Sorry.
Posted on 03/08/2006 2:30:35 PM PST by indcons
Smacked that nail on it's head.
One is not entitled to "damages" for being insulted. Life is tough.
This attitude may very well be one of the root causes of her problems in the first place.
Long ago, I was treated for clinical depression. Looking back at it, I was just feeling sorry for myself at the time. Everyone else I have met that is being treated for depression or anxiety is skirting the real issues in their lives, which are almost always self-inflicted. Instead of dealing with the real problem, the psychiatrists love to hand out pills and string these folks along. I quit using the Prozac "crutch" and dealt with my problems head-on. I've never been happier than I have been these last few years.
Sorry. On the face value the comments were for internal pharmacy use only, and they're perfectly justified to let the pharmacy staff know what to expect when dealing with "oddball" customers. If for no other reason, for better customer service.
An obvious accident, unintentional release of those internal notes to the customer itself and her offense at it is the only problem that I can see. Remedied by Walgreens apology and her choosing to fill her prescriptions somewhere else.
As a side, my MIL is moving to Texas and her Dr. has put her on Prozac for nerves. Since starting it she has lost weight and seems a lot more flighty. I don't think she even needs it. Of course she is going to have anxiety. She is making a big move. But I think the drugs are making things worse.
On the computer program we had, there was an area for private comments about the customer. However, it was not a printable field. And we were told to keep it professional and non-judgemental. Most comments were about drug addicts (seeks drugs, has changed quantities on the scripts, has changed # of refills, etc.)
The policies worked for all of us except one pharmacist. He was just careless and lazy. Wouldn't take the time to get peoples names correct or pronounce them correctly. He would say "Your is ready." It only took three warnings for him to get a clue.
Now I work for a company and we've had HIPAA training. The penalties are horrendous if you break the rules, most companies, drs, pharmacies are being extremely careful.
About the woman in the article. Most people are ashamed if they have a mental illness and have to take medication. To have it hollered out in front of everyone would be embarrassing. To have Crazy on your comments would be humiliating. Would I sue? No, with a caveat. I would be nice for the initial episode. If it occurred again, I would write letters up to the president of the company. And take my business elsewhere.
Sorry.
Weight loss is a side effect of Prozac. She may want to talk to her dr to see if a change is necessary. There are also other things that can be taken for anxiety and nerves for the short term.
I have seen medications work really well for mental conditions. The trick is to try and figure out why the problem is occurring and getting rid of the problem. Sometimes that is possible, sometimes it is not. Just popping a pill for anxiety isn't the solution long term. It is a tricky area to diagnose and medicate. Just my two cents.
All I can say to your "reply" above is...........ditto.
It's hard to know, and many people need these medications or they cannot function at all. Maybe some of it can be bad decisions made in life, some of it is bad decisions and behavior towards them, and a lot of it is genetic. I don't judge people, and have known many different types. In my experience, people who drink too much are more abusive and engage in erratic behavior worse than most of the mentally ill I have known in my life, especially once they have been stabilized with meds.
There are many people out there who have made far worse decisions about their lives, like really badly hurting people and especially children, and they are not diagnosed as being mentally ill, they function well in their daily lives except they commit horrible crimes; they don't have mood swings, etc.; there is no drug that will help them be any different. They live to ripe old ages and die of natural causes, leaving a trail of grief behind them.
I would hope someone close to you doesn't come down with it and have to endure the stigma, cruelty, joking and disparaging remarks by some people about it. Fortunately, many people are really kind and understanding. So many families, nice parents, have someone with it now.
I hope you willingly serve as a juror when called.
K :-). He's cute. He looks sane, too. Maybe he's somebody I don't know and should recognize :-).
Thanks. Someone did finally tell her that her weight loss could be related. In this case we know the cause, a life changing move. I'll mention making a change if she thinks she really even needs the drug to begin with.
In short, I think that these "notes" on customers happen a lot more than people think.
I remember when Prozac was initially released. It was almost a miracle drug to those with depression. They didn't have to wait forever to see results or suffer the side effects of the other anti-depressants. However, some doctors saw Prozac as the pill for depression, give the patient Prozac and never see them again. We saw a lot of PRN prescriptions come through initially (fill for a year upon patient request.) Wrong move, but Eli Lilley & Co sure didn't let a lot of info out on Prozac.
Well, you know my butt would get stricken from the jury pool at the first question the litigating lawyer would ask. Actually it's probably a miracle I haven't been called yet, since moving to the litigation central (CA). Moved here in April 05, and so far half the people I've managed to meet in this short time span have been called for jury duty. Including my wife. It's unbelievable - never realized how much court activity goes on around here.
LOL - The late Anthony Perkins who starred in the movie "Psycho" way back in the early 60's.
I think maybe some doctors are too free and easy about handing out scripts for these drugs. People on them need to be monitored. When it first came out, it was suggested for me, but I balked because it was expensive, and I had to pay for my own. Later I was put on three other SSRI's. My system cannot tolerate them for some reason; it makes me agitated and feel like climbing the walls.
It sure seemed like a miracle drug for some people though. I don't know if it is true about Prozac, but during a med crisis, I did some research on the net. Some people have a horrid time tapering off Paxil; I would assume it is the same for some of the others. That's one thing I'll bet some forget to mention to patients when they are put on them.
How I would love to be able to live free of all of it! My granddaughter and I had a good visit today, and we talked about lots of things, partly about young people and legal and street drugs, she has friends who do them to one extent or another, hope some are clean, pretty sure her boyfriend is, so many of them are messing with them now; she has tried some, but does not want to do crack or meth; I hope to high heaven she doesn't do any of them now. I told her what a blessing it truly is not to be dependent on drugs. After my experiences with legal ones which I never abused, I would never dream of trying street drugs. Shiver.
#118. LOL back to you. I thought he looked kind of familiar! I saw that movie when I was a teenager. That was a creepy one.
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