If
 

If your label says 60 and there are 30 inside.... there are two reasons...

1) a mistake
2) they were out of stock and should give you an owe slip.

If the RX said 60 and you got 30 and 30 is typed on the label, then
there is an insurance problem.

Some insurances only allow so many days of Allegra per year (mine does this)
Once you go over that allotment, you have to pay for the balance.

If your pharmacy is constantly shorting you --- report them to the
board of pharmacy in your state. And/or call Corporate directly.

Don't they have record of quantity dispensed by automated dispensor?
 

I see automated dispensors. Are all medications dispensed first by automated dispensor - in which case they would have a record of number requested,
30 compare with quantity on bottle 60, and immediately reconcile?

They perahaps should then have to manually count to ensure automated dispensor did not give too many - problem solved.

Unfortunately, Walgreens pharmacist is defensive, and i have been forced
to go somewhere else now that is not open 24 hours a day, but has much lower pharmacist turn-over. They have never shorted me (Costco).

Two shortages in one year = $60 overcharge to insurance, and $40 overcharge to me. I can not overlook possibilty that this is intentional.
There appear to be no controls in place to prevent :mad:

Hi Tarl,

I see that you're a new member.....welcome to NeuroTalk! I copied your first post over to our New Members Forum so you could be properly welcomed. Glad you found the site!!

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/k...acewelcome.jpg

automated counters...
 

The large machines like RiteAid uses....called ScripPro
Those have a laser sensor and when the calibration key loosens with vibration,
those tend to OVERCOUNT Rxs. Hence the pharmacy loses money. The pills will fall thru the opening in twos or threes and be counted as one by the laser. (and I may add that people rarely call back to say they got over the stated amount. Perhaps only 10% in my experience notify the pharmacy of an overage)

Tabletop counters also may overcount, since they use light also.
However the Baker units may undercount. (they do not use lasers, and are pretty old fashioned and I haven't seen them recently in stores for this reason.
They make alot of drug dust and cause OSHA issues.

I have never seen a modern machine robot counter UNDERcount.

There are dishonet people in this world...however, pharmacists are less common.
The techs however, are often dishonest.
If and this is a big IF something dishonest is going on there, and stealing is bigtime, then they would be doing something to conceal it. Stealing from customers is dangerous and rather stupid to hide their own stealing. Because obviously customers notice and draw attention to the behavior. But it is possible.

You have to realize that the percentage of customers that lie to get what they want in pharmacies is very high. So over time pharmacists can get rather jaded. There is no excuse for "defensiveness" on the part of pharmacists however. Defensiveness suggests concealing of "something".

If you have that little vial that obviously cannot hold 60 tablets as appears on your label, I'd suggest you hold on to it, and call corporate headquarters and complain. Take a photo of it. On the bottle bottom is the size in drams printed on it. A 13 dr vial is obviously not going to hold 60 Allegra 180s.
Now, if it is only Allegra they are shorting you.... you need to call your insurance company and find out if Allegra benefits are limited. But if you are being shorted on other than Allegra, then you need to document and make a fuss. I sure would. We have a very liberal insurance and this limitation on Allegra caught me on vacation of all times. So I know it exists for others.
If you were limited this way, your label would read 30, not 60.

If something really bad is going on in that pharmacy, and corporate suspects it but cannot prove it yet, your complaint may be very crucial to getting it action there. So I really suggest you do that.

DO NOT complain further at the store local level. The manager may be part of any organized theft ring...and therefore
your complaint would be buried. (I have seen that happen! Trust me)

I suppose its always possible for anything to make mistakes, us or machines. However, CVS is all over the new in Atlanta area for making mistakes with giving out the wrong medicine and its not once in awhile. So, I would bring it to their attention, no matter what pharmacy it is that you use, so it can be corrected.

I use a local family owned pharmacy and any time they may not have enough of something to fill my script, they always let me know how many they owe me and when they will have it available. Also, if a pill changes form, they always call that to my attention so I will know that what I got was right but that it may have a different shape or color. This usually happens with generics.

National medication shortage blamed on manufacturing not meeting supply***not true***
 

ROXICODONE & OXYCODONE are unavailable in South Florida. They are non-existent for about a week now and this goes in cycles. I'd like to call the regulators the "DataEntryAssistants". Since myself and others in pain are just a statistic and deprived of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. They could care less of persons with long-term pain, pain that can't be fixed by surgery, Grandma's & Grandpa's that served our country and now suffering tremendously in their "Golden Years".

This is ridiculous. I am permanently disabled without the medication. I can't get out of bed, much less work.

These "controlled shortages" are becoming all to common. Patients have rights. When I can't get medication I can't work which trickles through my family. I lose my job, less food on the table, collect unemployment, fighting with my wife and irritated with everything, and I lose the little bit of joy I have left in my life.

The questions I will ask the DEA will be" What did I do for your agency to cut my medication off"? "Why is my family and I suffering, because you have have minded controls in place?". "What did my grandma of 92 who passed in May of 2008 do to hurt someone while in her death bed for many years".

I will bring this to the attention of Congress. There are thousands of people abusing, selling, stealing. But, do the millions of people in pain, be tortured because of the bad apples?

*edit*

Thank you, and God Bless All who are in pain, going through withdrawal with pain, or know someone in Pain because of not being able to get their necessary medication to manage their pain and attempt at a somewhat normal life.

mrsd may remember this, from a dif board, several years ago....
one member was so sick of being shorted that he invested in a postal scale, determined how much the full script and bottle should weigh and weighed, at the store, every time he picked up. if it was off, it had to be opened and counted.......

shorting pills
 

You should definitely notify the manager of the pharmacy department. When I first started having problems with chronic pain, I was shorted a few pills - I also have "boring" medications for colitis that no one would want to steal, and I found it significant that it was the pain meds that were short, not the others.... I decided to let it slide since I was dealing with so many other problems at the time. But from that point on I counted pills as soon as I got home and it happened 2 more times. I spoke with the manager of the pharmacy and told him in no uncertain terms that I suspected he had someone on his staff that was stealing medications either for themselves or for resale.
I can tell you that since that call I've never been short one pill ever again!

You need to report it - it is possibly a criminal activity! Rosa

I sEE ITS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE YOU POSTED THIS BUT THAT IS WHY I DO NOT GO TO wALLGREENS OR cvs. I use smaller pharms because they know me personally. Ive been told "oh we DO NOT CARRY this drug, with a smirk on her face, but while shopping I talked to another lady shopping there and she was filling the same drug! actually this was at winn dixie but wallgreens does treat me badly

Medication Shortage
 

Yes, I had a mom and pop pharmacy if my prescription was over 60 pills, many times they would give me like 37 pills or 42 pills. it got to the point that every time I had a prescription for over 60 pills I would get shorted my pills. My husband starting counting my pills and if I was short he would call the pharmacy and take my prescription over there and they would give us the pills that they shorted me on. This also happened to my friend who used the same pharmacy. Finally her and I both switched to Walgreens and I have never had a problem with my prescriptions being under counted.

Kate