First of all, I am very sorry about the 2 people that got hurt. That should not have happened. I have been a pharmacy technician for 8 years and I really did not appreciate the lies and absolute untruths protrayed in tonight's pharmacy special. I don't know who you got your "facts" from, but they are wrong. We do hire people age 16 - 18, but they are only allowed to work at the registers. They are not allowed to fill prescriptions. We do have to report every single incident that occurs in the pharmacy; we even have a computer program just for incidents. It was not the technician's fault that the prescription was filled wrong, and how dare you accuse her of wrong-doing, before you got the facts straight. The pharmacist is the one with the license and she was responsible for the patient's life, if she failed to catch the technician's mistake. It is not "so easy" to just hire more pharmacists and, yes, both pharmacists who made those mistakes still work for the pharmacy. Pharmacists are in very short supply and as soon as they graduate from pharmacy school, they all have jobs A.S.A.P. So of course they can't be "let go" for their mistakes, there is no one to replace them. And yes, we keep opening a new store about every 19 hours, I believe the woman said, because the work load for each individual pharmacy gets to be too much, so we have to open new stores. My pharmacy fills over 600 prescriptions a day and growing. Could you do something 600 times in an 8 hour shift and not mess anything up? Maybe you should focus on the way we bend over backwards and jump through 9 kinds of hoops, just to fill prescriptions that save the lives of people who treat us like we are serving them hamburgers!!!! We get yelled at, talked down to and dumped on 50 times a day, literally! Maybe you should report about something good for once instead of making up falsities that target innocent, hard-working people.

I don't care for the investigative reporting shows being aired on network television, 20/20 included. They are primarily devoted to promoting the standings in the network game of getting a bigger share of the viewing audiance and definitely not in the business of promoting information to benefit the viewers. As long as the editing of interviews is held in the hands of the producers who decide which segments to place in the broadcast and what order they are placed there, this type of "entertainment" cannot be taken seriously.

To the previous comment;
"Could you do something 600 times in an 8 hour shift and not mess anything up? Maybe you should focus on the way we bend over backwards and jump through 9 kinds of hoops, just to fill prescriptions that save the lives of people who treat us like we are serving them hamburgers!!!! We get yelled at, talked down to and dumped on 50 times a day, literally!"

The problem is that YOU ARE NOT SERVING BURGERS! You are filling life-saving prescriptions. People have an expectation that this will be done by a qualified professional.
I have no doubt that the vast majority of pharmacies practice in an ethical fashion, however, by your own account, if there is a store opening every 19 hours, I doubt that standards are being kept. They certainly are not going up! Quality-Control is the first casualty of a rapidly expanding sector.
ABC News should not be attacked for exposing this problem. This can only help management refocus their efforts to maintain quality control.
Covering up these type of mistakes leads to more mistakes and more needless complications. By exposing the "shortcuts" that some pharmacies have implemented, ABC have undoubtably saved some lives.
Sadly, exposing these unethical practices and letting the consumer/patient decide where to spend their money is the most effective way to deal with mismanagement.

I am not a pharmacist or technician. Does anyone out there wonder why this "report" was dominated by lawyers and union reps? Maybe one of these ambulance chasers can sue ABC when someone dies because they were too afraid to get their prescription filled. My bet is either one of the attorneys interviewed would be happy to oblige.

Watching the pain and suffering of these families brought tears to my eyes but your so called expose was all about sensationalism, Walgreen's bashing and had very little factual basis.The pharmacist does the first check and the final check on all prescriptions and is therefore responsible for any errors reagardless who filled the prescription.
The Federal law mandates that offer of counselling to be extended to all customers on all prescriptions. But we can not force feed information when the public is not interested. Many customers just grab their medications and are running out the door or they are more interested in the price of socks, underwear, magazines, soda and etc that they bring to the pharmacy counter. If they are not yelling and screaming about the wait time or sales items, then they are screaming about their insurance copay at us.

Please double check your facts before you broadcast your report to viewers. Brian Ross should stop by a local pharmacy and learn the facts first. He said "the high school kids fill prescriptions." Blame on the technician?, not the pharmacist? All rx is reviewed by the pharmacist. Yes, unfortunately. pharmacists make mistakes. Again, get your facts straight!!!

can't thank you enough for bringing this issue to light. my 21 year old daughter, who has neither a g.e.d. or h.s. diploma, was very recently hired as a "fill tech" at cvs. i was mortified when she came home after her 2nd day and announced she had been actually filling perscriptions and handing them out! (her previous job was as cashier at best buy--part time). i assumed she'd be stocking the o.t.c. shelves-, vitamins, bandaids, aspirin, etc., and would eventually be trained to recognize and know the persription drugs so that some day, with the proper education she'd train with the pharmicist, college courses expected.

she was quite uncomfortable over the situation by the 3rd day, and seeked my advice, which i said to speak to the managers about your concerns. they told her that this was on th job training, and they needed her ready within 30 days, as she was to replace an outgoing pharm. tech. she felt such pressure , she only lasted 1 hour into her 4th day. i was surely relieved, as was she, but the situation remains the same.

i spoke to several people- family and friends, and told them that those kids they see behind the counters are most likely filling their prescriptions, and a few inquired at their pharmacies. they too were told it was standard practice. i was so close to calling my local tv station to bring to their attention what i had learn, but hearing that it was standard practice, i felt liked i'd be crying wolf. i knew in my gut everything about it felt oh so wrong, and i thank you for bringing this terrible practice to light for everyone to see. i

Being a pharmacist myself (in the academic setting), I think we should actually take this opportunity to take an introspective look at our practice and improve our level of practice rather than immediately have a knee jerk response to dismiss the somewhat sensationalized reports of errors.

I think we often are quick to blame the large retail corporations for the ills of our practice but if we are in such demand we have the power to change the way our practice is structured. I remember the last time I went to a pharmacy as a patient I was cursorily told by a pharmacy student to sign the electronic box without any mention of counseling. To see a future pharmacist have such disdain for patients at such an early stage of their career is telling of the current state of pharmacy.

In response to the previous comment about technicians only working at registers. The reality is, the bulk of the patient face time with the pharmacy is at the register. I can't remember the last time I went to a pharmacy and actually even saw a pharmacist anywhere near the counter or patients for that matter. This is particularly troubling to me. I understand many of the inaccuracies of the story but I think we should take this opportunity to improve our practice and prevent many of these errors from occurring.

WHY DON'T YOU DO A STORY ON ALL THE LIVES SAVED BY PHARMICISTS OR TECHNICIANS FINDING MISTAKES ON SCRIPTS WRITTEN FROM DOCTORS. OR BETTER YET HOW WE HELP MILLIONS OF CUSTOMERS EVERYDAY. I HAVE BEEN A CERTIFIED TECH FOR 10 YEARS AND DO NOT BELIEVE THE LIES TOLD ON TELEVISION. I AM SORRY FOR THE FAMILIES WHO HAVE HAD ERRORS. TRULEY, BUT WHAT ABOUT ALL THE PEOPLE WE SAVE WHY AREN'T THEY INTERVIEWED?!!!

This is so completely blown out of proportion. Did anyone look at the percentage of errors compared to the number of prescriptions? Does anyone look at the writing of the scripts. As a pharmacist I understand that errors are unfortunate yet inevitable. Retail errors are actually less than in a Hospital where you have nurses and doctors trained and yet there are still mistakes everyday in every facicilty. Why?? because mistakes happen.
In regards to the fast food comment. We would not be driven for speed if Patients (not customers) did not demand it. When asked to sit and wait for 15 minutes, 90% of the time patients will complain. You don't bring your current ins card, the ins company doesn't put the pharmacy information on their card. You don't like your copay, "Call my doctor to change it to something cheaper" Then complain about waiting for 20 minutes. Well it might not have been your script but it was what happened with half the patients in front of you.
If you want fewer mistakes, call your legislator to mandate typed prescriptions, be patient, try to remember that we want you to get your medication, it is not some conspiracy to try and keep it from you. Keep your information up to date. Last but certainly not least. There is a sign directly underneath the second window in every walgreens in america. It says "CONSULTATION". TRY STOPPING THERE and asking the pharmacist if there is anything you should know about the medication you are about to take. Try being patient and giving them a minute to get to you. If they don't get to you ask to speak to their manager. Just because they don't specifically ask you at the counter if you have any questions for the pharmacist does not mean they are unavailable. It truly makes me sick how little people invest in their own health care. You will spend thousands of dollars a year on insurance and co-pays but can't wait 5 mintues to make sure there are no problems with what your 12 different doctors are giving you.

As a certified and registered pharmacy technician, I would like to thank 20/20 for the report on medication errors. It is a problem in our industry. Steps should be taken to protect the patient, and yes, they are patients.
Currently, in the state of Texas, a pharmacy technician must be at least 18 years of age, posess a high school diploma or G.E.D., pass the Pharmacy Technician Board Exam, and register with the state. The Pharmacy
Technician Certification Board is also considering requiring that a candidate for the exam attend an accredited training program before hand. It is a step forward, but it is not enough.

To be a pharmacist in a retail setting is a huge undertaking. They are responsible for everything that goes on. The safety of each and every patient lies primarily on their shoulders. They are forced to depend on others, primarily a technician or a clerk, and only when the weekly number of prescriptions filled allows them to have any assistance. The quality of the assistance they receive from their staff mainly depends on the standards set by their individual state board.

It is sad to say, but pharmacy is a profit driven industry. Insurance and medicare remimbursement become less and less every year, where the cost of prescriptions increases. The patient load on an individual pharmacy goes up daily, yet they are only allowed to staff the bare minimum.

Zero tolerant in billions of Prescripts? Can anyone do it?

We are human. We have to look into the system. Not human! A 16 year old teen may smarter than 80 yr old persons (can you solve a olympiad internation high school problem? why these talent high school student can do it?), a 15 yr old can even more careful than an adult. What wrong with our system?
There are two possible causes in a retail Rx: (1) Entering a script wrong or (2) filling a wrong Med. Pt's counseling is another issue between the system and patients. If pts want to talk to a pharmacist, of course the pharmacist always available. If they don't, then what can a pharmacist do?

my sister just went to the rite aide pharmacy in pine hill , nj after seeing your show and had a problem. she went to the register to get the perscription, and she was required to sign a waiver that had already stated she declined advise from the pharmicist. she stated to the cashier that was incorrect and wanted that changed to she wanted advise on the drug and was told if she did not sign the form her insurance would not pay for the perscription. she asked at that point for the pharmist directly, and the pharmist told you that was true and made my sister feel very bad and embarrassed and because she was in serious amount of pain that she could not go on so she just signed. i would like to know a phone number to call to report this to

jane beeler

Walgreens is always screwing up prescriptions. My wife has recieived the wrong drugs from them. A friend had the wrong dose amount written on the bottle. Talking to people at work this has happened to a several of them when they have used walgreens. In fact several of us have stopped using certain Walgreens because they seem to have untrained people working there.

I just want to say that the 20/20 report is a total one sided story and does not provide the right information at all. For one, I don't believe it is the technicians fault for the error made to both victims but the fault of the Pharmacist, who should have double checked as well as triple checked the prescriptions. Second, did anyone take a look at the doctors hand written prescription because many times no one can read those doctors hand writings (tip to everyone tell your doctors to write neater!!!!) and time is taken to decipher what is written.

I wouldn't make any judgment on that technician if I haven't seen that hand written prescription. Thirdly, I believe it is everyone's fault that they brought these prescription incidence on themselves because who told you to tell the pharmacy to rush your prescriptions instead of giving them enough time to check through all of your records for interactions. Come on get real you are not the only person getting a prescription!!!! In order for all the big chains to meet your demands they have to force their workers to work faster and in order to keep their jobs the workers have to speed up and when anyone is rushed, no matter how many schooling they have, they are bound to make a mistake. Trust me, I would know, I work at a pharmacy!!!!

I started taking a pharm tech course and realized how serious it was. I couldn't finish it because of my family. However, i must say I feel lucky at my pharmacy because I know the techs are responsible and take their job serious. I also DO NOT GO TO WALGREENS and know for a fact from friends that they are factories! If God Forgid any of the over-worked techs there poisoned one of my children by accident because they had to rush and the PHARMASIST himself didn't check their work because of money and time I WOULD PERSONALLY SUE THEM AND THE TECH! This is SERIOUS LIKE BEING A DOCTOR - SORRY THERE ARE NO ROOM FOR MISTAKES! If your doctor by accident gave you the wrong diagnosis or took out the wrong organ by mistake you would be very UPSET RIGHT! So this is the same thing. YOU CAN LITERALLY KILL SOMEONE WITH THE WRONG RX OR DOSE! NJ should make it mandatory that all techs be at least 18 years of age and certified!

As a pharmacist, I find this news report quite upsetting. Yes, pharmacies and pharmacists make mistakes. Doctors do too. They failed to mention that anyone can also work for a physician. There is no restriction on who calls in the prescriptions. I often get people calling a prescription for a patient that can not even pronounce the prescription, because they are not a doctor, nor a nurse. The pharmacist, who most do not get a break at work for 8-14 hours, must eat while answering a question, have a doctor on call with a prescription, a patient at the window asking about a copay on a prescription, and another person asking for a recommendation. The pharmacist is often stretched 10 ways at once. While this is occuring, they must also at some point check a prescription about to go out the window. Allow the pharmacist time to get what they need done. Huffing and puffing about a 20 minute wait is ridiculous.
The news broadcast should have focused on getting legislation to help encourage further safety measures (i.e. minimum wait times to fill any prescription, minimum required staffing, etc) On average, a pharmacist catches at least 1 to 2 mistakes by doctors per 100 prescriptions. Doctors are humans too.
Do not go bug your pharmacist about counselling logs when you pick up your prescriptions. Just because you sign the log, I encourage people to call me with any further questions. Remember, everyone at their job makes mistakes. Yes, a pharmacist, doctor, nurse, etc, should make them minimal. But stop and think that you are human too. Otherwise, pharmacists just might start charging for that free advice you ask for next time. Afterall, pharmacist are Pharm.D.s now. That means doctor. Do not respect them.

It's amazing how one sided your story was. Firstly, the error here occurred because the pharmacist did not catch it. Technicians do not dispense medication, they perform the technical duties involved and the pharmacist completes the dispensing function by checking the prescription and counselling the patient. Your story also states that medication errors are one of the highest causes of death. Although this may be true the majority of these occur in the hospital setting and not the community pharmacy. These include incorrect doses and medications prescribed by physicians, many of which get corrected by the pharmacist before even getting to the patient. The story should have mentioned the grest things that pharmacists do for the health care system. How many people are kept out of hospitals, emergency wards, physicians offices and other high cost health care services because of pharmacists? I agree that the 2 occurences mentioned should not have happened, focusing on 2 incidents is not only poor reporting it is irresponsible. I hope ABC takes a look at this and corrects their report before they really destroy their reputation as reporter's of accurate news.

If you want more pharmacist staffing just pull back the operational hours from 24 hrs to 12 hrs on all these chain stores. It would free up untold number of pharmacist man-hours for better staffing. These 24 hr stores fill the bulk of their prescriptions from 8AM to 7PM.. the balance of 13 hrs are very under utilized staffing.

wow...a lot of bashing on Walgreens. do you guys know why? The story behind the people who investigated this ? And the biased that came from those ppl due to " past experiences " with Walgreens ? It scared me how media has this much power on the people. It also scared me on how ignorant some are...Very sad...
I'd like to see this "investigating team" make a nation wide survey of customer satisfcations for ALL retails...NOT just walgreens...you based a whole industry on a few selected incidents is unheard of...

I'm tired of hearing people say they are going to SUE the tech and the pharmicist. Get a life! The public treats us like trash EVERY SINGLE DAY if we tell someone now they can't get their 1 month prescription filled 15 DAYS BEFORE IT IS DUE and then have that person yell at threaten to hit us! The pharmacy staff shouldn't have to deal with the stress of having to be nervous because they aren't sure if someone is going to harm them because their prescription is going to take GOD FORBID 15 minutes to fill!

Mrs Hippley protrayed in this investigation is my sister-in-law. it was horrific when this happened and not knowing from one day to the next if she was going to live. Her children went through all kinds of anguish just wanting their mother back. Her brothers and even her own mother who all live in NY state and couldnt see her everyday were caused pain and suffering. The Every system needs an excellent checks and balance so that these types of mistakes are not made.
Well Mrs. Hippley died in January of 2007 and yes her suffering is over but what about her family?
i think 20/20 did an excellent job on their investigation and i give them credit for being able to cover this with such expertise.

ABC News should be ashamed of themselves for this one-sided report. Walgreens fills 500 million prescriptions a year, spends billions of dollars advancing technology to the point that these mistakes won't happen, and takes a ridiculous amount of abuse from the general public because their prescriptions aren't filled right away. First the customers want their prescriptions ASAP and then wonder why mistakes are made. These pharmacists and techs are under an insane amount of pressure to fill scripts quickly and accurately, and if two unfortunate cases of mistakes have tainted the pharmacy industry to the point where no one wants to use their medications anymore, then there really is no hope for us.

I am a pharmacist that left retail about 1 year ago. I worked at 5 different stores at CVS. I read the statement that CVS issued after the program that they spend millions of dollars to try to improve: 1) ORGANIZED WORKFLOW - not true, CVS has a workflow chart that it is suppose to put the right personnel in the right stations at busy times of the day, that doesn't work because you don't have enough people and the best person always jump from one station to another.

2) STANDARDIZED PROCESSES - not true, CVS wants a 95% or higher on wait time accuracy, but yet they are always cutting pharmacy man hours every chance they can get.

3) STAFF TRAINING - not true, all they do is give you 6 cd's to do on your own and then they put you in a store, the best training you can get is to figure things out yourself.

As a pharmacist, I am in many ways glad to see this story told. I agree that in the story was one-sided and lacked all perspectives on the issue. Have said that, any pharmacist that has ever worked for a chains knows in their heart that the issues brought up are real, and that a change has to made soon. Many pharmacists leave the chain setting or commonly switch jobs because they are over-worked and unsatisfied. For everyones good, patient and pharmacists, our system has to change.

I am a retired pharmacist with experience in hospital, retail and military, and I can honestly say that retail pharmacy is the most stressful work environment I have experienced.

When it comes to "how to" in the pharmacy business, no one asks the pharmacists. People who never spend a moment behind the counter either make decisions about how pharmacies should operate or write about them.

It doesn't matter how much money corporations spend on pharmacies, that money is not creating ideal work conditions for pharmacists in order to provide ideal conditions to minimize or eliminate errors.

Fatigue, distractions, frequent understaffing, excessively long hours, and conveyor-belt style driven envronoment cause errors. Studies have shown that conclucsively.

"Second pair of eyes" and a redundant system of checks have shown to eliminate them. Redundancy is not efficient. second pair of eyes is not cost-effective. Businesses shun them.

It is more cost-effective to insure onself and take the chance of hurting a few people rather and letting the insrance companies cover the loss then to institute safe and stress-free pharmacy services.

It is also worthy of note that chains have destroyed independent pharmacies, which is a great loss since they used to provide better services.

I know you get lots of e-mails, but if you do read them, please note that when doing a story on something, consult the experts in the trenches.

I have read the responses of the phamacists that slap themselves on the back for all the lives they have saved.
Hog wash. They do not save lives. They do not prescribe the medications for the individual. The doctor does. What they do is count pills and put them in a bottle. Yes, they are supposed to know the interaction of drugs but the doctor would not prescribe the medication that interacted adversly with a medication the patient was already taking.
As far as the pressure they are under if the water is too hot then get out. They are being paid very well to do what they are doing.

Marty is unaware of the value of pharmacists. The scary part is that many legislators are just as ignorant regarding pharmacy practice.

Most patients visit multiple doctors who prescribe medications that may interact with those prescribed by other doctors. The patient may not remember to tell the doctor what else they take, or may think it's not important. Therefore, the pharmacist is in position to catch any interactions or duplication of therapy. Without the pharmacist, there would be an increase in patient harm from drug interactions.

We encourage patients who visit the pharmacy to visit their doctor or local ER when a condition should not be self-treated because of severity or length of symptoms.

I myself I'm a pharmacy tech at a Walgreen's store. This interview is filled with false comments that need a follow up story that shows the doctors errors in perscriping wrong medicines. The errors that they claim, make me sick. People don't realize the stress involved in working in a pharmacy. The drugs maybe more powerful then they were 20 years ago, imagine that. I would swear on the fact that in the store I work in that we have few errors, and when it comes to buying other products we can't stop them from buying them. The signature is usually a privacy notice of the updated H.I.P.P.A. laws. Also some people do not specify what they want, or ask the pharmacist of the drug will react. Overall, you peeple need to get youir facts straight before you report what you may think is true!

I keep reading how one sided the 20/20 story was, but I've had two personal experiences with Walgreens pharmacies that did not instill confidence. The first time was when my late husband was given three times the dose of Coumadin, which we caught. When we brought it back, they acted like they were actually doing us a favor by correcting it and not charging us for it. The second time was when I saw a tech. rushing to fill a perscription, dropped meds on the floor, picked them up with other meds that did not appear the same, and stuff them into a vial. I SAW this. At that point we requested our script back and went to a smaller, more involved pharmacy.

Also, today at a CVS I was basically forced to sign for my meds and was told I had no choice, it was a state law and that 20/20 made up that whole story. I can assure you that will be the last script ever filled there by my family. I realize that the stress of that job is insane, but a mistake in that field IS a life and death mistake, not like forgetting to file a report that can be done another day. Personally, I'd prefer to wait a little while and know that my script is handled correctly, by someone who is trustworthy and actually cares about my family and a 16 yr. old is not mature enough to have that kind of responsibility.

Poor Marty! Soo misguided! I bet you have no idea what even goes on inside a pharmacy, or what a pharmacist even does? Well, I will forgive your comment, but encourage you to do some research into what exactly a pharmacist does.
Now to address your comment: pharmacist's "do not save lives"? Well if someone doesn't die, how do you know? I have caught many potential interactions from new medications prescribed which most certainly could have caused harm. Called the prescriber to inform them of the interaction and changed the medication accordintly! "What they do is count pills and put them in bottles"? Sure! Among many other things. Refer to researching pharmacist duties! What makes you so sure the prescriber knows everything the patient is taking, and of all possible interactions? That is why we work together as health care professionals, referred to as a "team"! As for the "pressure and the water being too hot" comment, well what if I love what I do? What if I do enjoy interacting with patients in a public/retail setting? What if you went to a retail pharmacy and your pharmacist just blew you off? You wouldn't like it.

Sure my job is unbelievably stressful...you probably have no clue. But I try to make the best of it because it is what I do. It is the people like you that make it stressful. Don't take this personal, as I am sure you will. Just get some insight before you blow smoke. Pharmacists are not just pill counters. Where else do you think you can get FREE medical advice/info almost 24 hours per day? Some people still really do trust their pharmacist as a top source of health information!

No one really understands what goes on behind the counter, unless you have actually been there. I am a pharmacy student and a pharmacy technician. The public complains we want less errors, but when asked to wait 20 minutes, it becomes a huge burden on your life. Usually the response i get when i say 20 minutes is, "WHAT!?, how is that possible." When someone drops off a new Rx, there are more things behind filling that prescription the counting 30 pills.

First we want to make sure the medication is in stock, then we enter the prescription, after deciphering the chicken scratch your doctor writes, assuming there are no mistakes we move on to submitting it to your insurance company. Now after submitting hoping that your insurance company covers the medication. If not we must call them and figure out why. Then fill the medication(s). Then have the pharmacist check it. Then ring you out. This is just a generic version of what goes, on, usually it goes smoothly, but all it takes is one person not giving us their insurance card, one persons not knowing which doctor they saw requiring us to call and find out, or one person thats in a huge rush and argue with us about 20 minutes to slow is down.

And remeber you are not the only person in the world that needs their prescription filled. A few things YOU as a PATIENT can do to help reduce errors. 1. Be patient, if your rush work it may have mistakes. 2. Know what medication your are supposed to be taking and why. 3. Know your insurance drug company formulary. 4. STOP switchin pharmacies for coupons, all it does is hinders the pharmacists ability to catch drug interactions on past or other medications. 5. Lastly, if you don't like waiting 20 minutes, then drop it off and come back another time, this is your health, you can wait in the ER and your doctors office, but you can't wait for a medication that could be saving your life?

I have a lot of respect for this show & I'm very appreciative of the information they share with the public, however, this particular story seems to lack thoroughness. It's amusing that their approach seemed primarily focused on delivering a dramatic string of half-truths. Mistakes are regrettably made in every medical field. I agree that there is absolutely no excuse for that. 20/20 & many of the viewers who have commented above, act like these mistakes are intentional.

The primary focus of any professional in the medical field is patient care. Yes, you can probably pick out a handful of people in any of these professions who may be unhappy in their position & who lack that heart/passion for caring....but they are not representative of the profession itself. Responsibility should also be placed on each individual to become as informed as they can on whatever condition they may face...ask questions, be assertive. Your personal health should be at the top of your list of priorities....being so important, wouldn't you want to be as well-informed as you can? Take control of your own health rather than projecting that responsibility onto other people.

There are many resources beyond that of your health-care provider if they are unable to answer your questions. Like someone had said above....particularly in the field of Pharmacy, it is mandated by law to offer patients counseling on their medications. If a patient chooses not to accept that information, that is his/her perogative....information cannot be forced upon someone unwilling to accept it.

Brian
I just went to eckerds drugs to pick up my prescriptions anda because ii refused to sign the ledger they were going to keep my drugs i told the clerk she could not refuse because i refused to sign i also let her know that i was aware that signing her paper was signing away my rights if i were to get the wrong drugs shse finally gave me my scripts and the pharmacists told her to sign patient reused signature