they are terrific! The pharmacists are professional, curteous, and always on time (if not early) with our prescriptions. They are wonderful!! :)

Kelli

Proud Mommy to Lukey (2003). Weaned after 3 years of happy nursing!
And Mommy to our newest baby, Joseph, born 3 days after Christmas.

[missym]

Slight hijack, but our ped is very into new technology. So he faxes all the scripts straight to the pharmacy. Great, right? Ummm, not so much. We triple-dosed Gwen with abx for 2 days because we didn't know what the dosage was supposed to be, and the pharmacy had it wrong on the label. So we always ask for a paper script now, ask the doctor what the instructions are, and double-check them ourselves.

It's very scary. Once I was given the wrong medicine for migraine prevention. The pills were like nothing I'd seen before. When I questioned it, the pharmacist looked at the pills and turned white as a sheet. I don't know what the pills were, but evidentally it would have been BAD for me to take them.


Missy, mom to Gwen 03/03 and Rebecca 09/05

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[MamaMolly]

I'm so not happy to find out that it is not just my CVS. Bummer. The only reason I go to this one is because 24 hour. I think it may be time to look for a change. Double bummer.