So mad at the pharmacy right now!

This is going to be long and if my spelling is terrible I apologize.  It's late and I'm not wearing my contacts. 

Lately, I've been doing okay not sick or anything.  Friday I made an appointment with my GYN because I was having horrible cramping and haven't had a period since July.  Well today I go see him and he feels a mass in my pelvis.  I also started my period and was cramping from that.  He prescribed me Hydrocodone for the pain, Estrodiol for my lack of sex drive and to stop my period and gave me a Depo Shot.  I drop my prescriptions off at CVS and run a few errands.  Well, when I come back through the pharmacy drive-thru.  The guy at the window checks my ID, has me sign for my meds and runs my debit card. Lo and behold, my card gets declined (so mortifying). Turns out I grabbed the expired debit card off the table this morning after activating the new one.  I realized the error and let him know I was going to run to the house to get my card and I'd be back in about an hour.  He said that was fine and just to let them know that I had already signed.  Less than an hour later I'm there picking up my meds.  I throw them in my purse and head home.

Fast forward to an hour ago.  I take my Estradiol and go to take a Hydrocodone.  I noticed the bottle was really light so I counted the pills.  There are 13 in a bottle that should contain 30!  I'm livid.  I know it's a narcotic and they won't replace the missing pills, but it's the principle of it.  I know no one around me has taken them as the only person around is my 2 year old and they were safely in my purse, on or near my person, the entire time.  I called the pharmacy to tell them what happened.  The girl on the phone treats me like I'm just trying to score free narcotics despite explaining repeatedly that I don't expect them to replace them and I understand that they can't.  I still feel like I've been stolen from and like they should do something to investigate it.  That's all I want.  Myself and the pharmacy are the only ones that had access to the medication.  I'm pretty sure I'd remember taking 17 Hydrocodone.  I even made sure to check my purse and the bag they were in to make sure the bottle didn't accidentally come open.  There was nothing there.  I can live with 13 of them, but I paid for 30 I should of gotten 30.  

What would you do?  Is there anything I can do?  I plan on calling the pharmacy again tomorrow to speak with the pharmacy manager.  It's just infuriating that the girl on the phone treated me like a drug seeker despite my repeatedly saying, "I'm not looking for you to replace them, but if you have someone taking pills there I feel like you should know.".  

call the manager, they should have video tapes on those pharmacy clerks, if someone is stealing, they need to know and need to look at those tapes before they get recorded over.

 

 

That was my whole point when I called them!  The girl was so rude and just treated me like I was trying to weasel more pain meds.  I called back a few minutes ago and the store manager told me the pharmacy manager would be there in the morning and gave me her name.  They had the opportunity to do this in the hour from when I signed saying I received the meds to the time I paid for them.  That's my fault, but if someone is stealing from them and their patients then they need to know who.  

I know there are lots of people out there that abuse the system and try to get free meds.  They probably rarely hear of anyone accidentally flushing their prednisone or their estrogen.  If I were insisting on a replacement I could understand the tech's poor attitude, but to treat me like that despite my repeatedly saying that I don't expect a replacement isn't right.

Perhaps the girl you spoke to on the phone was involved in the disappearance of the pills...?

Yes, definitely speak to the pharmacy manager.  As someone else already mentioned, most pharmacies have cameras precisely for things like this.

Lora

Oh good point!  There probably are cameras.  My pharmacy has a few of them that I've noticed.

Sounds like one of the pharmacists is a junkie on the downlow.  Since you know they won't replace the pills, call the manager and tell her that you would like 17 pills worth of your money back. Tell them that you are asking for your money in liu of replacing the pills because you know they won't give it to you.

I once went to the pharmacy and they put a whole bunch of literature in my bag along with the pill bottles, and when I got to my destination and 2 ENTIRE BOTTLES WERE EMPTY!  I didn't notice because there was a whole bunch of prescription information leaflets in the bag.  Welp luckily they caught their error, and I returned and and got my medication.

To be fair, I bet they get people calling saying things like that a lot to try and get more narcotics.  My mother used to work at a psychiatrists office as the receptionist, and she said patients regularly called trying to get more valium or ativan or stuff like that.  they would say someone stole their purse, or they dropped their bottle of pills into a sink full of dish water (when it was open), etc.

But yes, they should be concerned about the possibility of someone there taking the pills.  17 is a lot to take.  If they'd only taken two or three, you probably wouldn't have even noticed.

I would talk to the manager.  If it's a chain pharmacy, like CVS  or Walgreens or something like that, I would also contact the corporate office, especially if you aren't satisfied with the manager's response.

It's such a bad thing on so many levels.  Yes, you were a victim of theft.  You think you'll be OK with just 13 pills but what if you had something like cancer and were dying and they stole your pills?  And if the pharmacist is taking them, what if they are under the influence while filling scripts?  They could make serious mistakes.

Ha! I once actually tipped my newly opened bottle of pills over, and the whole thing rolled into a pot that i had in the sink filled with soapy dishwater. LOL Good grief, I guess i had the physician thinking I was trying to cop more meds.

I'm guessing it would depend on what type of meds it was and how often you called your doc claiming you spilled your pills into the sink.

If you don't get a satlsfactory response from the store manager tomorrow I would look up the coporate office and contact them.  Tell them of your concerns and that you think they need to do an investigation and you would like to be informed of the results.
If that doesn't go well then I would find out the regulatory department for pharmacies and contact them.