I've been benefitting from this community for a while but finally decided to come forward and contribute.

I was recently shorted, big time. And luckily I caught it before I left the pharmacy, otherwise I would have been screwed.

Had a bad case of asthmatic bronchitis. Painful chest congestion, coughing, etc. So, my doc prescribed me some antibiotics, prednisone, and vicodin 10/650 for the pain. 40 vicodin with 1 refill for another 40. (I wasn't expecting there to be an extra refill, I've never had refills on vicodin for other painful encounters such as root canals, broken bones, etc). But Im glad I paid extra attention to it.

I double checked the labels on my bottle and the script for the vicodin said 0 refills available. If I hadnt paid extra attention to the "1 refill", I would have been shorted 40 pills. Granted, is a medication I don't like to take because it is more difficult weaning off it. But I still like to follow my doctors orders and take the medicine as prescribed.

If I would haven't noticed, I would have walked out the door, gone home, and the pharmacy would have done whatever it does with the prescription note (what do they do with them after the script is filled anyways? Send them back to the doctor like a cancelled cheque? Or keep them on file).

Anyway, if I had walked out, try wouldnt have still had my prescription note still on their desk.

So, I gave them the bottle back and showed them the discrepancy.

They fixed it for me, no questions asked. But who knows if it was an honest mistake or if the pharm tech was trying to pull a fast one. Because she could have filled that other refill for herself and it would have looked like a legitimate transaction.

My point is, make sure you know exactly how many refills you have and exactly when they come up. I like to write the refill date on my current bottle along with the number of remaining refills.

It seems a little paranoid to count your pills before you leave the pharmacy, I guess you just have to trust them. But as soon as you walk out the door and then come back to say you are missing pills or the label is inaccurate, they won't believe you, especially if you are dealing with the person that either made the mistake (because his or her ego is too big to admit a mistake) or worse, trying to conceal that he or she intentionally shorted you. They'll make you look like the crazy person.

I like to choose a pharmacy that isn't always busy. CVS is great because you can manage all that info either online or smartphone app.

Thanks for taking the time to listen to the story about my experience. I look forward to contributing more to this community.

Mike