What about the errors doctors make that are caught by the pharmacist on a daily basis? There are two sides to the coin. Your piece of one-sided jounalism doesn't show the positive impact that pharmacists make. One error is too much and we take our profession very seriously. It's easier and more lucrative for your show to focus on the negative. I'm dissappointed in 20/20. I thought your standards were higher than that! Broadcast a show highlighting duties performed by a pharmacist that make a postive impact on patients and you'll get me back as a viewer. Viewers, where else can you go to get free healthcare information when your doctor isn't available? I've spent the last 25 plus years working nights and weekends and helped scores of people during that time. Your pharmacist will always be there for you.

I have seen customers yelling a pharmacy employees that they need to just put the pills in the bottle and how hard can it be. I think that there are many causes to these problems outlined in this report. Pharmacies are trying to keep up with the ever growing demand that their customers have to get their perscriptions right now. If everyone wants their perscription right now, that does not leave much time for anything else. You try telling someone to come back in an hour and see what response you get.

this report only shows one side of the story. my friend is a pharmacy technician and she is ptcb certified. i think she is very well qualified. she works for a major chain in which they want you to fill a prescription in 15 min or less. while you have customers asking why does it take so long remember they just don't sit at a computer and type they have to pick up the phone answer questions and deal with ringing up store merchandise all together. we have to minimize there work so that they can pay more attention to us when we are picking up. so they don't have there mind on what's on sale! and they will have more time for patients instead of customers that are not picking up rx's!!!!

I thought your story was really informative. I think people don't think twice and just take the pills with the assumption that they have been filled correctly.
I was thinking of an idea that may help to assure that each patient can do a "self-check" after receiving and before taking their medication. What if the pharmacy included in the literature that is printed out with the prescriptions, a color photo depicting the exact color, size and logo that should match-up to the pills they have been given! I think this would be a great tool in helping to ensure the patient is aware of what the pill should look like prior to taking it!

Kathy

The question arose "what about the good pharmacists have done?" This story was about the absence of said pharmacist and the bulk of the technical work being completed by "untrained" personnel. Pharmacists themselves are a very competent, respected, and well paid breed. I don't think, no matter how much training "technicians" get, that they receive the knowledge of a 4, 6, or 8 year degreed program comparable to a pharmacist and, as such, should NEVER be responsible for filling prescriptions. They are perfect for duties such as fact checking, ordering of supplies, cashier work, assistant tasks, etc. A pharmacist should be onsite the entire time the pharmacy is open and should be the sole employee performing the skilled work, while the technicians assist - and only assist this process. If these chain stores have a quota for their pharmacy, they'll need to rethink this strategy as if I had any clout in this industry, their CEOs would be putting some of their record profits back into the business to insure the pharmacy is staffed by proper personnel. Since when has this country switched paradigms so that which is good for the few (IE - the wealthy) outweighs the needs of the many?

I have been in management for 2 major pharmacy chains and I can tell you that one chain I worked for before put us through 6 classes and then we had to take the test to be certified by the company but not the state. They have now since changed that in the past 2 years, you get in store training and when you are ready you now sit at a computer at the store in the office and take your test to be certified. At this chain they do their best to keep costs down so there are minimum employees in the pharmacy and up front. The company I work for now has 3 or more employees in the pharmacy and 4 or more up front so that the pharmacy employees are not doing thing they shouldn't have to do. This allows them to spend all their time doing what they should be doing. They put you through classes and then you go to take the certification test and we all have to be trained in store and in the class room. I have seen more mistakes by the doctors and our pharmasits catch them and call the doctor to fix them before we can fill these perscriptions. Then you have the customer who wants it now! Noone can wait, they have to have it now and they yell at you if they have to come back. All in all, I have never seen any mistakes made at either drug store chain I have worked for and the pharmasists whom I have worked with really pay attention to what they are doing and they care about the people they are filling perscriptions for. We also have new computer programs in place that alert us of mis fills, drug interactions and every perscription that goes out MUST be checked by the pharmasist or it can not be sold at the register. As for signing away your rights, we ask everyone if they have any questions for the pharasist about the medication or it's effects, and 90% of the customers that we have at the pharmacy say no or they just don't want to take the time to wait a few minutes to speak to the pharmasist.

After seeing your 20/20 story tonight I just had to respond...As a full-time 49-year-old pharmacy technician(& a 4-year colon cancer survivor -- after 3 major surgeries!!) at a major chain in the Northeast, I can only say that I am an intelligent, conscientious, competant mother of 2 college-aged students and am very concerned and disheartened by your story (of which it is)...The pharmacy that I work for (for 7 & 1/2 years now) will ONLY employ anyone over 18 years old-- but who wants to start at a starting salary of $6.50 an hour and then gradually progress to $8.00 after completing 6 months of computer training and 4 in-house workbook courses (in which you have to travel 30 miles both ways??)...Heck...you could walk across our parking lot to McDonald's and start at $8 or $9 an hour & flip burgers or be a manager...Where is the comparison or logic? Filling prescriptions correctly is worth a lot more money than getting your take-out order right at the drive-thru burger joint...don't you think??...why don't you ask the top execs why the starting salary is so low??...heck..i've been working my rear off and getting the scripts right but the pharmacists in my store change from month to month...they can't keep them or they change them from store to store..the higher-ups don't really care about the techs...just keep the pharmacists happy...not good business...customers don't like it (they want consistency) and I don't like it...I am great at what I do and think (hope) my customers appreciate me for that and if I ever wanted to sue my original doctor for malpractice (two botched surgeries) I could have (gee...maybe I should...I could be living the life I always dreamed of!)...you never even took a glimpse at the prescriptions that doctors' write and the pharmacy tech's have to read them...come on...check out these doctors' handwriting while you criticize the tech's job...just a thought!!! Bet you won't follow up on that...got lot's of doc's who are guilty of VERY POOR HANDWRITING and still don't use an e-script or e-fax (way better for us techs)...thanks for listening...P in PA

Very important story... very important topic, especially considering that medication errors kill more people in the US than car accidents. However, I would like to propose to investigate the root cause of all this. Let's focus for a minute on the EMPLOYER themselves, the working conditions of the personnel behind the counter.

I worked for Giant Eagle for a while. Did you know that:
1. Pharmacists do NOT get time off to (a) eat (have lunch), (b) go to the bathroom (basic needs!), or sit? Pharmacists may go for full 8 or 12 hours (depending on the schedule) on their feet for ALL those many hours. Could we investigate the degree of concentration of that pharmacist after 6 hours of non-stop work?

2. In addition to checking what technicians have filled, the pharmacist has to (a) call prescribers for mutiple clarifications AND refill authorizations. Who do we get? Only SECRETARIES!; with luck, a nurse, who sometimes decides on his/her own to "go ahead" and authorize one (or several) refills, or who says, "the patient says s/he is taking this or that...". Right there there is a tremendous opportunity for error... but most physicians are NOT available EVER to talk to a pharmacist!; (b) make an infinite number of calls to TRANSFER prescriptions... from one pharmacy to the next, depending on WHO is offfering coupons or other rewards. I do not know HOW a pharmacist can provide counseling to these costumary "transfering patients".

3. Most pharmacist (and technicians) work in a extremely noisy environment, which can and IS quite distracting. NOt only the phones ring constantly, the pharmacist has to make calls mostly non-stop, but a RADIO is blasting with non-stop nonsense "talk", laud music, and plain stupidity.

All of the above is in addition to being subjected to a "store manager" who, if a costumer complains, interferes and try to manipulate pharmacy business (although Pharmacy BOards prohibit the presence of non-pharmacy personnel in the pharmacy area).

In summary, none of the above is to justify the errors made and lack of counseling given... it is just to point out that the problem is MUCH bigger. Big chains have a responsibility on this. For them, it is just "business". Pharmacists are subjected to inhumane treatment and working conditions by the "Rite Aids", the "Giant Eagles", the "CVSs", the "Walgreens", etc, etc., with serious consequences to the pharmacists' health.

Kathy..."fast checking"...what is that...??? I'm a tech and we need a cashier in the pharmacy...is this a "fast checker"??

I think Kathy's idea is great.Patients should double check their own prescription before using it.May be people should stop comparing Chain drug stores to fast food restaurants. Drive-thrus are for convenience, but hey you have to realize that we are not dispensing fries or drinks. It's a PHARMACY...learn to be patient when it comes to drugs that can either heal you or kill you!

I listened to the report and it amazes me because I'm not sure that 20/20 even knows what the responsibility of the pharmacist is. Unfortunately, a pharmacist does not have time to do every single task in the pharmacy. there is usually only 1 pharmacist working at a time, the rest of the employees are usually technicians. I will begin by stating that even the possibility of errors, as a registered practicing retail pharmacist makes my skin crawl. It is an awful fact of life that pharmacists face because we are after all human. However, there is a perception that we cannot make mistakes no matter how understaffed or rushed we really are. And I agree - I strive to not make a single mistake in any day of my career - that is truly my goal. Is that realistic? It is the expectation. There is a huge responsibility that goes with the territory, and I face that everyday. I don't think that the general public understands the consequences a mistake can have. I think that everyone needs to understand what it is exactly that the pharmacist does behind the counter in between being griped at by angry patients concerning insurance claims or longer than 15 minute wait times or just someone coming up that wants nothing from the pharmacy other than to be rung up. I think that the general public and evidently 20/20 does not understand that it is the pharmacist's ultimate responsibility to make sure that your prescription is accurate (this includes multiple aspects of checking - right patient, right drug, right drug strength, right quantity, right directions, right refills, right doctor just to name a few). AND NOT ONLY IS IT ACCURATE, we check to make sure that there are no drug interactions or allergies. We also check that the dose is reasonable and will not harm the patient. This is our ultimate responsibility - our reason for being. Not to count by 5's or explain why insurance/drugs cost so much. I think that it's quite funny that 20/20 is trying to rile people up because a pharmacist is not counting your prescription. That is not our responsibility, simply put. However, it is our responsibility when something goes out wrong. Technicians are to be prudent and fill responsibility, but everything they do is to be double checked by the pharmacist. So is it the fault of the 16 year old technician? answer: mostly not. I am willing to bet there was a big law suit involving walgreen's. And i imagine that the pharmacist is being held liable. It is extremely unfortunate that mistakes are made. I cannot imagine having that happen to a loved one in my family, nor could I imagine making a mistake like that. I think that I would not be able to practice as a pharmacist after that, knowing that a mistake caused that much harm. The disturbing fact is, however, pharmacists are human and thus capable of making mistakes even on a good day. And the environment of retail pharmacies are such that they create an environment where mistakes can happen. From the gimmicks of gift cards (that cause people to be "incentivised" to go from pharmacy to pharmacy leading to drug interactions left unchecked which may cause serious harm - something that we are promoting at chain pharmacies) to the idea that you can get your prescription in less than 15 minutes especially if you haggle with the pharmacy staff, retail pharmacy is very high stress. There are constant interruptions which I believe are a major source of errors. Not to mention being rushed by people who have no clue what consequence an error may have on their lives. Yet, as sure as the sun will come up tomorrow, I will have someone come into my pharmacy tomorrow and tell me about this news story, but in the same breath tell me that they need their Rx ASAP and they will have a cart full of groceries to ring up with it. Or even better, they'll pick up their prescription and not pay a bit of attention because they'll be too busy talking on their cell phone. I have actually counseled patients while they were talking on their cell phone. As one sided as this story is, it would be nice if just for one moment people would think about how important this process is that they would actually take it seriously. a lot of the problem, and this is a point of agreement with ABC actually, is due to corporate coming up with gimmicks and ways to fill more prescriptions with less people. I've also actually heard of schemes by certain corporations (luckily not my employer) concerning quotas for pharmacists in terms of what percentage they fill within 15 minutes. Unfortunately, this seems to be the image that the corporate world wants to burden the profession of pharmacy with, and they have done a damn good job at that. This is what the public really expects and wants from pharmacies and I think that it is very unfortunate. It truly is a disservice and an ill-use of skills by otherwise very capable pharmacists. But that is my opinion. Many pharmacists get burned out in retail and leave either because they get beaten down from being rushed checking literally hundreds of prescriptions without any break in sight for 14 hours a day, or from being harassed by patients that cannot find someone at the insurance company to yell at, or by news articles like this that demean the profession. But then again, 20/20 wouldn't make it's money or have nearly the response if the show highlighted the actual day of a pharmacist and what the responsibilities actually are and how pharmacists can help prevent errors. No scandals = no sales for news corporations. Sounds like your corporate and my corporate should do lunch sometime!

Mr "John", Technicians are VERY WELL trained to count pills!! A pharmacist needs to check! and YES... a pharmacists is ALWAYS on duty when the pharmacy is open.

I noticed that you seemed to target Walgreens Rx in your story. I think that this is a bigger problem than you realize. Being an employee of The Kroger Co. based in Cincinatti, Ohio I am forced to use Kroger Rxs because they are self insured.

Having delt with Kroger Rxs after 12 years my wife and I have seen many stupid mistakes made by thier employees, too numerous to list.

I used to remodel and build pharmacies for Kroger and the HIPPA privacy law may well not exist. Rx employees discuss customers' medications and behaviors like a soap opera

Joe

The article misleads through omission: the article describes Flynn as being "disappointed" that the error rate in the current study was the same as the one conducted 10 years ago and thereby gives the probably false impression that process improvements and technology have done nothing to improve the accuracy of pharmacies. However, the article neglects to mention whether all other factors were the same or similar. For example, what about fill rates and pharmacist to rx ratios at the pharmacies that were visted. If the pharmacies visited 10 years ago filled 100 rx in a day and the ones in this study filled 300 rx in a day, then you can make the assertion that processes and technology HAVE improved the accuracy of the pharmacy. Apples & oranges here with the article omitting that little item.

The article is just plain wrong:
1) Pharmacists are only LEGALLY required to counsel Medicaid patients with new prescriptions only (OBRA 1990). Any other counseling is a courtesy (either personal or encouraged by the company).
2) Signing the form is NOT a waiver of your right to counselling. It is merely an assertion by the patient that they want to take their medication out of their pharmacy without needing counseling. If you want it, you'll get it every time.
3) Verbal indication of the aspirin/coumadin interaction would be nice to get from every pharmicist. However, AGAIN, there is no legal requirement to counsel anyone but medicaid patients. The labels and warning on the medication DO list those interactions and it is the PATIENT's responsibity to read them. If there is a lack of understanding on the patient's part, then for god's sake ask for the counseling whether it's at the pharmacy or by phone from home.

Junk science. It's like saying that since the death rate from car accidents is the same as it was 20 years ago, all safety improvements due to technolgy must be ineffective. Of course, that would ignore the greater number of drivers on the road, increased congestion, DUI rates, etc.

Ignore the article & do yourself a favor by simply taking an interest in what medication you're taking.

There are 2 sides to this story. While it is right to hold the pharmacist and the pharmacy accountable and responsible for prescription errors, the physicians who prescribe medications and the patients who are given the medications have similar acccountabilities and responsibilities on their end. Most prescribers do not write legibly or conscientiously or refuse to use technological tools to improve their communication to other healthcare providers causing the pharmacist precious time by calling to verify pertinent info about the medication. Most of the time pharmacists had to leave a voice message which most clinics or doctors' offices do not return till 24-48 hours or so later. Let situations like the video you just aired be a lesson to all patients/customers who are in a hurry to pick up their medications. The pharmacy is not a fastfood joint. A lot of people don't understand the work environment inside a pharmacy. Each time a prescription is being processed,a life hangs in the balance. When customers yell at or argue with employees for whatever complaint they have, what they don't realize is that they are unknowingly tipping the scale, not to their favor. My advice to patients,customers and caregivers is to always BE VIGILANT AND READ BACK TO YOUR DOCTORS THE MEDICATION INFORMATION THEY WRITE DOWN ON PAPER. ASK QUESTIONS WHILE FACE-TO-FACE WITH YOUR PHYSICIANS. FINALLY, REMEMBER TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE FREE COUNSELLING SERVICES THAT YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD PHARMACY PROVIDES BY COMING INTO THE PHARMACY AND REQUESTING CONSULTATION WITH YOUR PHARMACIST.

I just want to let you know that CVS is a mess too regarding filling medication, my daughter was at the pharmacy, lst month, filling up an antiobotic, they first could find the med, finaly they gave her my MED ; ACTONEL !!!
a bunch of kids were lost between the med, they gave their med to other client !....I dont understand I gave you my e-mail ok?

I am a nationally certified pharmacy technician (CPhT) and hope to be a pharmacist in the near future. There needs to be an emphasis put on formal, standardized training of pharmacy technicians. As it stands now, with a minimum of on-the-job training, one can apply for a license in most states. Standardized, mandatory, formal education would provide needed skills and knowledge for most technicians to do their jobs properly (and weed out those who can't hack it). I have witnessed (and corrected) potential medication errors by techs who didn't know better or were too stupid to be doing the job. Wages for technicians also need to go up to reflect and attract dedicated, career technicians. I have no desire to stay as a tech because I cannot live on $9.75/hr forever and support a mortgage at the same time. The gap between tech wages and pharmacist wages is too extreme; pharmacists rely on techs to provide them with a correct product to do a quality assurance check before it goes to the customer. Do you want your scripts interpreted, the meds chosen off the shelf, counted, and put into the bottle by someone who is barely exceeding minimum wage? Me either. Without support from the public, the chain stores have no impetus to change their practices. Unless people speak out, nothing will change and errors will continue to be made by uneducated, undedicated techs who should not be in the profession.

I dont care if you have a or a GED PhD, I think it is a miracle that any one can read my doctor's hand writing. Why dont we hold the doctors responsible to printing the prestriptions or sending them electronically to the pharmacy so they can use computers and robots to fill them error proof. imho, conting 30 pills and pouring them into a vial is not rocket science. I dont care who does that. Oh BTW, I can READ the instructions on the label too. SO I dont need the pharmacist to waste my time by reading them to me.I want my pharmacist to watch for allergies/ drug interactions and answer mu questions.

most Pharmacist at Retail chain pharcists are foreign pharmacy gruaduates, most of them are on some kind visas and they are all bound to follow the corporate policies of filling 300 to 350 prescriptions in hour shifts.there is extreme pressure on individuals of foreign pharmacists they bound to do it or they lose the job as well as visas to stay in united states. so pharmcists skip counseling and also time spending on drug interactions and questioning higher authorities about the work environment. this is the life of many bigger chain pharmacists. can they answer how pharmacist are from overseas??? its just a eye wash from bigger chains about customer service by bigger publicities

I am a 3rd year pharmacy student and although I did not get to view all of tonight's broadcast, I can say with confidence that I would do everything in my power to ensure that the right medication is dispensed to my patients. I can only hope that your story will inspire patients to me more involved with their healthcare. I do feel that ABC misrepresented pharmacists and the value that they have in saving lives. Please consider for a moment all of those individuals that were saved by a pharmacist's intervention. There is no excuse for mistakes, and my sincere apologies go out to anyone affected by a medication error. I urge patients to talk with their pharmacist and asked questions about their medications. Please understand that pharmacies are not fast food restaurants and that it takes time to review a patient’s medications

For those that think trained pharmacy technicians should NEVER fill a prescription you need to look at the facts: There is a pharmacist shortage in America. With billions of prescriptions being filled in the U.S. each year, there are simply not enough pharmacists to handle filling ALL of these prescriptions without trained assistance. The wait time to get your medication would be in hours or DAYS instead of 15-30 minutes. When you are ill, do you really want to wait a day or two to get your medication? The answer is to enhance the training and compliance of all pharmacy employees, NOT to quadruple the workload of already over-burdened pharmacists.

Once again I am disappointed in 20/20. This expose demonstrates the ability of the uneducated media to present a story that misleads the public. The main "hook" of this story appears to be the fact that you as the comsumer are "signing away" your right to counseling at your local pharmacy when you pick up your prescription. The real fact is that when picking up your rx the main, and most important question asked is "do you have any questions about your presciption". When most consumers put down their cell phone long enough to actually listen to this important question asked at the point of sale they say "no just get me my rx as fast as you can". In our fast paced 24 hour society the unfortunate reality is that people are too busy to get to their next appointment to slow down enough to listen to this important question. The job of a pharmicist is that of a gate keeper. The pharmacist performs the final check of safety for each rx filled and I find it hard to believe a pharmacist would knowingly dispense something that would harm anybody. Furthermore I am sure that far more people have been helped than harmed by our nation's dedicated pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. What about all the mistakes made by the Dr, physician's assistant or nurse that the pharmacist spots and prevents from going out to the patient. This attack on retail pharmacy is an unbalanced presentation of what really happens at your local pharmacy and should be discounted as such. Our nation's pharmacists provide a valuable and in most cases free service to our population, and I challenge ABC to find a more dedicated group of profesionals with the fortitude and ability to provide such a service.

in response to john...a pharmacist is always on duty when a pharmacy is open as required by law. a pharmacy can not open without a pharmacist present. in addition, an 6 year degree is frankly not required to "fill" a prescription. trained technicians are more than capable in typing up a script and counting out the medication. it is the duty of a pharmacist to make sure that the information is typed in correctly, that the right drug dispensed, to check for drug interactions, correct dosing, qty, etc. how can you expect one person to do it all? unless the public wanted to wait a week to receive their prescriptions, it would be impossible given the number of scripts the average pharmacy fills in a day. but i agree, something needs to give. i found that popping the lid at the check out counter has reduced a lot of errors. it gives the patient and the pharmacist an opportunity to do one final visual check together and opens up diaglogue. also, get rid of the drive thru. they are errors just waiting to happen.

I am a pharmacy tech at one of these large chains and have been a tech for 13 years. Our store fills over 650 rxs per day. Our longest wait time is 30 minutes when we are busy,If I tell a customer 15min.sometimes the response is, that long,this not not a fast food rest.People today want there meds asap. The pharmacy i work at makes sure all employees get certified before being able to handle important tasks in the pharmacy. Another problem is that technicians are so underpaid that sometimes hiring quality employees is a difficult task. As I have been doing this 13 years and only make 14$ per hour.As computers do a lot of error checks people are human and will make mistakes just like the doctors writing the rxs do also.We do not want to cause harm to anybody abd this show makes it seem as thats what pharmacies are trying to do.Not all pharmacies are run this way!!

Pharmacists are placed under an extreme amount of stress. I have been yelled at, threatened, have items thrown at me. In several cases I have had to call the police to have unruly customers removed.

In addition, most pharmacists are forced to work 8 to 10 hour shifts without meal breaks. Due to heavy workloads, many pharmacists do not even take restroom breaks.

And the public expects perfection under these conditions?

As a pharmacist, I found your report to be short-sighted not investigative. With 12 years of retail pharmacy experience, many times Doctor's sloppily written prescriptions are a source of errors. I found it very interesting that Mr. Ross did not question why there are laws that require prescriptions to be typewritten rather than handwritten. Yes, pharmacists make mistakes, so do physicians. Sometimes a physician will have an unqualified staff member (no licensing involved) write a prescription and the physician will simply sign it, without reading what was written. It is the pharmacist who catches these errors and help to save the patient unnecessary harm. Mr. Ross if you are going to report on the subject, do not report half a story, but a whole one. I thought that this is what an objective journalist does.

The entire reason pharmacies employ pharmacy technicians is to free up the pharmacists so that they can adequately perform tasks that require in-depth knowledge or training. A pharmacist is required to be present at all times and must check every prescription before it can be given to a patient -- these laws are intended to prevent medication errors such as those described in the article. That the technician incorrectly transposed a prescription is unfortunate, and certainly more training could have helped prevent this from occurring, but I believe the real issue is that the pharmacist didn't catch the mistake. I can't speculate as to why s/he didn't, but this highlights the problem that arises when prescriptions are treated as goods rather than the entire process being seen as a service. Whether a pharmacist spends 20 minutes discussing a medication with a patient or 5 seconds "checking" a prescription, the pharmacy makes the same amount of money. Consider how many 5-second checks could be performed in 20 minutes and it's easy to see why some chains push quantity at the expense of quality. I would bet that if pharmacies could get reimbursed for patient services such as consultations, question research, etc, chains would again focus on patient care and not so heavily on volume.

I am a nationally certified, educated, well trained tech with many years experience. Unfortunately, 20/20 didn't bother to mention our side of the story. I don't know of ANYONE who wants high school kids filling Rx's. A lot of us have been pushing for mandatory certification and education in all fifty states.

There are requirements in some states and with some employers, but there is nothing on a national level. I would like to see that happen sooner rather than later.

This program, in my opinion, was designed to frighten the general public. National Boards of Pharmacy and legislators-are you paying attention now??

I am a small pharmacy chain owner who supports pharmacists with high quality technicians so they have the time to counsel patients. We are being forced out of business due to low reimbursement by the government and insurance companies. This situation demands that large numbers of prescriptions be filled to survive. The answer is to increase reimbursement and enforce laws already in place that require patient counseling. If the current low reimbursement is not changed I don't think there will be any independent or small chain pharmacies left within two years. Patients will have no choice except the large pharmacy mills.

I am a PTCB certified tech that has worked in both a hospital and retail pharmacy. I am now in retail and work in a small family owned pharmacy that has one pharmacist. After reading the comments posted here I had to tell you about her! Our pharmacist always takes the time to counsel patients and will even stop what she's doing to offer to counsel. It's not always the technician or the cashier that offers it. We also double check behind each other to make sure that dosage, directions, count and even the correct doctor is on the prescription. We know and love all our patients and treat them like family even though some are not always so friendly to us. This story should just prove to the world why you should use a smaller drug store instead of the big chains. Some of the big chains (I've been told) will ask the pharmacies to take longer to fill a prescription so that the customer will have to spend time waiting and will possibly spend more money because they've shopped while they waited. Use the smaller, local stores and see if it doesn't make a difference........I know ours does!

I just want to say first that I have a lot of respect for pharmacists. My issues have never been them, but their assistants are mostly incompetent, in my opinion. I've heard many complaints from friends and co-workers, and I've had some of my own as well. I can't understand how a pharmacist has to go to school for years to be qualified to dispense medication, but these high school kids and other unqualified people can do their job as an assistant. I've wondered for years when something would be done about it. I have an idea: How about the pharmacies hire more than one pharmacist for each store? They make a ridiculous amount of money. I think maybe they can afford it. Because that's what it really boils down to, isn't it? It's always about the money. Money is always more important to these companies than people's lives. Shame on them!

Four years ago, the night before leaving on vacation, I picked up a prescription at a local Rite Aid. I opened it early the next morning to check it and pack it in my bag. Yes, it was the drug the doctor had prescribed BUT it was the wrong dosage and it belonged to someone else - an elderly woman living in the same community. Her name was not even remotely similar to mine. I can't imagine what might have happened if I had just thrown the medication in my suitcase without paying attention to it. When I called the pharmacy that morning to complain, I received a very lukewarm response. "Yeah, these things happen. Sorry about that." I even spoke to the store manager, who while apologetic, was not surprised or outraged that this had happened. He promised me that he would refer this to the district pharmacy manager. I never heard from either one of them again. Needless to say, Rite Aid has lost my business and I tell everyone that story and my other endless complaints about Rite Aid.
Sadly, Rite Aid is not the only error prone pharmacy - Eckerd is a very close second. I picked up a prescription for my elderly mother there only to find it was filled with a much larger dose than was required. The bottom line is, when dealing with ANYONE - doctor, nurse, pharmacist, pharmacist assistant, pharmacy clerk - ultimately, it is up to the patient to be responsible for their own medication.Sad but true.Doesn't anyone assume responsiblity for their own mistakes anymore??

I think this is a very informative story that adds substance to the position that everyone needs to be an advocate in their own health care. As an RN who works with pharmacies and patients on a daily basis, I have seen the good and the not so good on both sides. Pharmacies catch errors that are made on the clinic side at times and clinics also catch errors that the pharmacies have made. To me, the bottom line is that everyone in health care needs to be doing the right job at the right time for the right person so that expensive "re-work" (fixing mistakes) and any possible harm to our patients is avoided.

I am a PTCB Certified Pharmacy Technician CPhT and have been for the last 6 years. I work for one of the large chains. And yes a pharmacist is required to be in the pharmacy at all times. A pharmacy cannot open without one. I am a college graduate who has decided to make this my career. I have taken numerous courses and taken a 3 hour long test to become certified. Just like pharmacists we are required to complete at least 20 hours of continuing education every 2 years to keep our certification. The continuing education we take is often times the same that the pharmacists take. Well trained and educated techs are extremely competent and a vital member of a pharmacy team.

And yet as several people have mentioned before, techs are paid extremely poorly. During a typical day my pharmacy fills 300 prescriptions all the while answering constantly ringing phones, having to answer the drive-up (which should be removed), ring purchases out for customers with no prescription, and being screamed at because someone thinks their medication is too expensive. Oh I forgot. when people come to pick up their prescriptions, there is often an issue with their insurance which needs to be resolved (resolving an insurance issue can take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour depending on the issue), all the while a line is forming and the phone is still ringing.

My pharmacy wants us to have all prescriptions ready in 15 minutes or less. You tell me what the chance is of an error in the situation I described. The chance is there, however we send out all prescriptions most days without one error. And the errors that do get made are caught by the Pharmacist before it's even filled. By the way, we report every single error as required by our state law.

I am a PTCB certified tech that has worked in one of the named chains for almost 7 years. Pharmacy errors due occur it is a fact. If there is anyone to blame it is at the corporate level. At the corporate level it seems to all be about money and wanting more. More stores, less paid staff equals higher profits for the big boys. At my store we must promise customers unreasonable time frames. It does not matter how busy we are, or that we are already one hour behind schedule. Some of the time when a customer drops off a prescription the tech is unable to get all the proper information from the patient usually because they have a phone to their ear and are in a hurry.

Many Pharmacists and techs must work long hours and with out lunches, breaks, or even bathroom breaks making them standing on their feet for 8 to 12 hours. The McDonaldisation has now spread to retail pharmacy, and is choking the life out of it. I believe that 20/20 should do an investigation regarding what goes on behind the counter to offer an explanation of pharmacy error. Then maybe we can then point the fingers and work together to fix the problem!!!

It is always wonderful to see how the media takes a negative and turns it into an epidemic. Pharmacist are under high pressure to fill medications at a fast pace because society is always in a rush to do something. What we do is life threating but people seem to think that our job is a joke. We are there to just put pills in a bottle and that is it. You forget to see that when a patient is rung up at the register the technicians also ask if you have any questions for the pharmacist. Your show happily skipped that part and only showed your under cover person signing a paper to waive that right. If it wasn't for us, people would not be living as long as they are. We catch many critical drug errors and try our best to prevent any harm to occur to a patient. You made it see like it is a joke when an error is made. You should feel horrible for portraying this.

I am sure that the pharmacist involved felt horrible and that their life is ruined because of such a mistake. Just like when you guys make a mistake reporting a story you apologize to the world. You should really apologize to us because we do care about our patients and we do try to do our best to help them. We are not God and neither are you.

I have told our company that we have a pharmacist who makes 2 miss fills per month and they have not looked into this matter yet.I think the company is waiting until one of our patients dies before they will look into this problem we have.

sign great tech

News or Entertainment?
I have been watching the coverage of this story and have to conlcude this has nothing to do with news. If it was news, why not address the issues raised by those in the industry that posted on this site? I am not a pharmacist or technician but they seem to raise valid concerns. Why didn't we get to see the prescription with the doctor's handwriting from that lady's case? Why did we not see the written warnings given to the fake customers or the people suing the pharmacy? This "report" gave most of the time to the lawyers and union representative, not people who actually work in the industry. With that many lawyers helping them write the story/set the agenda you would think Brian Ross could correctly state the law!! Oops was that a mistake? I noted other inconsistencies in the various stories posted on this site (which have either been removed or edited since the story aired--nice touch). Guess Mr. Ross and his team are no better than 16 year olds, they just have better opportunity to cover their tracks. Could it just be a reality that everyone can make mistakes?

I have been a pharmacy tech for 12 years, and I have been certified for almost 8 years. I have worked in several areas of pharmacy including hospital, long-term care, and retail. The pharmacists depend a lot on techs and if a store hires someone that has no experience in pharmacy then it is the stores responsibility to properly train the tech. They can even send them to take the classes to become certified. I know a lot of stores will pay for this, but it may not be broadcasted. There are things an untrained tech can do in the pharmacy and learn about medication. Job experience is also education! (for the comment about Pharmacists having 6-8 yrs of schooling and have the "experience" needed for the job.)

I never took a pharmacy class. I learned everything I know through experience. I was trained properly then offered a chance from the company I was employed with to take the certification test. I have the confidence of every pharmacist I have ever worked with that I am very capable of filling prescriptions and much more. I always have them check behind me and am not shy about asking questions.

Thank you for doing the research on how pharmacy drugs are dispensed. I would like to see the same regarding hospitals dispensing prescriptions to sick patients, many of them unconscious and unable to ask the right questions or know what they are being given. When I was in the hospital after giving birth to my daughter the lady in my room (who also just gave birth) was given an injection. A few minutes later her husband came to visit (he happened to have been a pharmacist) saw the vial on the table and ran to get help. His wife had been given the medication that was meant for a man across the hall that had a terminal illness. Over the years, when I have repeated this incident, many people have come up with their own horror stories. I do believe that hospitals need to be held accountable, and perhaps a survey should be done there.

Larry, I work at Rite Aid. I have been at one of the locations for 3 years now. I know every customer and love every customer. My pharmacist does stop every thing that she or he is doing to counsel. we do have floater pharmacist too, they would do they and done that too. it does not have to be a smaller independent pharmacy that would do the work better than we do. it depend on who is working in the pharmacy. And to Rite Aid, our Focus is the customer. "WITH US IS IT PERSONAL". Just a question what would a patient that goes to a small independent do ir they need to get a script on a Sunday or a holiday, let me guess they would come to us. And how about if he ran out of the med while his pharmacy is close, he would come to us to give some tablets of no charge till his pharmacy opens for us to transfer the script.
And to all others, I am really enjoyed reading all the comments. It is funny to see how all of us go almost through the same pressure, and how little do people on the other side of the counter know what happens on our side.
I guess since by Law only pharmacy staff are allowed behind the counter, and I am sure 20/20 crew are not from this staff, so they are not able to know what actually goes on.
thank you
hitawi

There's not much I can say that hasn't been already been said by the many pharmacists and techs that commented before me, but I feel I have to respond to the claims that you are "signing away your right to counseling." As a third year pharmacy student and intern at a retail chain, everytime I ring out a customer I am required to ask if he or she has any questions. On most occasions the answer is "no" and the customer is asked to sign the line that says "I was offered and declined the opportunity to speak with a pharmacist." It is my responsibility to ask but if the customer responds without really listening or signs without reading what he is signing, there is nothing I can do. Perhaps if patients would put down their cell phones, shush their screaming children, or stop talking to their friend long enough to listen to what the human being behind the counter was saying, they would know that what your program claimed was a flat out lie.

Interesting article and responses. I especially liked Yvonne Soffer's comment. She might want to re-visit her pharmacy. After reading her comments, it sounds like she's off her meds.

John I would like to thank you for broadcasting this reports. Mistake is unfortunately an human thing because we are not perfect. I am a licensed pharmacist and has been practicing for almost 3 years. I confronted Doctors who refused to acknowledge mistakes that they made on prescriptions:frightened to report me to my "boss",told customer to go to another pharmacy,ask if I was a legal worker because of my accent only because I questioned the content of their prescription. Unfortunately the health system became so into business that it will be another political debat. I took a oaf when I graduated from pharmacy school: to be concerned about the welfare of humanity and relief of human suffering my primary concerns.

I work for a major chain as a pharmacist. With the major changes that my company inplemented over the past 3 years, our error rate has been greatly reduced. Again all I see is one sided journalism. Must be a slow news week. What happen, no more news on the late Anna Nicole?

My wife calls pharmacists at two local pharmacies and asks all sorts of questions about the medications that are prescribed for my family. Her constant calling would make any other profession block her calls or refuse to return them. However, they always take the time to answer all of her questions and provide recommendations free of charge. One of them even wrote, Happy Birthday! on a prescription of hers that I picked up that day.

The 20/20 report stated that there was no system in place to catch prescription filling errors. I believe this is totally false. There is software available and in use that prevents errors.

I am a retail pharmacist. I work for one of the large chain stores. I'm sure I can help shed light on some of these issues.

Note: No Pharmacist ever wants to make an error in filling a prescription. Sadly, errors do occur.

Note: The verifying pharmacist is ultimately responsible for what is dispensed to the customer.

To Kerry:
I work at an independent pharmacy. We do not make lots and lots of money.
Insurance companies have cut pharmacies to nothing on alot of medicines. Sometimes we barely make cost on some prescriptions. At a chain I'm sure it's different because they are
a big company. I hate the mindset that Pharmacists are getting rich. We are filling lots more prescriptions of alot less money.

I am forced to use a mail in rx by my ins co. After they sent the wrong strength rx for me (copd patient) it took 2 months of back and forth to get it corrected. I also was charged for both because it came in the mail. Someone needs to TAKE SOME GOOD LOOKS AT ALL HEALTH CARE. Ins has become such big business that everyone is suffering from the burden. I am alive and well no thanks to my ins co or mail in pharmacy. Ins refused to pay for correct dosage at local pharmacy. And you wonder why the people who work there get hardened or lax. MONEY IS THE BOTTOM LINE> at Walgreens, cvs, eckerds or anywhere else. Corporate greed both from companys and ins co......we the comsumers need HELP

I can't believe so many in the Pharm. field are laying blame on patients. Most patients don't have a medical degree.
If you take your car to the shop to be repaired do you think it'll fly if the mechanic messed it up and then said, 'you should have checked to make sure I did it right.'

Amy, If an auto shop were to fix a flat tire or broken window, you WOULD double check it before you left. The Pharm field is suggesting the same thing. Most pharmacies provide descriptions or pictures of the drug you should be taking. It is simply not that much trouble to look at the medicine.

THE BLAME GAME IS ALWAYS UNPRODUCTIVE. 20/20 may be responsible for having a bias story, but the real issue is how do we make this better for everyone. The patients deserve more and we as pharmacists deserve more to give them.
If this doesn't change soon there is going to be a growing decline of pharmacists available to serve the population. I would NEVER recomend the study of pharmacy to young kids looking toward there future.
If you're smart enough to get into pharmacy school be smart enough to go into something else. It's not worth the money and NO RESPECT from the public, doctors, nurses, and the companies you work for. I plan on changing careers soon.

Bravo 20/20!

The public has always been led to believe that their
prescription or Intravenous solutions that runs in their veins was filled by a practicing Pharmacist who went to school and earned their Doctor degree. The reality is that the Pharmacy Technician fills 95% of prescription and medication orders, including IV solutions. This
in itself would not be a sign for alarm, except that, Pharmacy Technicians, in several states, including Colorado, need have no prior educational or experience to work in the Pharmacy setting. In fact, the state of Colorado Board of Pharmacy currently does not even
recognize Pharmacy Technicians.

Personally if I were a consumer wanting all that could be done in the prevention of potential medication errors, I would question why this practice exists in which a Pharmacy Technician is filling my prescription order and not the Pharmacist of which I place my trust?
The answer is simply because there is a major shortage of Pharmacists nationwide and the roles of the Pharmacy Technician has changed to more of a dispensing function than simply one who works the cash register.

No one likes to hear negative comments about their profession. I think everyone would agree there are good and bad in all professions. Yes, errors are made and one mistake is one too many! But to not be accountable and take responsibility for your actions is just not right!! It's not professional. I can't believe that errors aren't even tracked. I'm a Registered Nurse who works as a Clincial Manager in home care. We're always looking at performance improvement, tracking the outcomes of the services we're providing and what we can do to improve our outcomes. We also look at service recovery for those cutomers who are unhappy for whatever reason.

Someone commented on what they called the "uneducated media." I don't think that's a fair statement at all. The media is educated and are trying to educate not "frighten " the public. The consumer should be an educated consumer paying attention to what each prescription med looks like, the dosage, who the manufacturer is, read the label and the educational material that is provided with the script and ask questions.

I myself was on the receiving end of a Walgreen's error twice. I received a call from a women who lived in the town next to mine and has the same first and last name as mine (the last name with one letter difference, but said the same way). An unlikely coincidence, but true. She called because the scripts she had just gotten from Walgreen's had all my personal information on the label and were actually my prescriptions that I had just renewed. They never bothered to check the Date of Birth DOB or address to be sure they had the right patient. This was a violation of HIPPA, my privacy, my personal health information and could have been terrible for her had she not been an educated consumer.

All I have to say (being a tech) is "Let me go into anyone else's place of employment and act as impatient and self rightious as alot of the patients (usually not regulars) who want their scripts yesterday and see how far it gets me" Some of these people actually want to wait in the drive thru for us to complete their orders while they wait.. Listen up people!! It is life or death we are dealing with on a daily basis.. HAVE SOME PATIENTS!! I'm sure you waited along time at the office to see your high cost doctor.. So don't take it out on the pharmacy emplyees when you come to us for your scripts... Yes we do multitask but that is part of our job.. Not just to fill YOUR prescription in 15 minutes or less... Most of the job is basically STRESSFUL because of the DEMAND of the consumer.. NOT TO LEAVE OUT THE EMPLOYER.. Who doesn't think a pharmacist working 14 hours should have a break.. Oh and about PAY.. The teenagers can be hired at minimum wage to fill scripts.. Being with a chain company for 9 yrs.. I only make $8.68.. PITYFUL.. But I love my job most days..

I can't believe the the one-sided hit you delivered to Walgreens. Did someone on your staff have a bad experience there? The Walgreens where I have always received my prescriptions has never failed to ask me if I wanted a consult with the pharmacist. I have never seen the pharmacy open without a pharmacist. When my husband was dying, they delivered the prescriptions to the house. I know that pharmacy techs work in the pharmacy at Walgreens and everywhere else also, except perhaps the small pharmacy where you have one pharmacist and a small number of prescriptions.

I know for a fact that the techs have training and have to pass tests. Whatever they do has to be checked by the pharmacist. There is an extreme shortage of pharmacists. I'm sure that any drug chain would be thrilled to be able to find the pharmacists they needed to have those extra pharmacists available. I really think that your reporting was extrememly biased against Walgreens. I believe that the things you hit them with could have been the same in any pharmacy. The fact that mistakes were made isn't good for Walgreens or any other pharmacy. I'm sure that Walgreens isn't the only drug store to make a mistake.

I went to college to become a pharmacy technician and recently became certified by the ptcb. I work for a major retailer and in the first three months of employement we ha