CVS Nightmare- Is it a national phenomenon?

dietz199
Wed, 17 Nov 2021 21:40:47 +0000

My heart rate just went to aerobic levels reading your response. That is precisely what happened to H recently. He had knee replacement surgery. The prescription is written as take 1-2 tablets every 2-4 hours as needed. He got a count of 60. Quick math will tell you that taken at the highest allowed dose (which is perfectly reasonable for the first week or so) you run out of tablets 2.5 days. First refill attempt - the pharmacy tells us - not time for a refill. Okay, doc overrides. Now pharm says insurance won’t cover so we didn’t fill. I say OKAY. I Pay. They say - okay it will be ready tomorrow. UM. HE is greenish grey NOW and needs this stuff.

Next refill, we’re told, you just refilled this…doc gets involved. Takes the better part of the day. But now Costco pharmacy doesn’t have any Oxy. Don’t know when they will get it. Something about a pharmacy is actually limited to the number of pills it can dispense in a certain amount of time. So - please transfer to Walgreens.

Oh HolY Cow Muck… NOW we are in the ‘pharmacy shopping’ category. 6+ hours of back and forth between doc, Walgreens and Costco. Finally doc says ‘I spoke with the pharmacy - they are filling the prescription right now’. It takes me 10 minutes to get there…and…wait for it…wait for it…the pharmacy says they haven’t filled it because they need to hear from the doctor. (this had been a problem several times when I tried to fill just a regular drug - the kind that doesn’t make the FDA/DEA heads explode. Somehow Walgreens never gets the request…hmm).

At this point I am close to tears. I tell the pharmacist I will need to call the fire department because H can no longer get up and be mobile enough to do the basics of life. And, frankly…I could just go to one of the many homeless encampments and score him some until they figure out what to do! (No, I wouldn’t actually have done that). A few more minutes and suddenly my name is called (ahead of the 8+ other people who were furiously mulling around). And I get the danged pills.