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RiteAid Pharmacy Errors, Problems

Rhonda of Lincoln University, PA November 16, 2009

On Friday, 11/13/09 I rushed my 77 year old mother to Christiania Hospital ER. She had the hives so badly, they had entered her throat. After medicating and watching her for six hours, she was sent home with a prescription for Hydroxyzine 25 mg, and told to take otc Benadryl. They did give her enough medicine to last through the night because it was about 11:30 p.m. when she was discharged.

The next day, I took her script to Rite Aid, Store #11179, New London Rd, Newark DE 19711, they filled the script, rang up the Benadryl. I drove to my mom's house and left the medication with her, as well as her meal for the day. Around 3:30 p.m. I received a call from my mother stating she choked on one of the pills, and went to get another one when she noticed the bottle said : Patricia B. (patient), the medication was HYDROCODONE--APAP 7.2-750 Tab.

At the time, I was in Wilmington DE grocery shopping. I was very upset, so I called the Rite Aid and spoke to the pharmacist, Yen. I told Yen what the problem was, she stated that she was concerned about my mom having the wrong medication, but Yen never once asked if my mom was okay, or if she had taken the medication. I then drove to Rite Aid to pick up the correct medication. Yen refused to give me the correct medication, but because I did not bring back the HYDROCODONE. (I have a heart condition and my rate was running high). I informed Yen that I was not going to run around a fix the mistake she made. I did tell her to feel free to drive to my mother's house to pick up the medication herself.

Yen called another lady in the store, and they agreed (after I started yelling) to give me the correct medication. When I arrived at my mother's house and picked up the medication and went home, I found out via the internet that it was Oxycontin, and very strong narcotic. I went to A-Fib that evening, had an on-call physician walk me through what medicine to take.

I cannot understand how this happens. My worst fear is that if my mom had choked on the large pill, she would be back in the hospital with God knows what type of reaction. I am writing to any and every agency to see what our rights are. Your response is so greatly needed.

Ann of Wilmington, DE November 15, 2009

I don't know if what this pharmaist did to me is illegal or not, but I am so angry and taken back that I cannot allow her to victimize me..I have been on Suboxone for about a year and a half. If you dont know what that is, it is the result of taking prescribed pain medication for 5 years. To keep from going through withdrawl from this pain medication, I take suboxone intil the treatment is over..I get suboxone from my doctor in Harrisburg PA, because doctors charge a lot to treat it in Delaware. I refuse to go on Methadone..This is not something I am proud of, I trusted my doctors and should have known the dangers of pain medication. This medication helps me maintain a normal life.

Anyway. I had been having some issues and decided to talk to my regular doctor in Delaware about it.I had not told my regular Doctor about suboxone because I did not want to be judged..Evidentally my doctor diagnosed me with having ADD and gave me a prescription for Aderal. Hoping this medication would work, I went into Rite Aid to fill the script and have never been so disrespected in my life. This pharmacist acted as if I was doing something sneaky. Im sure people do, but until 2 weeks ago, I had barely heard of this medication. She treated me like a drug addict because I let her know that I was on suboxone..This was not my normal Rite Aid as I was visiting my mother and had errands to run, it was convenient.

The pharmacist let me know that ethically she would not fill the prescription, confused and very upset, I left. When I went to my pharmacist, also Rite Aid. I asked her if suboxone and Aderal interfere with each other, and then spoke to her about the pros and cons of this medication.She said "Absolutley not". I decided to try the medication. I took 1 tablet a day and it worked very well, I improved at work exc... I noticed whern I went back to my doctor I was being treated differently, sure enouph after speaking to my doctor, the pharmacist called her that day. This is everything I wanted to avoid. Shouldnt it be my right to decide what i take?? I could see if these two medications clashed, but they didnt and it is very clear to me that this woman ASSUMED that I am a drug addict, just after something. Now I cannot be treated properly for ADD, and I am frustrated.

Dogan of Dix hills, NY November 11, 2009

I constantly run into problems with the jericho location in huntington. The first time i handed in my prescription they told me that they didn't have anything existing on the computer. I needed to come back the next day, claiming that i did not hand in the prescriptions. The second time which i needed a simple accucheck refill. i am diabetic and needed the strips, i called in they said no one had a conversation with me.

The final incident is that i handed in four prescriptions which were never entered into the system, nor were the prescriptions existing. They were also very arrogant i guess they have the principle the customer is always wrong. didnt know what he was talking about. He asked me if i was at the right location putting me into a stupid position. i desperately needed the antibiotic because of a surgery on my tooth! The staff that is working is super unproffesional, something needs to be done!

Elayne of Hamburg, NJ October 26, 2009

WRONG PATIENT, WRONG MEDICINE, WRONG DOCTOR!!!! Fortunately, I caught the mistake while pouring our weekly medications, so no physical damage was done...however, we are now afraid to use this pharmacy anymore and will be paranoid with all opharmacies from now on. I have many anaphylactoid reactions to medications and am very concerned about this. When I called the pharmacist, his reaction was "Yes, that is your husbands medicine for a cough." He said nothing further. This attitude is just as bad as the errors in my estimation. Plerase contact me BY MAIL or PHONE (I do not have a computer available at this time) Thank you.

Elnagar, of Albany, NY October 19, 2009

Rite aid announced special deal on nicorit " rite aid brand" buy one get one free. accoordingly i went there to get it, but it was not available.they gave me a check for it and asked me to go back later on to get it. when i went there, the deputy manager denied the check and said that it is not from this store and treating me in desrespect without trying to ask any of the employees.

RHONDA of washougal, WA October 15, 2009

four of the employees verbally attacked me with harrassment,argueing,criticism,AFTER I asked them to please stop it.i asked them over and over and they continued to harrass and argue knowing i was a long time customer,with painfull spinal damage/disabled and nearly 60yr.

Al of Sayre, PA September 29, 2009

On Monday Sept. 28th.,2009 around 11 AM I went into the aforementioned Rite Aid to purchase an item I waited at the front counter for elliott some time along with another customer who had been waiting much longer than I had. I went to the back of the store spoke to a nice young woman and asked for a customer complaint form.She was not sure if there were any forms for that and she worked in an area at the rear of the building. While talking to her I observed an employee of Rite Aid rush to the front of the building and wait on the customer that had been waiting there.

The nice young woman allowed me to pay for the item at the rear of the building. I wish to point out that this Rite Aid is noted for poor customer service at the front of the building and this was not my first time of having to go to the rear of the building and bother the persons in a different part of the building. Send some one into the store a few times and see if what I tell you is not true.

susan of shaker heights, OH September 27, 2009

RiteAid seems to be out of control, with dose and drug switching. They filled an Rx with double the pills at half the dose,as they were out of the full strength. They charged me more for the double number of pills, than the original Rx written by the physician would have cost. They did not mention to me that they had altered the dosage, nor did they check with the doc, nor did they mention that the directions were different from those which I was given by my treating doctor. I am going to the pharmacy board of my state.

I knew what the doctor prescribed, and called the pharmacy. They refilled the script the following day and unsuccessfully tried to charge me again. They have the wrong dollar amount of my co-pay in my insurance record, and my out of pocket expense is understated.

Carla of Fall River, MA September 23, 2009

I can't imagine why and how Rite Aid, a mediocre establishment with unfriendly people in the pharmacy (and they were obviously taught at a series of seminars that the customer is always wrong)took over a decent chain called Brooks. I used to live down the street from what is now Rite Aid but was Brooks, and because they knew me they were nice to me and even chatty. Someone here said that it's a revolving door for pharmacists, and that's true. We also had a friend who had been day manager of a Brooks near our new home and got fired in favor of...who knows what. Maybe he worked too hard, was too homely, or committed some other sin but he was there for years and there is no loyalty at Rite Aid. I could say the same of other stores, but it would take up a full page and possibly more. I am so unhappy with Rite Aid that even though the location is convenient for us, I might switch pharmacies really soon.

Kathy of Marion, VA September 6, 2009

The first indication that something was going awry at this particular Rite Aid was when I called in a refill and was told "We didn't fill that prescription for you." I told the person that I had the original bottle in my hand and would bring it there for him to see. He checked his records and said, "Oh, we have you mixed up with another Kathy (same last name). The next issue with them was my birth date. (Possibly the other Kathy's?) They had my birthdate as the 14th not the 17th.

To avoid the hassle that came EVERY time I went there the pharmacist suggested that I just say that my birthdate WAS the 14th. Knowing this was not the proper way to handle it, I raised the issue on a later visit and ask them to change the record. The cashier or tech on that particular visit suggested I contact my insurance. I responded, "THEY have the RIGHT birth date--you need to change it in YOUR system. Finally, I witnessed the most unbelievable and irresponsible act yet. I went 20 to 10 minutes before the pharmacy closed to find that they had closed early and had wheeled the prescriptions to the front of the store where they were being dispensed by a cashier. Later, in a neighboring town, I ran across a former pharmacist of this particular Rite Aid who told me that it had "gotten so bad there", he was driving an additonal 60 miles a day to work at a different store.

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