Hi, good morning, I need to ask questions regarding about a incident that happen with CVS pharmacist and talking badly about me as patient to my md office. Also, refused to give back a prescription that required me and still at this time to take to other pharmacy to get refill. What are my rights as a patient? What can I do? When discussing my prescription which I feel he violated my rights due to fact, that he stated out loud what the md wrote on the prescription, when other patient around. What can I do to hold this pharmacy responsible for their actions?
Unless a prescription has been forged, altered or some other reason that it is not a LEGAL PRESCRIPTION… and the authorities should be contacted… otherwise, the prescription BELONGS TO THE PT… and a Pharmacist confiscating a pt’s prescription is nothing short of THEFT. Since the authorities were not called… I must presume that the prescription was LEGAL…
I can only speculate why the Pharmacist confiscated this prescription and one of them could be that the Pharmacist could be involved in abusing or diverting (selling) controlled substances and this would be one way that he/she could get their hands on a C-II drugs without having the Rx dept’s C-II inventory being out of balance. Could even bill the pt’s insurance to lessen his/her out of pocket costs.
On the down side for the pt and prescriber… if the prescriber gives the pt another prescription and to be filled at a different pharmacy.. the insurance company would reject the claim… because of the previous prescription diverted by the pharmacist that confiscated the first prescription. Also on the state’s PMP.. it would be viewed as the pt being a pharmacy shopper and the prescriber being viewed as “over prescribing”.
Will the local prosecuting attorney or Sheriff/Chief of police accept and pursue a claim of theft of personal property by a known person ? I don’t know… I would suggest that after a week has passed … the pt should contact their insurance company to see their was a claim in their name for the medication on the specific date from that specific pharmacy. I would also suggest that the pt request the prescriber to check the state’s PMP database to see if the prescription was filled under the pt’s name on that date … if the prescription had been filled for cash.
If any of those issues prove to be true the pt then should contact the chain pharmacy’s legal dept and/or loss prevention with the facts that would suggest diversion by one of their employees.
I see almost every week where a healthcare professional is charged with drug diversion.. this theory is not far outside of what is going on everyday in healthcare.
Filed under: General Problems
The state pharmacy board needs to be alerted to this behavoir and I agree this could be someone attempting diversion, think I would’ve called police myself rather than leave without out my script, I’m sure you were intimidated and feeling humiliated though. This crap needs to stop. Maybe you could call your insurance and alert them to reject approval for the med if an attempt to fill it occurs. I wouldn’t wait a week though. Be proactive.