Oh, sorry.....we don't have the meds you require to live

[Dave1982]

I still can't believe this.

My fiance has type-1 (requires insulin) diabetes. She just got her insulin prescriptions renewed and went to the Green Wall to have them filled, as her doctor didn't get the prescriptions to her until she was just about out of insulin (she normally gets it mail order which is WAY cheaper. She's had a lot of issues with her doctor's office over her scrips but that's a whole separate rant).

Anyway, she dropped the scrip off at the pharmacy before work, and went over there after work to pick it up. She had taken her LAST remaining dose of insulin that morning so it was absolutely imperative that she get the new insulin that night.

When she got there, they said "Oh...sorry, we're out of insulin. We couldn't fill the prescription."



So despite the fact that you've been sitting on that order all day, it never occurred to you to CALL to let the customer know? We aren't talking about - for example - a cholesterol medication, where missing a dose isn't all that big a deal. If she doesn't get her insulin, she can't eat, because if she does her blood sugar will go up and she will eventually go into ketoacidosis and DIE!

This is not acceptable.

She ended up taking the scrip over to the 3-letter pharmacy and getting it filled there. They did have it in stock, thankfully.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Do they not have her cellphone number or her workplace number? Were they out of insulin when she dropped off the prescription or did they run out before they got to her scrip?

Obviously pharmacies run out of things like any other business does, but it would've been nice to let her know ASAP.

[fma_fanatic]

This is not unusual. Just go to the Walgreens (I'm not afraid to say it because honestly they suck) facebook page and just scroll for the number of comments about people who don't get their prescription filled because they don't have it and were never called. This happened to me too. I complained to corporate and was swept under the rug.

I had it happen enough times and I also got tired of their shenanigans that I quit using them for my prescriptions. I went to DaDairyDruids' store and got my prescription filled there. But eventually I left there and used the mail order service (Caremark), until the first CVS opened in our town. Now they're all over.

[Dave1982]

So it's an ongoing issue with this pharmacy? Good to know.

And yes, they did have her number. Not that it looks like it'd have made a difference.

[drjonah]

I remember the days when pharmacies worked together with the competition. I used to work at a mom and pop pharmacy and even the chain pharmacies would let us buy medication from them if we ran out and a customer needed it. And vice versa, sometimes the chains would call US and buy medication from us for a customer.

[Food Lady]

Hold the phone--you're engaged?? I had no idea. Congrats! And yes, it is absolutely ridiculous. They should've called her right away.

[Dave1982]

Yes I am! 4-25-15 is the big day!

[Gilhelmi]

Eventually, someone will die or end-up hospitalized over them not calling customers.

The day after that, they will get a lawsuit.

[bacchinalus]

Just to play Devil's advocate here (especially because I work in a pharmacy)...

Why did she wait until she was OUT of the medication to try to get a refill?

Pharmacies have issues sometimes where medication is unavailable. Case in point, we had a power outage overnight the other week, and we lost EVERY refrigerated item we had. No insulin, no eye drops, nothing. Of course, we let the people know we had to order everything fresh, but we also always check the shelf to make sure what we have in stock before we promise anything to the patient.

It seems to me like there was definitely miscommunication on the part of the pharmacy for not informing you that they didn't have the medication, but it is also the patient's responsibility to be on top of their refills.

[sevendaysky]

In Dave's first post he says the fault is with the doctor, who took a longer than expected amount of time to "get the refills to her" - I'm assuming either paper copies since they took the scripts elsewhere. It's still a bit unusual. The last time I needed to get a renew/refill script for a medication, it was for allergy nasal spray - I had to call the nurse, ask them to talk to the doctor, etc - took about three days for the pharmacy to actually get the refill order, then another day or two to fill it. Could be what happened there. Could also have been an emergency, like part of her medication got spilled/broken/invalidated in some way so she had to refill early, etc etc.

[ComputerNecromancer]

Also, insurance companies don't want to pay for "extra" meds. Just *try* getting a refill more than a couple of days short of the 30 days since the last one.

Since with insulin you can wind up using more (or less) than expected due to various factors in your life, the not having extra bit is *insanely* stupid.

Which is why I know a lot of folks who get refills as early as possible and hoard the extra.

Helps that insulin is good for 42 days after you open it (just have to keep it refrigerated until then), and you can get refills at 30 days.

[Android Kaeli]

The roommate and I left Wallgreens because we got fed up with a lot of their bullshit with prescriptions and/or their pharmacy. There were times when even dropping off a script with them took twenty fucking minutes, GETTING a prescription typically ran longer and that is IF it was done correctly. All in all, getting things done with them under thirty minutes was considered fast.

We went to a different chain down the road from them. On a bad day we can be waiting for ten minutes before we are on our way, if THAT long. And we don't have to keep calling them, the doctor, the insurance, or whatever to make corrections either, I think only once have we called in the year we've been with the other chain. With Wallgreens? I'd say out of the gazillion or so prescriptions we've had with them, maybe two we didn't have to call about.

[AccountingDrone]

I have gone back to vial and syringe insulin - screw the fancy arsed pen crap. I want to *see* my entire dose going in - I seriously do not trust the damned pens. I can see the level in my vial, I can see the fill in my syringe, and I can see it all going in. I have had times on the pen where I got the lack of insulin too much glucose high action going on with what was theoretically my proper dose and nothing else wrong - not ill, diet not screwed up, unexercised ... as most long term diabetics can tell you, we can feel when something just isn't right and generally a quick fingerstick will prove it.

[bacchinalus]

If it's a matter of being on a variable dose (sliding scale), and the doctor is late in writing the scripts, the patient can request that the wording of the script be changed so that the pharmacy has more leeway in billing the insurance.

I see prescriptions all the time that say "inject *up to x units*" daily, and as long as that is on there, we must assume the patient is using the maximum daily dose as written. If you find yourself cutting it too close on refills, that is one option to have a little extra on hand. That way the insurance will have no issue with you using say. 80 units on a bad day, if your normal days are 15.

[Dave1982]

Just to play Devil's advocate here (especially because I work in a pharmacy)...

Why did she wait until she was OUT of the medication to try to get a refill?

She didn't. She was out of refills, and her doctor's office is horrible at getting the renewed scrips sent out in a timely manner. She had JUST gotten the scrip.