Do I have any rights when Pharmacy gives my Rx to a stranger?
So I went to Dr. on Wed and rec'd an Rx. Pharmacy did not have it in stock, said to come back Thursday. Thursday was crazy busy with first day of school and other things and I was actually feeling better (allergies) - Friday was busy and I was feeling okay - then this morning the allergies came back full force and I couldn't stand it. The pharmacy autocall had been calling to say the Rx was ready. I go to pick it up and they say that I picked it up on Thursday at 5:22pm. Um, no I didn't. They are trying to say my husband must have - um no he didn't. A friend - NO. Nobody I know picked it up. Nobody knew about it and I hadn't asked anyone. Well, when you go pick up an Rx normally they ask your birthdate and street address. We have insurance and I always use the auto pay so I never have to give any money for any Rx. This person paid with a Visa rather than using our insurance. I want to know who this person is - the popular pharmacy that is on every corner said they have video footage and can roll it back to see the person. They are mad at the person like "if they got the wrong Rx why not give it back" - I think THEY are to blame - and i know it's only a stupid allergy Rx but I must have some rights - I don't know what I'm looking for - other than maybe the name of ther person that picked it up. They ended up giving me another Rx for free. But my insurance would have paid for it - not like it was expensive anyway. The mgr is going to call me on Monday - any tips on what I should expect or any recourse?
The person who picked it up needs to have charges filed against them. And the store needs to offer an apology for not verifying this person's identity prior to giving them the prescription, as well as taking some sort of action to prevent this from happening again.
The person who picked it up is the one with the problem. He/she may have taken some of it without checking name on package, could be a serious problem taking the wrong med.Pharmacy is wrong but problem is not with you but other customer.
This same pharmacy filled an Rx for our son a few years ago when swine flu was huge. It was for Therflu - and the ER doc made a mistake and wrote a double adult dose for a 5 year old. The pharmacy knew it was a double adult dose but didn't think to question the Dr. and filled it anyway. I should have left at that point but I like one of their pharmacists a lot - she wasn't the one who made that mistake. Our son ended up in the hospital for a week. Who should take action against the person who picked up my Rx? Me? Or the pharmacy or both? It must be illegal to pick up someone elses Rx!
The good news is that the transaction was made with a card and not cash... Easier to find out whodunnit and take action. I think you may have to work with the store on trying to press charges against the person who took the prescription.
The good news is that the transaction was made with a card and not cash... Easier to find out whodunnit and take action. I think you may have to work with the store on trying to press charges against the person who took the prescription.
I didn't know if the store and I could press charges since it was only an allergy med and nothing stronger. Then I thought about my parents - and how a senior citizen might pick up their own eye drops and not realize the name on the label was wrong - which would make it the store fault. I don't know what to do - am bracing myself for the store phonecall on Monday.
Just as a note to everyone...Every state has a state board of pharmacy that handles complaints regarding pharmacies. Google yout state board and contact them if you have a complaint.
I work in this arena and unfortunately this happens all the time. It could be that the other patient is taking the wrong medication and hasn't caught the error. If the prescription is not for a controlled substance, the pharmacy will likely replace. However, you could be dealing with an innocent patient who was sold the wrong medication and is probably just as upset as you are!
States have specific laws surrounding allergy medicine so don't just assume it's "just" an allergy medicine and not worth their time. The reason that all of those decongestants with a D on them are behind the counter is because people use their ingredients for meth, so most of those can only be sold by showing a photo ID.
If it's a legitimate mistake, and someone has the wrong medicine, the drug store shouldn't want that either - perhaps the person is allergic to it. Being sued is something they don't want. They can lose their pharmacy license for giving people the wrong prescription.
You also don't need someone having your information as well - your insurance number is probably on the package as well as your address. Hopefully they didn't charge YOUR insurance for it. They need to research what and who they gave your meds to.
If it was an accident, you don't necessarily have a right to know who the person is. That is, if the pharmacy made the mistake (gave it to someone with a similar name) their privacy information is still protected, so the store can't just give you the person's name or address.
Now the store may not want to admit it was their mistake. If it was a mistake, the person should have returned the meds, but legally they're not required to.
The pharmacy should be willing to press charges against the person who picked up the meds if the pharmacy didn't make the mistake. If they're not willing to press charges against the person, I would guess that it was the pharmacy's mistake.
I once accidentally got my cousin's prescription. I didn't even know the cousin (his name was Colin, and mine is Colleen). I only found out I HAD a cousin Colin when I got home and realized it was the wrong med (I was living with my parents at the time).
I took the prescription back the next day, and the pharmacy tech acted like I had commited a crime. "Didn't you look at the bag?" she asked in a very snippy, condescending tone (She was the same woman who had given me the meds the day before, so I said in a matching tone, "Didn't you, and isn't that in fact, your job?")
I've had to shop for a new pharmacy two or three times for medication errors. It wasn't the error medications that made me choose a new pharmacy, it was deceptive behavior on the part of pharmacy staff. For example, at one pharmacy I was told the medication error was because of the doctor's illegible handwriting on the scrip (but the medication was the third refill on that scrip and they'd gotten it right the first two times).
I'm not saying your pharmacy staff are lying to you, but if they aren't willing to pursue legal action against the person, I would strongly suspect it.
Vex - wow - never ever ever thought of that person having my ADDRESS now and all that info that is stapled to the front of the Rx bag. Geez! Someone else told me it's a violation of HIPA. I don't know what to think. Kaplods - I do think it's the pharmacy fault. And I am annoyed. I do take other medications - nothing major - thyroid, cholesterol, but not long ago when I lost my Dad - my Dr. prescribed a heavy duty Rx to keep me calm during the funeral just incase I needed it - it was only for 12 pills - and I had it filled "just in case" - luckily for me I never needed them and never used them. But if a stranger had been given that Rx I would have been - well, really upset that someone knew my business and that I had that Rx. This is turning into a cluster the more I think about it.
Good point about each state having their own laws - I should google that
Last edited by chickadee2; 08-25-2012 at 09:17 PM.
This is a HIPAA violation (basically, because the disclosure links information identifying you...your name, your address, etc...with your medical information, that's a legal violation). There are no rights or remedies for you associated with a HIPAA violation of this kind, although the pharmacy could be fined.
Unfortunately, they can't give you the name of the other person who picked up your prescription, either - because that person is likely to be a different customer of the pharmacy, so telling you their name would also be a HIPAA violation. The exception would be if the person represented themselves as you in order to pick up your prescription - that would change the rights of that individual.
mandalinn - the pharmacy still claims that the person came in and used my name - I'll never know the truth.
If the pharmacy claims that the person used your name, then a crime has been committed against you, and you can go to the police and press charges (identity theft and petty larceny and perhaps other charges would apply. Since your insurance was used for the first prescription there would probably be grounds for insurance fraud as well).
The pharmacy may not give you the identifying information of the perpetrator, but they will have to give the information to the police if charges are filed. And then you will be able to get the information, because the police report and any charges filed will be a matter of public record.
Since this person apparently knows you well enough to use your name at the pharmacy, this could happen again if you don't change pharmacies (and if the person is someone who you trust and do not suspect, even changing pharmacies will not help... most identity theft cases are perpetrated by close family and friends, so even if you trust someone implicitly do not share your pharmacy choice with anyone, though if they see you in the drug store, that may not be much help). Most pharmacies do allow you to flag your account so that anyone picking up the medication needs to show ID (this may mean though that you can't have anyone or only can have a limited number of people pick up your medications for you).
I would suggest going to the police, but to do so you have to be willing to press charges no matter who the perpetrator happens to be (would you be willing to press charges for example if it turned out to be a close friend or family member - in many cases you will not be able to drop the charges and in some cases you can be charged if you fail to testify against the person. I only say this because when I was a probation officer I saw it happen).
Most pharmacies do allow you to flag your account so that anyone picking up the medication needs to show ID (this may mean though that you can't have anyone or only can have a limited number of people pick up your medications for you).
I recommend this approach. It's a little bit of a pain in the butt when I have to pick up a prescription, since I can't have anyone else do it for me, but I was a victim of prescription fraud (someone pulled a bottle from somewhere, presumably my trash, and called the pharmacy to request a refill on a pain medication for my shoulder - there were no refills, but the pharmacy called my doctor and requested the refill - she phoned over a new prescription, and I only found out when the pharmacy then called the phone number on my account to tell my that my prescription was ready.
It would blow my mind if one of my friends used my name to get silly eye drops. I didn't tell anyone I was going to an eye dr. that day! Nobody knew about the eyedrops! All of my friends have great medical insurance and great family incomes - there would be no need to pretend to be me - I wonder if the pharmacy WILL file charges - I'm guessing they won't - I'm guessing they'll realize that they screwed up and if that's the case then they wouldn't have grounds to press charges. I am changing pharmacis though - that's for sure!!! And I will tell the new pharmacy to ask for ID. Thanks for all the advice everyone!
Do I have any rights when Pharmacy gives my Rx to a stranger?
