Reader Beth writes in to share her mom’s recent experience with a Walgreen’s pharmacist:
Last week my mom told me about the unfortunate experience she had at Walgreen’s. She had recently switched to a new antidepressant and when she came down with a cold was concerned about taking OTC cold medicine with it.
She went to the pharmacy counter and asked the pharmacist (at least she assumed it was the pharmacist, they were wearing the lab coat) if it was safe to take cold medicine with the Effexor. The pharmacist replied that they didn’t know. Not exactly a helpful answer, but I am sure there was a valid reason they couldn’t answer the question. What happened next was disturbing. My mom then asked if it would be ok to skip her Effexor for a day, so she could take the cold medicine without worrying. The pharmacist responded that “If you don’t take that Effexor no one will want to be within 25 ft of you.”
Now my mom isn’t ashamed of her depression, can laugh about it and is comfortable talking about. But this made her extremely embarrassed and uncomfortable about using the pharmacy. My mom is not dangerously depressed, but this pharmacist should have known better than to say this to a depressed person. You never know how unstable a person is. My mom chose not to complain, but I thought this was an example of how one employee can really alienate a customer.
Thanks,
Beth
That pharmacist was an unprofessional jerk! We want to hang out with your Mom no matter what. Give her a big hug from the Consumerist.
(Photo:meghannmarco)
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This is a non issue to me. At the very worst the guy was unprofessional as I’m sure we all have been at one time or another. Get over it.
What an assbag.
That’s totally rude and unacceptable. There’s a form at Walgreen’s website that you can use to send feedback to corporate, and there’s a space to put a specific employee’s name. Even if you guys don’t have the employee’s name, I’d drop Walgreen’s a note with the date, time, and location of this.
Here’s the link. Click on “Pharmacy staff.” [www.walgreens.com]
Wow, I never knew the D. in Pharm.D. stood for Douche.
That pill pusher needs to be puck back in line for that kind of attitude. Poor professionalism hurts a company more than you can shake a stick at.
99% sure it wasnt a Pharmacist. There are only 2-3 working at any one store while the rest of those “lab coat” techs are just that, techs who have no degree in pharmaceutical work and are usually just high school grads.
This is why we quit using Walgreens. They have some of the most incompetent pharmacy staff. Do you really want someone who can’t find their way out of a wet paper bag handling your prescriptions?
A pharmacist should be able to look in their computer system and also on the package insert for the prescription drug for any stated reactions. If nothing is listed they should have told her that there were no listed warnings but that isn’t a guarantee there isn’t a contradiction potential with the OTC drug.
The snarky comment was totally unprofessional. She could contact the state pharmacy board.
It could have been (and likely was) a pharmacy technician.
Heh, once I went into a Duane Reade and a pharmacist was consulting a friend of mine who has severe allergy problems. After trying nearly everything on the market, and being dissatisfied with their efficacy, she asked if there’s anything she could do to improve her condition.
The pharmacist responded first, “Move to Arizona.”
She then asked, “That’s not going to happen. Isn’t there anything that can like… knock out my immune system and get rid of my allergies?”
He replied, “Well, you can always get AIDS.”
Tell your mom next time to Google it. I’d never trust what the pharmacist said anyway…. especially now.
I’ve Googled medicine interactions to check what I’m prescribed before I take it. Cross reference a couple of sites (the three I checked all agreed) and you should be good. They let you put in the name of the medicines and choose from a list so she should be good.
Oh and switch pharmacies.
I stopped taking mine and people seem to still tolerate me.
While completely unrelated – Walgreen’s policy on supporting non-profits and service organizations is the reason I don’t do business with them anymore (the above is probably while I’ll never consider stepping foot in a Walgreen’s again – despite the fact they are building a new one just down the street).
In referring to the afforementioned support for service organizations, Happy Harry’s in DE had many of the eyeglass boxes for Lions Club International (you know – old eye glass collection). Without contacting the club, Walgreen’s came in and tossed every box, even wooden ones that had been handmade. Not only every box, but every pair of eyeglasses in those boxes.
This happened a few years ago and it’s exactly why I try to avoid “big” stores when at all possible.
Long live the small town pharmacies!
Um, white lab coat != pharmacist. Generally, most pharmacies will have a single on-duty pharmacist and a few pharmacy techs.
Also, if you have drug questions, it’s probably better to ask your doctor rather than a pharmacist. Just saying.
So a pharmacist had a bad day and was rude. This is supposed to be newsworthy?
Okay, I know that the statement was extreme and insensitive, BUT depression meds are one of the most difficult categories in driving patient compliance. Many patients feel “fine” and skip or stop taking their meds. I don’t think it is out of line for a pharmacist to warn strongly against skipping medication. This is obviously too strongly, but I at least think I see what she was getting at.
@burgundyyears: No way. Pharmacist >>> Doctor when it comes to drugs; most doctors know jack squat and there’s tons of ethical issues that sprout when it comes to doctors and pharmaceutical reps.
Most doctors don’t care to learn more about newer drugs that come onto the market unless they absolutely have to, and when they do, they often prescribe ‘newer’ medicines that don’t necessarily work any better than the older drugs.
Generally most pharmacists will make any recommendations to your doctor for alternative drugs that might work better for your condition or that might be a lot cheaper on your out of pocket expenses. They can’t legally diagnose your symptoms though so don’t ask.
I had a similar scenereo at the local Walgreens.. regarding a prescription/insurance thing and syringes and a comment to the effect, “Well you could always pay for it… There was even more scathing remarks I wish not to repeat after that.. The Pharmacist Tech has *NO* right to pass judgements on their clients.. it is considered unprofessional and I did report this to walgreens and later to the licensing board…. Walgreens never sent me an apology, nothing.. but the next time I went in there, the woman would NOT serve me and went and got the pharmacist who was actually very polite and courteous. I stopped going there shortly therafter when I realized they were overcharging me for a uncovered prescription and Costco was a MUCH better deal… by almost 50$
Moving to Arizona will not help your allergies. The pollen from the desert plants is as bad or worse than any other place. I love AZ, have lived there twice and plan to go back at retirement. But don’t be lulled into thinking moving to the desert will help allergies. It won’t.
Walgreens sucks. There must be minimal training on customer service there.
@COELACANTH:
Best answer:
“If that’s the case, why did you stop taking yours?”
Prick-and-a half.
well that’s a dick thing to do. i kind of hope he does say that to someone who’s severely unbalanced and the ensuing brawl ends up on youtube. proof he wasn’t a pharmacist, effexor is for mild to moderate depression. it’s doubtful she’d be that scary off her meds.
Anti-Depressant medications take several days to several weeks to get to a high, working level in your systems and likewise, can take a lot of time once you stop taking the medications to not be in your bloodstream at all. So, skipping one day to take another medicine that might not be incompatible is generally alright and you won’t actually notice a difference. However, your mom should never skip more than one day or any days actually without first consulting the prescribing doctor, not those teenagers behind the pharmacy counter.
I stopped using CVS because of their attitude and stupidity, lets hope my local Walgreens doesn’t follow the same road….no mom & pop pharmacies around here and COSTCO is too far
I have to say that sometimes it takes a slap up the head to get senior citizens to listen to ANY kind of medical advice, I can give them the benefit of the doubt.
I keep forgetting that AIDS jokes are not funny yet. In time, we will all get a good laugh.
Quit using Walgreens years ago when it took an hour to get a prescription filled and I was the only one getting a prescription.
They couldn’t find me in the computer or some crap like that.
I exclusively use a small retail pharmacy for all that. They’re very helpful. They know me by name when I walk in the door.
Wow. I am so glad that chains like Walgreens and CVS have put pretty much every local mom and pop pharmacy out of business.
If this took place in NYC or Boston, I don’t see that that this is very unusual
Skipping Effexor for a day isn’t going to make a bit of difference. Effexor, like most antidepressants, is a drug that must build up in your system before any effect is seen. Skipping one day is not going to eliminate it from your blood, so she’d still be subject to any interactions.
If she’s been depressed that long, she should know a little more about how the meds work.
She should absolutely file a complaint with that Walgreens. That person should not be behind that counter, pharmacist or not.
I don’t think you can generalize this to the chain though, I don’t think they have Starbucks-style pharma-rista training.
aaagh… what’s worse about this is it is, in fact, dangerous to stop taking Effexor suddenly, even for a day. It’s known for having some of the worst withdrawal symptoms of any of the SSRI-related (it’s an SSRI + norepinephrine) antidepressants out there – you have to be tapered off of it to avoid seizures (and even then you can experience horrible twitches and the like). When I switched off of it, by the end of the tapering I still had to take a quarter of the smallest mg pill offered every other day (for a couple weeks) to stave off pain, muscle spasms, and headaches.
Of course not everyone will respond the same way, but this pharmacy flunkie, by being an ass, also could have put your mom in danger.
(Effexor isn’t a MAOI, so cold medicines tend to be safe; it tended to be better for me to avoid meds w/ pseudoephedrine, though, so I didn’t get too wired.)
Small independently owned pharmacists aren’t the answer either. I have had nothing but problems with the small pharmacy near us. I thought that I would give the ‘small guy’ a chance. But after enough prescriptions had been messed up, billing screw ups, and the gouging we got on prices, I switched back to a pharmacy located in a big store. The other advantage that you get from a chain pharmacy in big store, is that the pharmacist is an employee and not working from paycheck to paycheck
@COELACANTH: Wow. As much as that is a completely offensive comment to be made, it actually made me laugh really hard – a pretty good joke for a pharmacist that any standup would be proud of.
Walgreens sucks. They are just a McDonalds for pills and should be treated as such. Call your doctor for info/issues with medicine. That’s the safest bet.
@camille_javal: I agree – good advice delivered horribly. I’ve been on Effexor for a while, and if I miss a day, by the time the next dose rolls around, I get light-headed and lose my equilibrium. When I tried to switch off it the first time and did it too quickly, I got horrible headaches and dizziness, experienced all too frequently what has been described by some as “Brain Shivers” or “Brain Zaps,” and, on point with the pharmacist’s comments, became very irritable. I was snapping at everybody, whether it was because of the horrible withdrawal symptoms or some chemical result of withdrawal. It was pretty nasty.
@masonreloaded: I laughed, she didn’t. Not everyone has the same sense of humour.
@burgundyyears: I have to disagree as well. A Pharm.D. is a four year degree that deals almost exclusively with drugs, and often doctors don’t know what they are supposed to give you. My girlfriend is a pharmacist – she often has to call the doctor to tell them that they are wrong. Keep in mind that pharma sales reps typically visit doctors, not pharmacists. There’s a reason you got a script for the name brand drug.
I would trust a pharmacist over a doctor regarding drugs always.
Hi. It’s a pharmacist or maybe even an assistant. Either way they don’t know what you can and can’t take together.
That’s why you have a doctor.
People don’t seem to understand that pharmacists are nothing like a doctor. That said, no a comment like that should never have happened.
Calling the doctor is okay if you don’t mind waiting, sometimes for days or weeks. If you’re in the pharmacy, you want the answer NOW. And pharmacists are trained in such things. Just be sure you really are getting the pharmacist. (S)he should be right there, but probably not staffing the counter.
@catcherintheeye:
You couldn’t be more wrong. That just means you have a bad doctor.
You let a pharmacist diagnose you and/or tell you that you shouldn’t be taking a medication when they know nothing about your situation and you are in trouble. (even if they did, they are in no place to tell you what to take)
Plain old unprofessional. I’m glad the woman takes a proactive approach to depression and doesn’t view it as a stigma. I for one have found that my local Krogers has an excellent pharmacy. Especially now that they’ve offered $4 generic prescriptions.
@lapazlinda: First, there is no suggestion in the story that her mother is a senior citizen. She could be 40 years old for all we know.
Second, she was doing exactly what she should do: Ask about drug interactions. If the technician doesn’t know he/she should consult with the pharmacist.
@camille_javal: EXACTLY!
Effexor is not something you want to stop taking suddenly, for any reason. I was on it for a short while, and missing a dose by even an hour resulted in some pretty severe withdrawal symptoms.
Do a search on “brain zaps” and you’ll see what I mean. The disorientation alone could put her in a dangerous situation. I would not want to have to try and drive like that.
@rochec: A pharmacist should be well-versed in drug interaction — or be able to look it up. That’s their job.
@rochec: you couldnt be more wrong…sorry you have such a dim view of my profession, though it doesnt help when walgreen’s ass-hats act this way because they are overworked. Any pharmacist worth their salt knows the answer to this patients question.
@bill51773: Win.
@SOhp101:
As a soon to be MD myself I would say that Pharmacists know their drugs much better than many Docs–many times Pharmacists call Doctors to advise a Rx change due to a drug interaction or contraindication, but you’re making vast generalizations about Doctors. Some of the things you say are true with some, but definitely not most Docs–at least in my experience. I personally refuse to take anything on the bill of a Drug Rep–my patients are just going to foot the bill for that in some way. I only prescribe/refer to drugs as their generic name and I personally try to use older, more proven drugs unless there is some huge proven benefit to some new drug (which in most cases there is not).
@burgundyyears: Ummm, white lab can also = Clinique.
Effexor is fine with OTC cold meds – I used to take it, before I developed a rash because of it.
The pharmacist/tech/store employee was right, though – most people who miss a dose of Effexor are evil until they get their system righted. It’s not their fault, but the drug really does have nasty withdrawal symptoms. I know that I didn’t want anyone I cared about to be within 25 feet of me if I’d run out of meds, because it was really really bad.
It should’ve been put much more kindly, that’s for damned sure… but
Theres nothing wrong with telling it like it is. This country is so overly sensitive. I would rather have someone be frank, if not blunt and to the point, instead of sugarcoating the answers to my questions. I don’t want to feel warm and fuzzy, I want to know the answer plain and simple.
Which do you think had more of an lasting effect:
Q: Should I not take my pills?
A: No you should take them.
Q: Should I not take my pills?
A: If you don’t take that Effexor no one will want to be within 25 ft of you.
You think she got the point?
@feralparakeet:
..errr… I was going to finish that thought, but nevermind.
It’s a pharmacist or maybe even an assistant. Either way they don’t know what you can and can’t take together.
You let a pharmacist diagnose you and/or tell you that you shouldn’t be taking a medication when they know nothing about your situation and you are in trouble.
@rochec, @rochec: A pharmacist is supposed to know about drug interactions, which is what Beth’s mom was asking about. She wasn’t asking for a diagnosis or whether the cold medicine would be OK for her given her personal health problems. It’s not the same thing. Whether or not a cold medicine will react badly with an antidepressant has nothing to do with her personally.
I wouldn’t expect a doctor to know about all the things you can’t take, eat, drink, or do while on a certain drug but I would expect a pharmacist to be able to tell me, even if they have to look it up first.