Malpractice insurance for retail pharmacist?

[hoyalawya]

Hi,

I am asking this question for my wife who is going to be a new pharmacist for Rite Aid in Northern Virginia. We have a few questions regarding malpractice insurance.

(1) Is purchasing a pharmacist malpractice insurance policy recommended?
(2) Will Rite Aid provide one to her? If yes, do you recommend that she gets a separate policy anyway?
(3) What are some good reputable pharmacist malpractice insurance providers/carriers?

Any help is highly appreciated.

Regards,

Charlie

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[pharmacychick01]

1. Yes- her license to practice pharmacy is extremely valuable- she needs to protect it.

2. Rite Aid will probably include her on their liability insurance policy. However, there can often be gaps in that policy that can leave her vulnerable in case of a lawsuit. Plus, what if the company itself sues her? I swear I am not an insurance agent!

3. Is she a member of APhA or ASHP? Those two organizations promote professional liability insurance providers to their membership, with perhaps some discounts or special offers to members. APhA promotes HPSO (www.hpso.com) and ASHP promotes Affinity Group Services (www.proliability.com). Also, you can check out Pharmacists Mutual at www.phmic.com.

I'm still a student, so I have liability insurance via APhA for 4th years. I don't know if there is any difference among the professional liability providers. That would be a question for someone else to answer.

 

[67echo]

you should try a search...this has been talked about to death...

 

[pancreas]

I graduated in May of 2008. I bought a policy through Pharmacists Mutual as soon as I became licensed. I got the policy for 70 bucks, which is half the price of a normal policy--apparently they have a deal for newly minted pharmacists.

Regardless of where your wife practices, she needs to get a policy. People are sue-crazy these days, and it's always best to protect yourself. You have to look out for yourself because when push comes to shove, you cannot depend on anyone else to cover you.

 

[NormalSaline]

I graduated in May of 2008. I bought a policy through Pharmacists Mutual as soon as I became licensed. I got the policy for 70 bucks, which is half the price of a normal policy--apparently they have a deal for newly minted pharmacists.

Regardless of where your wife practices, she needs to get a policy. People are sue-crazy these days, and it's always best to protect yourself. You have to look out for yourself because when push comes to shove, you cannot depend on anyone else to cover you.

$70/yr x 40 yrs of practice = $2800

you think itll cost you more than that if you get sued?

 

[MountainPharmD]

Didn't Rite Aid go bankrupt?

 

[hoyalawya]

Thank you for the responses. We decided to buy a policy from HPSO as we could do it all online. Rite Aid is now trading at about $.30. Not sure whether it has been delisted but I have not heard about bankruptcy. There have been rumors going around of a possible buyout offer from another pharmacy chain though,

 

[Old Timer]

$70/yr x 40 yrs of practice = $2800

you think itll cost you more than that if you get sued?

Why do you think this is only $70.00 per year?

 

[NormalSaline]

I got the policy for 70 bucks, which is half the price of a normal policy

Why do you think this is only $70.00 per year?

My pharmacists told me they pay about $140/yr.

 

[pancreas]

My pharmacists told me they pay about $140/yr.

Yeah, the first year (at least with Pharm Mutual) you pay half price for your policy. After the first year, you pay the going rate which is about 140. Sorry if that was unclear in my previous post.