Instances where retail pharmacists were fired..

[Chrish]

With so many doom and gloom threads floating around, I would like to discuss scenarios where pharmacists get themselves into trouble and hopefully it will educate others to avoid similar mistakes. Of course, lot depends on state law and how strictly your company enforces the policies and procedures. But still everyone will benefit from this discussion.

1) Not counseling on new scripts:

State law requires that rph offers counseling on all new scripts. I have seen several people getting fired because they were just bagging all new scripts or have the technicians/ cashiers ask patient if they have any question rather than doing it themselves. Most common reason why people get into trouble at my company.

2) Not opening a vial when verifying the content:

Please don't be lazy and open the vials that have been counted! If you got caught on the camera, you will be terminated! I at least know three rphs who lost their jobs this way.


3) I know one pharmacist who brought gun at work and left it. He voluntarily quit knowing he would be gone otherwise to prevent himself from getting blacklisted.

What are the incidents that you have seen?

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[Pharmacy is a Scam]

Having an “attitude problem” when wage and hour cuts are announced due to the saturation and pharmacy being an employer’s market for the forseeable future.

This can manifest itself in many ways: poor morale leading to loss of productivity (decreased performance on your metrics), constant gossip/whining about the profession in the workplace leading to techs gossiping/snitching about you, snapping back at your PIC or DM for petty things such as perceived ageism (regardless of whether it is true or not), or “not being flexible” aka not volunteering to work any and every shift if you are a floater, even if you get a same-day text on a weekend.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Off the top of my head:

2 overnight RPhs have been fired for masturbating in the pharmacy. Both were over a decade ago back before Readyfill when overnight pharmacists had a lot of free time.

1 overnight pharmacist got fired for choking a guy (who, to be fair, was throwing things at the pharmacist).

1 veteran, respected PIC got fired for not making a DUR note in RxConnect with a patient with a warfarin interaction.

1 pharmacist got fired for filling their own Adderall script. Nothing was missing and the count was correct. Still got fired.

1 pharmacist got fired for paying techs under the table to stay over off the books because he couldn't get all the work done otherwise.

1 pharmacist for fired for letting a script written "Tramadol 25mg, Take 8 tabs TID" through without questioning it. It was a pediatric patient.

 

[Chrish]

Off the top of my head:

2 overnight RPhs have been fired for masturbating in the pharmacy. Both were over a decade ago back before Readyfill when overnight pharmacists had a lot of free time.

1 overnight pharmacist got fired for choking a guy (who, to be fair, was throwing things at the pharmacist).

1 veteran, respected PIC got fired for not making a DUR note in RxConnect with a patient with a warfarin interaction.

1 pharmacist got fired for filling their own Adderall script. Nothing was missing and the count was correct. Still got fired.

1 pharmacist got fired for paying techs under the table to stay over off the books because he couldn't get all the work done otherwise.

1 pharmacist for fired for letting a script written "Tramadol 25mg, Take 8 tabs TID" through without questioning it. It was a pediatric patient.

I would like to know more details about Warfarin incident if possible. What kind of DUR was it? Was it something involving lawsuit?

And if someone is throwing stuff at you, wouldn't you have a right to defend yourself?

To add on my list, one PIC was fired for overriding the prices too much.. He would basically reduce the copay or give out medications for free for "patient satisfaction".

 

[Sine Cura]

Here are some not fired (or discplined) even though:

1) Not setting alarm
2) Filling fake scripts (very poor judgment)
3) Yelling at techs/verbal abuse/insults

No one been fired yet AFAIK for being a useless slug.

Only instances of firing involved stealing or sleeping with a tech

Of course with opioid stewardship some pharmacists should have been fired already because of failure to do it correctly (how many times do you need remediation on basic stuff)

All of that stuff above looks like DM going after a pharmacist because they wanted to get rid of him/her because you have to investigate everything actively.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I would like to know more details about Warfarin incident if possible. What kind of DUR was it? Was it something involving lawsuit?

From what I understand, it was an internal audit sort of thing. This is second hand info and from the RPh's POV, so I'm not 100% sure. Corporate might have a different, more damning story. But the gist of it is not logging a proper DUR override for warfarin.

 

[Chrish]

5) In one of the more interesting scenarios, one time tech wasn't filling well. So, pharmacist refills his own prescription and then gives it to tech thinking it would help that person based on the symptoms. The other technician saw it and reported it to the corporate. They did the investigation and the pharmacist got terminated!

Don't try to play hero at work..

 

[maria1oh]

Not filling out misfill reports

 

[mentos]

-Rph asks tech to help steal pills:

Pharmacist blacklisted on global database Esteem

You ever heard of a pharmacist blacklisted on Esteem in their profession. CVS did it. Worked for rhem 16 years and they terminated me and placed me on Esteem. You can hire legal cousel because theres no due process arrest or convicton. They did this and went around the law and board of pharmacy...

forums.studentdoctor.net

Rph fired for "performance" aka weeding out high salary for cheaper new grads:

Staff Rph fired for Performance

My former Pic/partner who was demoted to staff when i was demoted to floater back in July last year has been terminated for performance To say i was shocked is an understatement. I have worked with him for more than 5 years. He is a great rph. I could not have asked for a better partner! After...

forums.studentdoctor.net

-Walgreens fired a bunch of overnight Rphs for sleeping a few years ago.

-New grad Rph had anxiety and ingested a lorazepam without Rx.

-Front store cashier fired for sharing employee discount. A few people on this forum say they share their Extracare card digitally to earn more Extrabucks, dumb idea.

 

[johnpharm01]

A pharmacist could be fired for any reason or no reason at all. I have heard of pharmacists being fired for customer complaints (one incident was one complaint), sleeping on the job, not getting along with the tech staff, not working all hours paid, HIPPA violation, and excess errors. More often then not these were the pretexts and didn't scratch the surface of the story behind each firing.

Want to lose your job fast? Argue with management, not be a team player/loathed by techs, report your employer to government agencies. In retail pharmacies there has always been a resentment by store staff toward pharmacists because the staff believe the pharmacists are overpaid to do a job anyone can do. Now the market is grossly distorted toward the employers and 30 people want your job. The only ones with safe jobs are the favorites, family, and friends. If you are a higher paid and older watch out.

 

[BMBiology]

report your employer to government agencies.

Whistleblowers are protected by law.

 

[SoylentGreen]

Stuff involving sexual harrassment is probably the most common along with failure to open bottles when verifying.

Taking medication themselves off the shelf. This includes an emergency fill situation for a floater who left his meds at home and told everybody what he was doing, not just like stealing opioids to get high.

Failure to follow procedures when the pharmacy manager was trying to get rid of rph in question. Probably would not have been happened with a friendlier manager.

Getting an alcoholic drink during lunch and putting it on a travel voucher.

 

[maria1oh]

If you forget to renew rph license (some states require this yearly) and you work a shift it is grounds for termination

 

[RxPreceptor]

Alcoholic tech, history of coming into shifts with a certain smell, slurring words, a few instances of vomitting on job (this was a PIA with leave of absence). She eventually did my PIC a favor & just put in 2 weeks notice after several stints of leaves of absence followed by returning (literally would last for like 2 work days...vomit on job...><).

Tech who was caught "porking" store front employee

RPh who would lend his boyfriend ("not that there is anything wrong with that" - Seinfeld) a few norcos (before the federal change to C2 era)

RPh cut/laid off for extensive history of failing big time on metrics (she was a very good, competent, by the books pharmacist) numerous times; her skills just don't match the retail/community work environment (lacking in time management). Was staff, moved to floater, and finally let go after several warning/action plans/chances to show improvement

 

[projektreverb]

I hear all these stories about staff pharmacists getting fired for X, Y or Z reason. Anyone hear of any reason why a floater would get fired? I feel like that bar is pretty low...

 

[Dred Pirate]

I know a manager who was managing two stores and getting paid 1.5 time for this (back during shortage) - she actually only worked 20 hours a week and hired staffing agencies to cover the rest. DM was a 5 hour drive away so she got away with it for about a year

 

[Dred Pirate]

I hear all these stories about staff pharmacists getting fired for X, Y or Z reason. Anyone hear of any reason why a floater would get fired? I feel like that bar is pretty low...

I know a guy who just walked out in the middle of his shift - he would have been fired but he went straight to a mental health facility

 

[Modest_anteater]

Stuff involving sexual harrassment is probably the most common along with failure to open bottles when verifying.

Taking medication themselves off the shelf. This includes an emergency fill situation for a floater who left his meds at home and told everybody what he was doing, not just like stealing opioids to get high.

Failure to follow procedures when the pharmacy manager was trying to get rid of rph in question. Probably would not have been happened with a friendlier manager.

Getting an alcoholic drink during lunch and putting it on a travel voucher.

"Taking medication themselves off the shelf. "

I was working at a large hospital and when looking at hospital orders a lot of time physcians would order APAP and Naproxen 1 tab for themselves under the patient's name so that they would get it delivered to them while they are at work for free. not sure how illegal this is but it was very common practice.

 

[Modest_anteater]

Off the top of my head:

2 overnight RPhs have been fired for masturbating in the pharmacy. Both were over a decade ago back before Readyfill when overnight pharmacists had a lot of free time.

1 overnight pharmacist got fired for choking a guy (who, to be fair, was throwing things at the pharmacist).

1 veteran, respected PIC got fired for not making a DUR note in RxConnect with a patient with a warfarin interaction.

1 pharmacist got fired for filling their own Adderall script. Nothing was missing and the count was correct. Still got fired.

1 pharmacist got fired for paying techs under the table to stay over off the books because he couldn't get all the work done otherwise.

1 pharmacist for fired for letting a script written "Tramadol 25mg, Take 8 tabs TID" through without questioning it. It was a pediatric patient.

" fired for masturbating in the pharmacy. "

not masturbating in the bathroom like everyone else. dang how lazy can you be??

 

[projektreverb]

Whistleblowers are protected by law.

True. However, that doesn’t stop them from laying you off for poor performance. Employers can come up with 100 different excuses to get rid of someone, even the cleanest among us can get weeded out if you dig deep enough.

 

[projektreverb]

I know a guy who just walked out in the middle of his shift - he would have been fired but he went straight to a mental health facility

Should I read this as: floaters pretty much don’t get fired?

 

[WVUPharm2007]

" fired for masturbating in the pharmacy. "

not masturbating in the bathroom like everyone else. dang how lazy can you be??

Yes. In the pharmacy.

 

[dmd20000]

Why is it against the store policy to sleep with other employees? I worked in two chains and none of the training modules mentioned anything about this. There were a bunch of techs that were in love with me but I never went out with them or slept with them.

 

[ancienbon]

In my 10 years in the field i know about 10 rphs who were fired.
1) A good friend of mine ,my former pic with whom i worked for more than 5 years were fired a couple months ago for bs reason.,performance really. I know it was an excuse
2) A staff rph was fired for filling his own controlled..
3) pic was fired for failling to catch techs who were stealing an excessive amount of alprazolam
4) pic was fired for excessive c2 discrepancy and hired a retired dentist as a tech who was writing himself narcotic and pic was filling them
5) staff was fired for failing to report a misfill.. patient went to hospital
6) a rxm at walgreens was fired 8 years ago for price modifying scripts so that he could sell more psc cards.
7) a rph at wags was fired for ingesting a tablet of tramadol.. at the time was not a controlled substance in Fl
8) a rph at wags again was fired for filling a fake call in c2 .
9) a pic was forced to retire. Was written up and was not up to the excessive demand of the job.
10) a rph was fired for leaving her credential in the pharmacy while she was in break and a tech used it to verify a script.

 

[hye345]

In my 10 years in the field i know about 10 rphs who were fired.
1) A good friend of mine ,my former pic with whom i worked for more than 5 years were fired a couple months ago for bs reason.,performance really. I know it was an excuse
2) A staff rph was fired for filling his own controlled..
3) pic was fired for failling to catch techs who were stealing an excessive amount of alprazolam
4) pic was fired for excessive c2 discrepancy and hired a retired dentist as a tech who was writing himself narcotic and pic was filling them
5) staff was fired for failing to report a misfill.. patient went to hospital
6) a rxm at walgreens was fired 8 years ago for price modifying scripts so that he could sell more psc cards.
7) a rph at wags was fired for ingesting a tablet of tramadol.. at the time was not a controlled substance in Fl
8) a rph at wags again was fired for filling a fake call in c2 .
9) a pic was forced to retire. Was written up and was not up to the excessive demand of the job.
10) a rph was fired for leaving her credential in the pharmacy while she was in break and a tech used it to verify a script.

#10 Is probably why my manager is always on my back about signing off whenever I leave my workstation.

I knew a PIC who was fired for a missfill: filled an opioid for a 90 year old lady by mistake, actual patient was in his 60’s. I heard a tech was the one who physically filled it (big no-no at this company). Anyway, the victim ended up in the hospital, victim’s son was in law enforcement, no one (not higher ups nor other pharmacists) liked this individual very much (or so I was told)... it was probably the perfect storm.

 

[Dred Pirate]

Should I read this as: floaters pretty much don’t get fired?

well- it was hard to staff area, and my DM wouldn't fire him bc he was afraid of a lawsuit - but in the RPh's defense, he was crazy... and old,, like 75

 

[Chrish]

Being floater is the ****!iest position one can have.. You have to please several mangers and if anything goes wrong, it automatically becomes floater’s fault.

If they don’t like you, they would assign all the closing shifts, make you work several days in a raw, assign you at worst stores, or places too far from your home. Basically, they would put you on a path where you would “voluntarily” quit..

 

[PharmtoCS]

Why is it against the store policy to sleep with other employees? I worked in two chains and none of the training modules mentioned anything about this. There were a bunch of techs that were in love with me but I never went out with them or slept with them.

#humblebrag lol

 

[Sine Cura]

Why is it against the store policy to sleep with other employees? I worked in two chains and none of the training modules mentioned anything about this. There were a bunch of techs that were in love with me but I never went out with them or slept with them.

Corporations do not want to deal with sexual harassment claims.

At mass merchandisers, or at least Walmart there is also a potential problem when someone in loss prevention is sleeping with a pharmacy associate.


Anyone as long as you don't do flagrantly stupid like sleep with techs or steal it's up to your boss to marshal up evidence to use against you. If you are tolerated you are left alone. Don't be an easy mark

 

[nextyearrx]

Board of pharmacy walked in and asked: where is the pharmacist on duty?

Techs: he has been out for an over, he should be back in few minutes. Can I get you something to drink or eat?

 

[Sabril]

" fired for masturbating in the pharmacy. "

not masturbating in the bathroom like everyone else. dang how lazy can you be??

that's not lazy. You are not allowed to leave the pharmacy unattended to attend to your own needs.

 

[Modest_anteater]

that's not lazy. You are not allowed to leave the pharmacy unattended to attend to your own needs.

I guess that is true!