Posted: 1/30/2012 10:51:33 AM EDT
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After my surgery last Monday, I was prescribed Oxycodone for pain killers. My wife went and picked up my prescription earlier today from the local CVS. I just went to take one and do what I always do and count my pills. The bottle says 70, the paperwork says 70 but the bottle only has 60 in it. Do I call CVS and ask them to double check? Do they keep a log on each bottle they pull from? Is it gonna be my word versus their word?
Thanks for the advice. Buck |
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After my surgery last Monday, I was prescribed Oxycodone for pain killers. My wife went and picked up my prescription earlier today from the local CVS. I just went to take one and do what I always do and count my pills. The bottle says 70, the paperwork says 70 but the bottle only has 60 in it. Do I call CVS and ask them to double check? Do they keep a log on each bottle they pull from? Is it gonna be my word versus their word? Thanks for the advice. Buck Yes to all if the questions. Do you have teenaged children? May your wife have set some aside? |
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I would call the store and ask to speak to the manager about this. Someone in the pharmacy is stealing pills so I would try and talk to their boss instead of the pharmacy directly. Yep, if somebody in the pharmacy is crooked, talking to them will do you no good. |
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I would call the store and ask to speak to the manager about this. Someone in the pharmacy is stealing pills so I would try and talk to their boss instead of the pharmacy directly. This, and if you make it clear to them that you don't care about getting the 10 missing pills, they will take you seriously. |
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I would call the store and ask to speak to the manager about this. Someone in the pharmacy is stealing pills so I would try and talk to their boss instead of the pharmacy directly. This, and if you make it clear to them that you don't care about getting the 10 missing pills, they will take you seriously. This. Do it to cover your ass if not for anything else. |
| It's only the wife and I, no kids or anyone visiting. She doesn't take any meds since her prescription reactions in Nov/Dec. bottle was sitting on the coffee table here about 3 ft from me since 1100 this morning. I just don't want to go through a big ordeal over it. Most likely I won't use all the pills prescribed to me, my last prescription was for 3 days worth and it lasted me a week. So the 10 pills aren't a big deal, but I am still the responsible party for the 'controlled substance' and I don't want to take any chances. |
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It's only the wife and I, no kids or anyone visiting. She doesn't take any meds since her prescription reactions in Nov/Dec. bottle was sitting on the coffee table here about 3 ft from me since 1100 this morning. I just don't want to go through a big ordeal over it. Most likely I won't use all the pills prescribed to me, my last prescription was for 3 days worth and it lasted me a week. So the 10 pills aren't a big deal, but I am still the responsible party for the 'controlled substance' and I don't want to take any chances. You should always count your controlled meds there at the store. Might take a little time, but once you leave you really can't prove that they weren't there. They have people try to get more pills all the time so you can't really blame them. Maybe give them a quick call but don't push it, lest you be labeled a "druggie" by the store. Daniel |
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The count in the bottles prescribed, and count in the bottles in the pharmacy have to match. That is how the pharmacy knows if someone is snatching pills. Because your bottle says 70, and you got 60, someone at the pharmacy may have taken the 10. The pharmacy managers usually WANT to know if this is happening so they can fire the thief. I always count, and always let 'em know if it is short on anything, even antibiotics. Funny thing is though, antibiotics and similar stuff is almost never stolen.
I would call and speak with the manager right away. The longer you wait, the harder it is to sort it out. |
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Call the pharmacist immediately. If it was anything other than a counting error, someone is stealing drugs from the pharmacy. My wife got a mail order refill for Provigil (#90) a couple of years ago that had 12 Exedrin tablets in it. The count was right and the Exedrin tablets looked very similar to the Provigil tablets.
When I contacted the pharmacy they told me that they didn't even stock Exedrin in their pharmacy so it was obvious that something was terribly wrong. They instructed me to destroy the entire bottle of pills and that they would send another shipment immediately. I never heard from them to find out what the real story was, but it was rather obvious that someone in their operation was stealing drugs and replacing them with over the counter medication. |
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Its a local CVS, store #7550 in Sneads Ferry, NC. I am on hold waiting for the pharmacist since the pharmacy manager is out this week.
Ok, just spoke with the pharmacist and they are going to count down their containers and get back to me about the count in a few minutes. I tried to explain i didn't care about the pills, but he just said he would call me right back. Now we wait. |
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I have on rare occasion noticed missing pills from mine after I got home.
I always call the pharmacy and they note it on my chart and give them to me the next time. If you don't trust your pharmacy for pill count why would you trust them for making sure you get the right meds? 
BigDozer66 |
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Its a local CVS, store #7550 in Sneads Ferry, NC. I am on hold waiting for the pharmacist since the pharmacy manager is out this week. Ok, just spoke with the pharmacist and they are going to count down their containers and get back to me about the count in a few minutes. I tried to explain i didn't care about the pills, but he just said he would call me right back. Now we wait. Problem there is that the pills were pocketed, making the pharmacy count correct...this will only catch a mistake, not scum. <-My wife's comments....She is a ER Nurse. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Its a local CVS, store #7550 in Sneads Ferry, NC. I am on hold waiting for the pharmacist since the pharmacy manager is out this week. Ok, just spoke with the pharmacist and they are going to count down their containers and get back to me about the count in a few minutes. I tried to explain i didn't care about the pills, but he just said he would call me right back. Now we wait. Problem there is that the pills were pocketed, making the pharmacy count correct...this will only catch a mistake, not scum. <-My wife's comments....She is a ER Nurse. Yeah, but if you start getting enough earnest calls about this from different people as pharmacist/manager, it keys you into the fact that these pills are going somewhere besides home with your customers. |
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When I get my pain meds from the pharmacy, there is ALWAYS (2) sets of initials, written in pen, directly on the label. This ensures that the count has been done after the fill, not just once, but twice, and there is someone accountable if there is any discrepancy in the final delivery count. Sounds like they're not doing this at OPs pharmacy.  |
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The pharmacist just called back.
They counted down the container and found 10 extra in it. He then pulled he pharmacy tech aside and went through his logs, and narrowed it down to my script. He says either way the mistake would have been found tonite at closing. He put the pills aside and has them waiting for us to pick them up. Whew! I was a bit worried there for a few minutes! Thanks for all the help! |
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Could be you were prescribed 70 but insurance only allows 60? My wife takes relpax for her migraines. The prescription is for like 10 but she can only get something like 4 at a time unless she wants to out of pocket the rest The bottle would say "60", if that were the case. |
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Its a local CVS, store #7550 in Sneads Ferry, NC. I am on hold waiting for the pharmacist since the pharmacy manager is out this week. Ok, just spoke with the pharmacist and they are going to count down their containers and get back to me about the count in a few minutes. I tried to explain i didn't care about the pills, but he just said he would call me right back. Now we wait. Problem there is that the pills were pocketed, making the pharmacy count correct...this will only catch a mistake, not scum. <-My wife's comments....She is a ER Nurse. Yeah, but if you start getting enough earnest calls about this from different people as pharmacist/manager, it keys you into the fact that these pills are going somewhere besides home with your customers. And you can narrow down the possible people by who was working at that time. Couple of extra thoughts: Under Medicare rules (and presumably Tricare), not giving the patient what the insurance paid for is fraud (let alone the theft itself)....they take that seriously. Call and pursue it. AFARR |
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Quoted: The pharmacist just called back. They counted down the container and found 10 extra in it. He then pulled he pharmacy tech aside and went through his logs, and narrowed it down to my script. He says either way the mistake would have been found tonite at closing. He put the pills aside and has them waiting for us to pick them up. Whew! I was a bit worried there for a few minutes! Thanks for all the help! Someone was on autopilot at the pharmacy.  Glad you got it sorted. |
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The pharmacist just called back. They counted down the container and found 10 extra in it. He then pulled he pharmacy tech aside and went through his logs, and narrowed it down to my script. He says either way the mistake would have been found tonite at closing. He put the pills aside and has them waiting for us to pick them up. Whew! I was a bit worried there for a few minutes! Thanks for all the help! Good job! The tech was probably going to pocket those pills at the end of the day if you hadn't called. |
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i worked for CVS in college. Like you said, oxy is a controlled substance and your standard run-of-the-mill pharm. tech does not have access to these narcotics. They are generally locked in, literally, a safe and a log book is written in every time a Rx for a narcotic is issued. This means that only the Pharm.D's have access to the pills, and he/she was probably on the phone with some bullshit insurance company while they counted them and misnumbered b/c 60 pills count out is much more common in a Rx that is70. This is somewhat common, actually.
Worst case scenario the Pharmacist that counted your pills stole them, but he/she would have had to sign them out to your Rx. If he/she disputes, talk to the head Pharmacist. Pharmacies don't fuck with Narcotics allocation. Call, or better yet, go in and ask to speak directly to a Pharmacist b/c the little 18 year old cash register girl can't do anything with it. More than likely this is a case of the Pharmacist was distracted and not paying attention. Best of luck and if you have any questions, IM me. ETA: just read the updates, and glad you got it straightened out. I'd want those extra pillls bc they are expensive and don't go bad so you can keep them and use them 3 years from now if 200mg tylenol wasn't enough |
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I had a perscription for 10 ambien. CVS filled it and when the line to pay was very long. Out of boredom I openned the container and once again out of boredom counted the pills. There were only 9.
Went back to the pharmacy counter and explained my situation very politely. I really didn't give a damn about missing one ambien but jesus it was like I was accusing the pharacist of bank robbery. She raised her voice almost to point of yelling and was very confrontational. Mind you, there were other customers at the counter. All this over ONE missing ambien. Remember, all this was before I even left the store with the pills. After much going back and forth for about 15 minutes between the manager, the pharmacist, and myself they gave me one "extra" ambien like thy were doing me a favor. Fuck'em. Not even worth my trouble. By now there was quite a crowd of customers seeing what all the commotion was about. I put the one extra pill on the ground and stepped on it to crush it right in front of them. Told them "how many drug seekers would do that". All this over ONE ambien. God help you with the 10 missing oxys. There going to accuse you of stealing them. I assure you. |
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Quoted: The pharmacist just called back. They counted down the container and found 10 extra in it. He then pulled he pharmacy tech aside and went through his logs, and narrowed it down to my script. He says either way the mistake would have been found tonite at closing. He put the pills aside and has them waiting for us to pick them up. Whew! I was a bit worried there for a few minutes! Thanks for all the help! Glad it was just an honest mistake. |
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After my surgery last Monday, I was prescribed Oxycodone for pain killers. My wife went and picked up my prescription earlier today from the local CVS. I just went to take one and do what I always do and count my pills. The bottle says 70, the paperwork says 70 but the bottle only has 60 in it. Do I call CVS and ask them to double check? Do they keep a log on each bottle they pull from? Is it gonna be my word versus their word? Thanks for the advice. Buck Somebody stole some, those are very abusable and sought after. Call the pharmasict, the pharmacy should have a vid system. Call the police as soon as you are off the phone with the pharmacist. Call CVS corporate next. Someone with be getting an ass fucking on that one unless the head pharmacist themselves took them, in which case corporate will have them doing random urine tests and watching the inventory. ETA: I bet its a scam the tech has going. If you didnt count and call they probly would have snagged them before the C2 inventory is done. |
| It would be a good idea to go ahead and call the Home Office of CVS and relay your experience with someone over pharmacy operations and also request that you have a meeting with the CVS district manager. I worked in the retail pharmacy business for a long time and saw many many scams pulled by the pharmacist. And the clerks. Had one pharmacist in south Georgia, near a college, that was living way above his means. Investigation found him to be selling controlled drugs to the students. Off to prison he went. And one of his tricks was shorting drugs on the pill count. As stated...the "good stuff" is kept locked in a safe, or should be, that only the pharmacist should have acess to. |
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Judging from the fact that the Pharmacy Manager is out of the store for a few weeks and they didn't seem to take too long to find the error; it leads me to believe this may be more than an isolated incident. I am going to follow up with the Manager next week and ensure he knows that there was an issue with more than 1 prescription.
Thanks again for the help! |
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Quoted: Was there? People take vacations, go to training etc. Don't make mountains out of molehills.Judging from the fact that the Pharmacy Manager is out of the store for a few weeks and they didn't seem to take too long to find the error; it leads me to believe this may be more than an isolated incident. I am going to follow up with the Manager next week and ensure he knows that there was an issue with more than 1 prescription. Thanks again for the help! |
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Quoted: The pharmacist just called back. They counted down the container and found 10 extra in it. He then pulled he pharmacy tech aside and went through his logs, and narrowed it down to my script. He says either way the mistake would have been found tonite at closing. He put the pills aside and has them waiting for us to pick them up. Whew! I was a bit worried there for a few minutes! Thanks for all the help! They keep that shit locked tight. |
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Judging from the fact that the Pharmacy Manager is out of the store for a few weeks and they didn't seem to take too long to find the error; it leads me to believe this may be more than an isolated incident. I am going to follow up with the Manager next week and ensure he knows that there was an issue with more than 1 prescription. Thanks again for the help! Your logic doesn't make sense. If they found the pills in the original container, it must have been accidental. If someone was stealing drugs, the count would have matched the log. Why would someone purposely steal your pills and leave them in the container with a log that doesn't match the inventory? |
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Judging from the fact that the Pharmacy Manager is out of the store for a few weeks and they didn't seem to take too long to find the error; it leads me to believe this may be more than an isolated incident. I am going to follow up with the Manager next week and ensure he knows that there was an issue with more than 1 prescription. Thanks again for the help! Your logic doesn't make sense. If they found the pills in the original container, it must have been accidental. If someone was stealing drugs, the count would have matched the log. Why would someone purposely steal your pills and leave them in the container with a log that doesn't match the inventory? Bet they would not still have been in the bottle when the count was done tonight
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