Finally, Getting Some Publicity

An article printed in today’s issue of USA Today will hopefully help to improve pharmacists’ working conditions. It is called “Rx for Errors: Speed, High Volume Can Trigger Mistakes.” It details several prescription errors made by Walgreens and CVS pharmacists that may or may not be a direct result of large prescription volume.

The chains, of course, are denying that volume plays a role in whether or not mistakes are made. Internal documents showed that Walgreens expects pharmacists to fill and check prescriptions in two minutes, hardly leaving enough time to do a prospective DUR or counsel a patient. CVS times pharmacists on how fast they fill prescriptions and answer the phone. Sound stressful? It does to me. Do you think that stress and high volume would increase potential for human errors? The chains may try to deny it, but any sane person would agree that such an environment would only foster mistakes.

I have been a staff pharmacist in a store that filled 2000 prescriptions a week with 2 and 1/2 pharmacists. It was not unusual for us to fill over 400 prescriptions on a Monday. Sometimes I felt like my head would explode, and a lot of the responsibilities that I felt were mandatory for pharmacists (like counseling) were ignored. There just wasn’t time. When the chain I worked for was bought by CVS, I knew it would only get worse. It was only a matter of time before I made a serious error on a prescription because I didn’t have time to properly check it or didn’t talk to the patient (proper counseling is the BEST way to prevent errors). I was kept up at night, unable to sleep, dreaming about prescriptions I filled and having nightmares about prescription errors I could have made.

I was good at my job in the busy pharmacy. My techs were glad that it was me opening with them in the morning, because I was fast and accurate. We would fill 200 prescriptions from 9-1, when the other pharmacist arrived. I was praised by upper management. I would brag about how many prescriptions I filled and how short of time it took me to do it. But I knew that my patients were suffering because I didn’t have time to talk to them about their prescriptions. I knew that the company was squeezing every last drop out of me. I was being taken advantage of, and I was bragging about it! It had to stop. I quit before the CVS merger, and transferred to a job as a pharmacy manager in a grocery store chain.

Now, I work in a slow store, we fill roughly 500 prescriptions a week. Much of the time I am bored. But, thankfully, I have adequate time to fill each prescription that comes through my door. I counsel my patients, fax doctors detailed reports regarding drug interactions or side effects, and verify every prescription thoroughly. I have never made a mistake that I know of (Knock on wood). Yet. I know that I will eventually (I am human), but I am confident that, in my current job, I have enough time to do my job properly.

I work 12 hour days without breaks. So do many pharmacists that work for Walgreens or CVS (those guys work 14s). If I was in a more stressful environment, mistakes would be much more likely. It’s common sense. Your brain never has a chance to decompress.

Pharmacists for these chains need to refuse to fill prescriptions at such a rate. It is the individual pharmacist’s license on the line. If they feel they can’t do their job safely, they need to stand up and say it. It’s NOT WORTH IT to be the good-little-boy or girl pharmacist filling 2 prescriptions a minute and make a mistake that could cost someone their life.