Dear CVS,
I recently
had a very frustrating and disconcerting experience at the pharmacy at store
#8106.
On Sunday, I
called in three prescriptions for refill.
When my mom went and picked them up on Monday, there were only two. I assumed that I must have accidentally
forgotten to call the third one in, so on Monday night, I called in the missing
prescription (again!). On Tuesday, when I went to pick it up, I was told there
was nothing ready for me.
I was then
told that my insurance was refusing to cover it and that is why it hadn’t been
filled. I agreed to pay for it
out-of-pocket because as of Tuesday, I was out of the medication.
Then, I was
told that they would not be able to fill it right away and I would have to come
back two and a half hours later.
I left CVS
and called my insurance company asking for an explanation as to why they
wouldn’t cover it. Because it had been
covered the month before by a lesser insurance, they decided to give me an
override and will cover the medication for a year. They called the pharmacy and informed them of
that. I thought that’s where the problem
ended. But I was wrong.
When I went
back to CVS, they went to get the prescription for me and they couldn’t find
it. They knew they had filled it. After 10 minutes, they finally decided to
fill it (again!). And imagine, this only
took about five minutes, so it is unclear to me why it took them over two hours
to do the same thing the first time.
As I’ve
continued to stew about the incident and the incompetence of the staff, I have
come upon a greater concern. Did someone
else end up with my medication? Has a
violation of HIPAA occurred? The
prescription that they claim to have filled was not found while I was in the
store, and it’s unclear whether it was found at all.
I have
experienced nothing but problems with this particular pharmacy and its
staff. Right now, I know I will be pulling
my prescriptions from this location and am still trying to decided whether I
will take my prescriptions to another CVS equidistant to my house, or will take
them to a different pharmacy altogether.
Rarely have
I experienced such incompetence at a pharmacy, and I am chronically ill, so I
have had a lot of experience with pharmacies.
And never before have I been concerned that my protected health
information has been compromised. This
is totally unacceptable.
I want CVS
to launch a full investigation into this matter, and I need to know exactly
what happened to the prescription that was supposedly filled and then went
missing.
Sincerely,
Leslie Rott
I have had so many problems with different CVS locations I can't even list them all. I don't have any choice but to use them because they are my only covered pharmacy with my insurance for ongoing prescriptions. CVS has an issue with changing pharmacists out every couple months so if you get one you like they are very likely going to be gone in a short amount of time.
ReplyDeleteI've had scripts with incorrect instructions written on the labels numerous times. I've had them forget to tell me about deadly contraindications. I've had them insist they've filled prescriptions that they haven't or that they've filled them on different dates then they actually did. I have several prescriptions I'm allowed to fill at discount for 90 days at a time per my insurance coverage yet they try to argue about this over and over. I've had to go to my insurer and file complaints numerous times since they are my only choice and I'm limited in only a couple locations near me.
I would definitely call your insurer and complain calmly but insistent. Call the store and complain to the store manager. You might find that pharmacist gone sooner. I'm very sorry you've also had to deal with their ineptitude.
I picked up my thyroid medication. They pharmacist wanted to know why the previous month, I was taking a lower dose than this month. I was confused. Someone gave me the wrong dose. I had no idea b/c I never read the dosage on the bottle. Now I get my hydrochloroquinine and it says Plaquenil. When I asked why they don't call it plaquenil, they couldn't answer me. I'm very careful with everything I get from them now. I asked for them to investigate other incidents and never received a response from corporate. The staff at CVS was always helpful but corporate ignored me.
ReplyDeleteYou're likely getting generic hydrochloroquinine instead of the name brand. It may be required of your insurance to fill with generic when possible, due to it being cheaper.
DeleteOddly enough I've mostly had problems with Walgreens. They kept shorting my on my medication, which considering they have pill counters I don't know how that happened. Luckily it was never on painkillers or I would have been screwed. I now drive 20 minutes out of my way to CVS that is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteWay to go, Leslie! We rely on our pharmacists to be an important part of our care team - a competent, dilligent part. This location sounds like they should get different jobs.
ReplyDeleteInteresting and good to know. CVS just took over the pharmacy in the Target store that I go to. Between my husband and myself, we have well over a dozen medications at this one location, that we pick up monthly. Luckily, we haven't had any issues yet. Good luck getting this squared away!
ReplyDeleteI was using Walgreens who filled my prescriptions wring twice so I switched to CVS. They had everything correct and I was happy but then my insurance made me choose between Walgreens or Walmart. Well, I wasn't going back to Walgreens so I went to Walmart...more bad experiences. When I got married a few months ago, my new insurance allowed me to go back to CVS. I was thrilled!! That was short lived. When I took my narcotic script in to be filled, the tech asked where it had been filled last. I told her Walmart and explained I recently got married and was now able to return to CVS. She called me a pharmacy hopper!! I was furious!! Here I was glad to return to CVS and was being called names because I changed back to them because I could with my new insurance!!! Needless to say, that tech, the pharmacist present, the pharmacy manager and the corporate manager ALL got an earful from me!!!
ReplyDelete