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Pharmacists speak out against CVS and their metrics!
Started by BMBiology
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Ultimately, stories like this just look bad on the profession. The public and legislators aren't just going to say "I just wont go to CVS." They will say "pharmacists should be replaced with robots to reduce human error."
The compounding problems at the NECC just resulted in compounding pharmacists as a whole looking incompetent, and tons of new regulations getting dumped onto the whole profession. This is no different.
The compounding problems at the NECC just resulted in compounding pharmacists as a whole looking incompetent, and tons of new regulations getting dumped onto the whole profession. This is no different.
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The problem is no matter how slow you go you will still make mistakes. So this leaves room for the argument of tech-check-tech or technology taking over completely. Good on this guy for exposing the sweatshop nature of the job. I really think it's long past due for pharmacists to consider unionizing in certain settings.
the thing that bothers me is that none of the pharmacy organization ever has said anything (not to my knowledge at least). Where is APhA? That is why I would never join APhA. All they ever talk about is MTM. How about trying to improve working conditions?
here's a published paper on community pharmacists' occupational satisfaction and stress: http://japha.org/article.aspx?articleid=1686691
"Synopsis: A survey of 303 U.S. community chain and independent pharmacists showed a high level of dissatisfaction with current employment. More than one-half of respondents considered quitting their current position in the previous year, and thoughts of quitting were more common for those working in community chain pharmacies. Pharmacists with bachelor's degrees were more satisfied with their worklife than those with PharmD degrees, and those working in independent pharmacies were more satisfied with their positions than those in community chains. Approximately 20% of respondents felt that stress from employment adversely affected their mental health and well-being, physical health, quality of the work, or relationships with family and friends."
I don't work in retails but I always have an eye on retails because what is going on there will affect everybody
"Synopsis: A survey of 303 U.S. community chain and independent pharmacists showed a high level of dissatisfaction with current employment. More than one-half of respondents considered quitting their current position in the previous year, and thoughts of quitting were more common for those working in community chain pharmacies. Pharmacists with bachelor's degrees were more satisfied with their worklife than those with PharmD degrees, and those working in independent pharmacies were more satisfied with their positions than those in community chains. Approximately 20% of respondents felt that stress from employment adversely affected their mental health and well-being, physical health, quality of the work, or relationships with family and friends."
I don't work in retails but I always have an eye on retails because what is going on there will affect everybody
I guess what I'm hoping what will happen with this is that more people will be aware of pharmacists at these places are forced to focus on numbers and metrics instead of checking for drug interactions etc. Since it's not really about going fast/slow, but that there are all these extra metrics and numbers that pharmacists are being forced to focus on, rather than the important things.
I believe that if Pharmacists are the first to bring this to attention, then that will show that they don't need to be regulated, but the companies need to be. If patients speak out about errors, then yes I think that the fingers will point to pharmacists.
I believe that if Pharmacists are the first to bring this to attention, then that will show that they don't need to be regulated, but the companies need to be. If patients speak out about errors, then yes I think that the fingers will point to pharmacists.
Different amounts of elemental potassium.
If it were measured in mg, that would be true. Those are dosed in mEq.
They have different absorption and indications, though.
So one pharmacist makes a typographical error...then another one tells the woman that if you take the citrate rather than the chloride salt "YOU'LL HAVE A STROKE!!!!!!"
And who is Mr dark room who is making one error a day? Good lord. I've made like 1 wrong drug error in over 3 years. How do you make 1 a day?
There are some great CVS pharmacists...but I'm not going to lie, sometimes I'm embarrassed to be associated with some of the people CVS hires.
And who is Mr dark room who is making one error a day? Good lord. I've made like 1 wrong drug error in over 3 years. How do you make 1 a day?
There are some great CVS pharmacists...but I'm not going to lie, sometimes I'm embarrassed to be associated with some of the people CVS hires.
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Potassium 16.7% of the weight of potassium gluconate, 38.3% of potassium citrate and 52% of potassium chloride. The difference between citrate and chloride isn't that far off so what's the deal with the STROKE comment?
The specific details of the case was not really released. So we can only speculate. The idea of a stroke is not too far off. Hyperkalemia may cause arrhythmias which in turn can cause a stroke. According to the picture shown in the video pt was supposed to take a 10 meq K+ supplement. She was given 20 meq KCl. That is DOUBLE, which can lead to hyperkalemia. If she didn't realize the mistake and took the pills for 30 days? Yeah, its reasonable to think a stroke could happen.
What bugged me was how the reporter and patient said citrate! Sit trate! Not Sigh trate! Ugh.
Made me cringe.
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Does sound odd.
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To pile on, who thinks of clonazepam as a bipolar disorder drug? Oh right - sensationalists.
Does anybody in CVS still get pressured about wait time? I thought Wecare metrics were "directional". The company's wait time is horrible.
I am curious because my region does not...
I am curious because my region does not...
Their investigation is a bunch of crap. Maybe their experts can tell them how to pronounce citrate.
And for the "whistle blower"..., I think he has a better bet filing for discrimination because he was in a wheel chair.
And for the "whistle blower"..., I think he has a better bet filing for discrimination because he was in a wheel chair.
Why would that matter? At the hospital we buy the bottle and unit dose the capsules.
Their oranges must come from sigh-tris trees. And when the mosquitoes are out they light up their sigh-tronella candles.
moisture stuff...but I think it's more of an issue with pradaxa than aggrenox
Pharmacists need an ASAP programs like pilots have. If you realize you make a mistake, you can nark on yourself and file a report and receive immunity up to a certain level. The company and FAA then reviews the reports together to develop plans of action to reduce the potential for future errors.
For the sake of fairness, American Airlines would have to schedule their pilots non stop NY to Hong Kong 7 days in a row, with a half a tank of gas, a copilot with no flying experience, no answer at the control tower, and a flight attendant who just broke up with her boyfriend and can't get the drive thru because she is crying all day.
Why is it when you are on top of the game everyone wants to attack you? Errors are made at every pharmacy- so let's see it's a big problem f a chain likes CVS pharmacy encourages waiters to be done in 15 minutes, but people have no qualms if you go to the ER and wait 6 hours to be seen? Also, the 15 minute wait is assuming you are properly staffed and able to fill the MED in 15 minutes. I guess some Pharmacist just want to sit on their asses all day and collect top dollar salary?
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So let's all get a grip here. This is not a simple one form of potassium over another. First, KCL is a neutral salt that is formed by a strong acid and and strong base (HCL and KOH) while Potassium citrate is an alkaline salt of a weak acid and a strong base (Citric Acid+KOH). PC is used to alkalize the urine in patients with kidney stones due to uric acid or patients with acidosis due to renal failure. So this is not a trivial issue of one form of potassium over another. The patient could have:
- An acute attack of gout.
- An acute bout of kidney stones
- Metabolic acidosis always a good thing in CRF.
I don't understand the response of the pharmacist who made the error, the ***** who said they could have a stroke or the attitude of people here that it is inconsequential.
- And when you ask for enough fuel, the company just tells you to get the plane there on time or they'll fire you and find someone else to do it.
- Copilot? What copilot? You'll have to do the whole 14 hour flight solo, and with no relief crew either.
- Baggage handlers and check-in staff that are too lazy to scan the barcodes, so no one knows where the bags are or even if the passengers are on the right plane.
- Every 5 minutes a passenger bangs on the cockpit door and yells "Why aren't we there yet?? Doesn't the autopilot do everything??"
Lol..."I think the travel agency called my ticket in here. Or maybe it was JetBlue. I know I've used American before. Why can't I just get on your plane?"
I had a patient come down to the inpatient pharmacy because the outpatient pharmacy didn't have her prescription that was supposed to be called in. And she was mad when she found out we didn't have it either...
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Lol the airline analogy is perfect
We had a ***** new doctor in the ER who told his patient to go to the pharmacy after getting discharged. Then the guy shows up at our window and is asking to fill his script and we're trying to explain to him that we don't dispense outpatient prescriptions or bill.
It is about time...here goes another one: http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drug-topics/news/who-will-stand-pharmacy
I'd like to know more about how the fluoride/tamoxifen mistake occurred in up to 50 children.
Why would fluoride be dispensed out of a script pro/yuyama or whatever? Is this towns water not fluoridated or something? I can't think of ever dispensing chewable fluoride and maybe once or twice dispensing tri-vi-fluor.
Exactly, they take your money but don't give anything back. I'm glad I never gave in to the pressure of joining a pharmacy organization even though all my peers and professors were members. All anybody cares about is gaining the competitive edge and retaining a job, which is why nobody is willing to speak up about the horrible working conditions that have been present for so many years now.
Case in point:
I gave negative feedback for the rotations that I felt were not great learning experiences. My classmates refused to do so, claiming, "you never know reads those evaluations." And you wonder why pharmacists bite the bullet when it comes to all the retail BS and why employers will continue to treat pharmacists like @#$%? These are the same people who gladly paid $100+ out of their own pockets for immunization certification through APhA, something that I believe should be covered by the employer if they want us to make profit for them. Yes, you might have an job-hunting edge if you're already immunization certified, and yes, you might keep your job if you don't speak up, but these things collectively are running pharmacy into the ground. I also have a feeling that APhA receives financial support from the retail chains, but I hope I'm wrong.
I agree. I would gladly donate thousands... if an organization has some balls. Think about it... There are about 280k pharmacists in the USA. If we all donate a thousand dollars (hopefully they give us CE credits and cool events), we would have lots of lobbying power.
Welcome to NJ.
Thanks.
From that article: "On a total of 15 occasions, pill bottles that were supposed to contain fluoride tablets also included tablets of tamoxifen, a breast cancer treatment drug. The pills are similar in size, shape, and color, but can be distinguished by their imprint codes. Fluoride tablets are stamped "SCI" on one side and "1007" on the other, while tamoxifen pills have "M" on one side and "274" on the other."
Honestly, how does this happen 15 times? Does the pharmacist not do a final verification before releasing this to the patient?
I'll tell you exactly why it happened. It's because that store was a busy store and they were never fully staffed. They were always short staffed and honestly needed a second pharmacist but never had one. In my store, there is absolutely no time to pour out all the pills onto the blue tray and actually check it. Anything that comes out of the ScriptPro I don't even open the bottle to check it. You may call me careless, but I am 100% confident of whats inside those bottles that come out of the machine. The problem is when you have someone you don't trust refilling the ScriptPro and thats where mistakes are made.
You want to know what happened when this incident broke out in the news and CVS started to be in the spot light? The Attorney General got on CVS's assss. Any single error that occurs with a ScriptPro machine must be reported to the Attorney General. CVS finally put 3 pharmacists in that store and a million techs for the next 6 months or so. This is what happens when you have a bulls*** company run by bulls*** people. F*** YOU CVS. I hate CVS with a passion. F*** CVS.
I have never worked with a robot, but I am just curious, do you check every pill in the bottle?
See the above error to refute your argument. They probably put one bottle or RTS of the wrong drug in the cell and dozens of kids got 1-2 tabs each.
It's your license. I worked at a very busy store that did about 5000 per week and I poured out every bottle of pills to check whether from the Scrip pro, the Kirby Lester or a counting tray. My present store doesn't have automation but I had a case the other day where static electricity kept 1 clindamycin in the tray and it went in with the Motrin 600.
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Interesting point- it seems a lot of the news reports and stories (at least the recent one with regards to the Walgreens/CVS cases vs. the DEA) mention only specifically the corporations themselves. I'd be interested to know if/what action taken against the pharmacy managers in these cases. Either way, it is rather troubling to hear...
If you are the patient, you depend on the pharmacist to put the right pill in the right bottle. If you feel you can't safely do that, you should quit. If you don't, you are risking people's well being for money.
Exactly, I've caught many mistakes coming out of robots just by doing this. You're a pharmacist, always verify.
Thanks for the insight. I have caught a few errors that involved only some tabs/caps in a bottle being wrong, thankfully they appeared different enough that it was not challenging to spot the "offenders".
This is what I was getting at. I open every bottle and pour some tabs/caps into the cap plus look into the bottle to see if they all appear to be the same. If the ones in the cap match and nothing in the bottle looks out of place I move on. I don't scrutinize the imprint of every one in the bottle, which is apparently what would have been required to catch the error in the article. Makes me wonder if I should be. I am doubtful that many people check that thoroughly though.
I am more curious how you load the wrong medication into the machine in the first place. I am assuming someone had to be operating way outside SOP to cause that to happen.
I was just saying this a few weeks back while half jokingly with my frd, pharmacists are all nerds that aren't very outspoken or willing to take actions, we will bitch and moan privately or on an anonymous board, but no one will actually have the balls or the will power to stand up and do anything. My g/f who is a buisness major and very outspoken in many different organizations, she constantly speaks up for what she believes in, and she pulled her boss to the side and told her what she didn't like when she was doing an internship.... and pharmacy students are afraid to even give a bad review anonymously.... I can't say too much tho, b/c i'm sort of the same way, I know I won't ever "lead the fight" for what's right in the profession, such as too many pharmacy schools lol
and to the point of pouring all the pills on a tray...god i can't even imagine what my workflow would be like if I did that on every script lol but i do always open up the bottle and look inside
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