I hope it was my one goofy pharmacy…

General
1

Okay – I keep meaning to ask if this happened to anyone else – so here it goes:

 

When I was on syringes, the Walg****’s near us was my pharmacy.  Now, I gave a lot of shots back then (every time I ate so 5-14 a day, depending)… I did have a prescription to cover them, however, a lot of times the pharmacist would lie and tell me they were out and awaiting a shipment.  At first, it was just a suspicion that they were lying but later I did some testing and would send my wife in to buy them within 10 minutes of my walking out and (miracle of miracles) they didn’t have to wait three days for a shipment and they were not completely out – and she could buy a full box (without giving the name or referencing my script).  This was tested several times with my wife and with others who later volunteered.  It was frequent, insulting, offensive and annoying.

 

My best guess or hope is that they thought I was a druggie instead of a T1D – but even so, unless I misunderstand the laws, I think they were supposed to sell them to me… 

 

I sent an email through the drugstore’s website, to which I never got a response, however, I always wondered if (and really hoped that) it was just me… 

 

Did anything like this ever happen to any of you??? 

 

A-D

2

This has never happened to me, but I have been refused the sale of test strips by a local pharmacy.They were locked up and the girl would not call the person with the key. Because people steal them. I was standing there with the money. DUH! I hope this did not happen to many people. It is a crying shame.

3

This happens to me all of the time.  I often buy my syringes at Walmart (cus they're super cheap) and they almost always (95%) state that they only have 1 box for the type of syringe I want.  When I send my wife to the counter a couple of minutes later they seem to have more. 

I have no idea what the laws dictate... but yes it's incredibly annoying.

**EDIT - I should also point out that I buy the syringes without a prescription, (Who needs insurance coverage when the box of 100 is only $12) which might also be whey they have the 1 box rule.

4

oh man maybe they are biased because you guys are men and they assume that a man buying syringes is immediately a drug addict. sheesh look up the records people. that is discrimination against men and i am so sorry you guys have to go through that.

5

I have had many problems just to get the correct syringes prescribed for my son.  First they gave me up to 100 unit ones, then got the up to 30 unit ones (finally) just before our vacation.  So get to Hawaii and wouldn't you know it, the needles are not the short needles which may be fine for adults, but not for a three year-old.  So I went into a pharmacy there with Colby's kit in hand and made some joke about him being the drug addict and not me.  They brought me out one pack and sort of looked at me funny when I asked for a few more packs.  Cannot say that I have had the same issue, but it is a strange thing to have to ask for them and make sure you are getting the right kind.

6

Not sure if this helps at all.. but prior to the pump we bought lots of syringes and we ended up going through my husband's insurance as we got a better deal, plus we could get a 3mth supply for 1 co-pay and they were shipped right to our house which was really convenient and eliminated the whole going to the pharmacy thing.  We were having lots of issues with our pharmacy too.. which is why we looked into the switch.  Something to look into..or even see if you can with your ins.  I didn't even know it was an option until I looked into it.

7

I don't think I've every experienced this, and I've used Walgreens for a long time. (I know, you used "Walgreths", right?) I often don't trust contacting a company like them via their website, or via email.

If I noticed something like that happening, I'd write a letter to the pharmacy's manager, and copy both the pharmacy's corporate HQ and the state's attorney general's office. You'd be surpised how quickly a customer service issue can be resolved when they see that CC at the bottom of a letter.

8

That is messed up. granted I have never dealt with syringes and no scrip/ insurance but one could only guess that they may be wondering what you are up to. I find it odd that they may be classifying you as maybe a druggie or something, but you have done various tests to see that is is just you.

I have to agree with other Brian, sometimes you do need to take your concerns higher. If nothing else it would make the pharmacy techs think twice about judging people. More so it will help others who may buy stuff there less uncomfortable because you challeneged them, so to speak. Good luck.

9

Oh man A-D, that really stinks I have never had that happen or hear of anyone else that has happened to. But then again I don't know anyone that has to pay for their syringes. NOt trying to rub that in anyones face either.

I definitely would not have  written an email. If that were me I would have went to a manager called everyone and their mother to get that matter taken care of. That is discrimination.  Start calling A-D!! haha I am really sorry you had to deal with that more than once it really stinks.

10

ya, i've been given a hard time, specially when I go to inner city pharmacies,

How ever i have noticed from experience each pharmacy is different! On the pump if the site goes bad and i don't have one to replace it I have had to buy syringes on occasion.

Some will call your insurance to make sure you are diabetic, others demand a prescription for insulin or syringes, others jut want to see that you have a bottle of insulin. Last time I was GIVEN a single wrapped syringe free of charge, others have made me pay 10 dollars for a bag of them. Each and every single one is different, I have found NO consistencies.

It is a crazy mixed up world for a diabetic... and were all stuck in it.

11

Oh, yes, similar things have happened to me.

Here's a story for you-

On the first day I was starting on my pump, the pump educator came to my house and we got everything programmed and stuff. So it comes time to fill the cartridge for my pump, so I take out my last insulin pen cartridge (we were not informed before this day to have vials instead of cartridges). Anyway, since my pump educator and I were so smart (not), we drew out the air to push into it like you always do with vials. And, of course, as you can imagine (if you've used pen cartridges), when the air was pushed in...pop goes the plug on the cartridge and all of the insulin spills onto my counter.

So...we call up the pharmacy at 6:03pm to get a prescription of insulin vials filled, and what do they tell my mom on the phone? "We're sorry, but we close at 6:00." Are you kidding me? Now, we had been using this pharmacy for the last four or five years, they knew me because I went there so often, and they had always been pretty nice to me. Until now. After my mom tries several times to get them to get us a prescription right away, they still refuse. So, my pump educator proceeds to take the phone from my mom and try to pursuade them herself. I believe her words went something like this:

"You have been closed for only five minutes, so I don't believe it would be too much trouble to fill a prescription right now. If you want this girl to live through the night, then you will fill a prescription for Novolog right now and let us come down there and pick it up."

Well, it was a nice attempt (maybe a bit dramatic), but they still would not fill it. So, after hanging up the phone, we had to call the doctor on call from my endo's office, they had to call a different pharmacy (Walgreens), get them to fill an emergency prescription of Novolog vials, and my dad had to drive over there and, after an hour, he finally arrived back home with the insulin, which cost more since it was an emergency fill at a different pharmacy. I then finished off the process, thankfully, without any other mishaps.

What a great way to start on my pump, right? (=

|†~*Sarah*~†|

12

Do you have long hair A-D?  Do you drive a motorcyle?  :)

The same thing happened to me, one morning.  We have a supermarket here in Arizona called "Bashas" and I went early one morning for syringes since I had used my very last one the night before for dinner and then re-used it later for Lantus.  I went without showering (it was my freshman year of college, and I think I only had one class that morning and I was already late) and I had quite long hair at the time.  Needless to say I've quite frequently been mistaken for being part of a "rough crowd", and at some points of my life have even been a part of this type of crowd... but, I've never been judged like I was about to be by someone who didn't know me at all.

I asked if the pharmacy was open... "No, not until 9 AM".

I asked if they had any syringes to sell that were not OTC from the pharmacy... She raised her eyebrow.

I said that some supermarkets (at least used to) sell syringes by the diabetic products - ensure, diabetic vitamin supplements, glucose tablets, etc.

She gave me a once-over and then a twice-over, and said something along the lines of "I'm sorry son, we don't carry anything like that.  No, we don't carry anything like that at all."  She then turned her back and left, leaving her very snarky tone that seemed to suggest, "please, kid... get some help" lingering with me, just standing there.

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I've also had the pharmacist have me show her my glucometer to have me prove to her that I actually was a diabetic.

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Also, one time hanging out with one of my friends from my previous "rough crowd", he asked me what type of syringes I used after I gave myself a shot.  I told him that I used BD utra-fine syringes.  He then said in a surprised voice, "those are the ones I used to use, too."  He had a history of heroin abuse. :-(

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Finally (I really shouldn't have so many stories relating to this), one of my co-workers who used to be a probation officer working with delinquent children and teenagers told me a story.  There was a young kid in his teenage years who was type 1 diabetic who had developed an addiction to heroin and subsequently got involved in crime.  He had been on and off the drug for a few years but the kid claimed, "I think I could get off of heroin if I wasn't diabetic.  Injecting myself with insulin always reminds me of injecting other drugs, and it encourages me to go look for my next fix no matter what I'm injecting."

OK, that's all.

13

Here's a "goofy" pharmacy story - although it's not so much about them refusing to provide meds. Several years ago I picked up my insulin prescription (vial) and when I got home I noticed it was the wrong stuff. I think was before Lantus was available, and this may have nph I was getting. Because the whole prescription/insurance issue always seems like a fragile issue, I got a little worried about what was going to happen resolving this.

I call the pharmacy and tell them have the wrong kind of insulin, and the woman says, "Are you sure?" Huh - like I wouldn't recognize my own stuff? She tells me to come back and they'll "take a look." When I get there, someone at the counter starts to give me a hard time, questioning if it's right, and actually tries to tell me I could be wrong - despite the fact that the insulin package and the accompanying receipt/label thing say different things. As soon as I started raising my voice loud enough using words such as "you've given me the wrong medication" - that's when she started being cooperative (and a bit worried.) They quickly resolved it and sent me on my way, hoping I'd keep my mouth shut. Three months later - the same thing happened again. I wrote some serious complaint letters (to the pharmacy and others) and for a very long time after that I noticed my rx usually had some extra care taken with it. There were even hand written notes on the bag with things like "double-check it's the right insulin".

That store had a lot of problems, and after it got a new manager and some new staff, things completely turned around. As I pointed out in my complaints to them - with my insulin, I know what I should be getting, and I worry how many people have received the wrong medication and wouldn't know any better? 

14

BrianC,

I was given the wrong vial a number of times from different pharmacies - So far it hasn't happened through the mail order (that would really be tough to fix)... No fun - I just figured my local pharma was bad... sorry to hear it happened to someone else too :(

Cheers!

A-D