By Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor @Blogfinger
I have come across two worrisome trends at the pharmacy which result in extra trips to get prescriptions and invasion of privacy by pharmacist.
The first is part of a growing trend towards deterioration of customer service in our society. The second is about invading our privacy at the drugstore.
Small potatoes you say? You must watch for small changes and trends in an evolving society. Death can occur by a thousand cuts. (referring to a Chinese torture from 900 AD to 1905)
a. It is becoming common for a customer who arrives at the pharmacy to pick up a new prescription to receive only a one day supply. Then he has to return the next day for the rest. What is the harm? Inconvenience and wasted time is the harm along with exploitation of the consumer.
It is not about your chronic medications which you can call for on Monday and pick up on Wednesday. But if you visit a doctor who prescribes a new medicine, for example an antibiotic for a urine infection, and you go to pick it up, you may only receive enough for the first day. The reason for this is ostensibly because the pharmacy cannot maintain an inventory for all meds, but they certainly could do it for 50 of the most common meds. Did this inventory issue suddenly happen? There has to be more to this story, and it is not about putting the patient first.
b. The next issue is very worrisome. You will find pharmacists interrogating you, at the direction of the insurance or pharmaceutical companies, to find out why you are not taking your medicine the way that they think you should. For example, if you take a BP drug and you skip doses, or if your doctor has reduced your dose (eg take half a pill instead of a whole pill,) you will be interrogated as to why you haven’t been refilling your prescription in a timely manner.
The pharmacist will tell you that this is to make sure you are getting proper treatment, but it is just a sly marketing method in a society which allows more and more invasions of our privacy. It is also intimidation, because you have to wonder what will happen if you refuse to answer these inappropriate questions. The pharmacist I spoke to implied that they have no choice but to engage in this unprofessional behavior. She was uncomfortable about it.
But the pharmacist is an accomplice in depriving us of our rights to privacy, and I find that to be deeply disturbing, and I told her that. We don’t need big Pharma or big government treating us like children and/or asking questions that are none of their business.
Note: This article is based on my experience at one pharmacy in the area. I don’t know how prevalent this is. Consider it a “heads up.”