Pharmacies are like the people working there.

Walgreens shorted me twenty Avinza. I had a "factory sealed" bottle of 100, but could not find the other twenty. I told the Pharmacist and they said there is nothing they can do.

In California, I am told, if you go get your Class II meds and are shorted, you cannot go back to get the rest. They legally cannot dispense them without a prescription and according to their records, my prescription had been filled. They told me they double count them, so an error by them is highly unlikely. I told their pharmacist about it and left the task to him, expecting some form of explanation. When I did not hear anything I called him and found the evening I spoke to him was his last day with Walgreens. Hmmm. He had quit to work closer to his home.

I called the regional manager of their stores and the regional mgr of their pharmacies. They thanked me and said they would investigate. I am reducing my use of Avinza, so I had some left over. If I had not, I would have been in trouble.

They said their log showed they gave me 100 in one bottle and twenty in another. I told them that was NOT correct. I also keep a log and I can tell them every dosage I had taken, the hour and minute and date and dosage. For over 500 days I kept that log, so we can compare logs. Walgreens only gave me more than one container of Avinza once. I went on a 3 month vacation. Otherwise, they combine the quantity into one container.

I told them if it happened again, I would go to the DEA and then read the phone number of the DEA agency in our city. I wanted to make sure they knew I meant it.

NOW I look for the pharmacist's initials and "count" number on each bottle. I take Oxycodone as well. It would not bother me at all to ask for a count while I watched.

I think the part that disturbs me the most is them telling me if we leave the pharmacy with our meds, that prescription is considered completed. The customer is out of luck. If it happens to me again, I will complain to DEA and the State Agencies who monitor pharmacies. I would think Corporate would take DEA complaints seriously.