Ripped off at the pharmacy

[CountAllVotes]

I realized it when I went to pick-up and RX for my husband, an expensive form of eye drops for an infection he has in the one eye left that he can barely see out of.

I noted that I'd been ripped off and brought it to the attention of a young man working there who claimed to be the manager of the pharmacy and he was a total idiot and bragging to me about his own "perfect" eyesight.

He charged me double saying there were enough eye drops for 2 mos., hence the double charge being the drops were for just one eye, not two.

I was going to let this go as I am weary of having to fight like a dog for everything I am able to get these days on a medical level; prescription drugs especially for not only him but myself and my own very serious medical problems. How much longer will I be able to keep this up before I too get horribly sick again, too sick to take him for an appt. elsewhere?

However, I kept thinking about that punk pharmacist bragging about his perfect eyesight and the anger did not subside so I decided to contact the BBB and file a complaint (Better Business Bureau).

The BBB did an investigation and found out that what I wrote/complained about was legitimate and truthful and they contacted the pharmacy with my compliant.

The pharmacy called me yesterday and the "real" manager was a man I'd seen there before, not the punk with the "perfect eyesight". He was angry with me for filing the complaint and I told him I had no other option and I did not appreciate being charged for every drop in the bottle and was told that I had been overcharged by my supplemental insurance. He was not at all pleased with the likes of me but who is these days with anyone that dares to challenge ones perceived superiority in life, esp. in the medical industry?

Well, as if this was not enough, I found out that the eye drops (a suspension) are good for 2 weeks after you open the bottle and after that they are useless and must be discarded. So, my case went from one of being overcharged to what I consider to be a form of pharmaceutical malpractice is there is such a thing. Is there?

No one told us about any of this and his eye is not much better at all still after the cataract surgery in Oct. of 2012 and the expired eye drops were being used on and off unknowingly all of this time.

I'm still angry and wondering if the fact that the eye drops being used, many of which should have been discarded, could have harmed the one eye my husband can still see out of a little bit in some way.

I made several calls yesterday and searched the internet and could find no answer to this question.

If anyone happens to know, please advise as I'd really appreciate it very much as I am about ready to try to arrange to some how get my husband to another ophthalmologist somewhere else because this B.S. has been going on too damn long with zero answers as to exactly what went wrong and why is he almost blind now since the cataract surgery?

Thanks again friends. I knew of nowhere else to ask this question sadly and the medical system in this country has gone to hell in a hand basket IMO for those on Medicare. We are being ignored and pushed aside as the doctors around here feel they are underpaid and deserve far more compensation than they receive and are not accepting any more Medicare recipients as patients because they aren't getting enough money for their services which in many cases is a 5-minute office visit that does little if anything best I can tell.

[Warpy]

1. You need to complain to that little weasel's boss

If he doesn't have a boss, write a very nasty letter to corporate headquarters. Not only did he rub it in about the high cost of the medication, he gave you false information about it. The latter is the big deal here.

Eye medications are shockingly expensive and they do have a very limited shelf life even when there are preservatives in them. Part of the problem is that any liquid that is open to air is likely to start growing bugs after a while. This isn't critical for medications that are going to hit the hydrochloric acid in our stomachs but it's highly critical in things that are dripped into the eye. Infection and ulceration can happen very quickly.

Add to this the fact that many antibiotics out there are still on patent and that means another hit to the wallet.

[CountAllVotes]

6. A grievance has been filed w/Medicare

As for that pharmacy, I hope they go broke I really do.

Must take husband to doctor tomorrow *again* to see if the expired drops have hurt his eye.

If so,

[hedgehog]

2. I'd change pharmecies pronto!

[CountAllVotes]

3. what I forgot at 4:00 a.m.

The man that called was indeed the manager of this pharmacy. I told him what the idiot said and he ignored that part. He was very angry w/me for filing a complaint with the BBB as that goes on their record and follows them for a long time, I know this and that is why I did it yeah, I gotcha already awholes.

What ended up happening is that this RX will be filled by them again one more time (and for free as it should be) but after that, I'll be using another local pharmacy and try to get the damn doctor to write a 90-day RX which I can get filled for $40.00! That would be 8 or 9 bottles of these eye drops to kill the infection with. I that doesn't do it, I don't know where to turn as I live in a rural area and the next closest town with doctors in it is about 200 miles south of where I live but my brother-in-law lives nearby and has a place we could stay if necessary.

As for the eye drops themselves, maybe being they were old they have kept the infection alive, that is what I think (and was already thinking) given what you have said Warpy (thank you & thank you too hedgehog!).

Thanks for your ideas/help on this very serious issue.

[CountAllVotes]

4. Update

The pharmacist just called to tell me that the RX is ready to be picked up and that "We'll talk about this and sort this out when you get here."

Uh huh.

I'm mighty damn pissed Uh huh.

I think I'll take my husband with me and let him deal with this MAN.

I doubt the pharmacist will talk to my husband the way I was spoken to. He'll be lucky to not get a swift kick in the balls if my husband has his way as he is rightly pissed too as I believe I have been treated like this because I happen to be a WOMAN, not a MAN and I believe the reason my husband's remaining eye is such a damn mess is because the eye drops were not disposed of within 2 weeks. They were likely contaminated having been stored in the refrigerator, something that he was told to do, is printed on the box but ... that was simply NOT NECESSARY and he was putting them in his eye cold from the refrigerator, something that I was told he should have never done.

God damn the lot of them.

If my husband does not recover they'll be hearing from not me again, it will be my attorney and yes, I'll find an attorney some where/some how/some way despite my own decrepit condition with this lousy MS. The stress of this is doing me no good at all as I was up half the night worrying about the ramifications of using those expired eye drops and what they may have done to my husband eye.

Will update later.

CountAllVotes

[CountAllVotes]

5. update #2

I took my husband to pick-up HIS eye drops yesterday. The pharmacist made no mention of the ramifications of using expired eye drops. He gave him another bottle of these same eye drops and wished him the best of luck w/his problem.

Uh huh ...

So I see I have in the email this a.m. a letter from the BBB asking if the complaint has been resolved. My husband said no, it is not resolved until he finds out if using the expired eye drops may have damaged his eye that has still not healed.

Where to go from here? I don't know yet. That is the status. As for that pharmacy, to hell with them!

[ohheckyeah]

7. What?

"He charged me double saying there were enough eye drops for 2 mos., hence the double charge being the drops were for just one eye, not two. "

So, if your husband had been using the drops in both eyes the price would have been 1/2 the price they charged you?

[CountAllVotes]

8. there was no sanity to this

One eye or two eyes the bottom line on this crooked deal was that they were to be DISPOSED OF AFTER 14 DAYS!

This crap ass pharmacy has been reported to Medicare for gross negligence!

I hope they lose their damn license!

My husband's eye is still no better. If the reason it is not better *yet* is because he was putting expired/contaminated eye drops into his one eye, we'll be looking for a lawyer!!