Posted on 11/01/2023 1:58:31 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Around a thousand pharmacy workers across the country have walked off the job as part of a strike to protest conditions.
The so-called "Pharmageddon" series of walkouts at pharmacy chains including CVS and Walgreens stores started Monday, Oct. 30, and is expected to continue at least through the middle of the week.
Around 900 people from about 10 states could participate, organizers of the ongoing protest told NBC News.
A growing workload and understaffing are the main reasons for the protest, organizers say, noting that the pharmacy workers are not unionized.
In a statement to KDKA in Pittsburgh, CVS said it is "making targeted investments to address their key concerns, including enabling teams to schedule additional support as needed, enhancing pharmacist and technician recruitments and hiring, and strengthening pharmacy technician training."
In mid-October, Rite Aid announced 154 store closures nationwide just days after filing for bankruptcy.
Rite Aid is one of a number of drugstore chains facing litigation related to the deadly abuse of opioids and more than a thousand lawsuits have been filed claiming Rite Aid illegally prescribed painkillers.
Maybe that’s why it took 3 days for CVS to fill my dog’s script for prednisone.
The shoppers need better conditions, too. I dread going into any of their stores - but the wife insists we get our prescriptions in person. I want them delivered by mail.
We know what the real story is.
The Dindu Nuffins are behind this.
I learned to love delivery.
Pharmacies don’t make any money with what’s in front of the prescription counter, as I’m told.
However from all the CVS getting looted videos we’ve all seen they sure can close the whole thing down because of what’s going out the front door that isn’t behind the counter.
Brick and mortar pharmacy chains are going to go the way of Tower Records, Virgin Superstores and Media Play.
SEIU again
Since the arrival of covid, my local grocer and drugstores have decreased hours. Drugstore closed on weekends. The grocery says they can’t get workers (though they required covid vax...).
I’ve got a feeling CVS is cuttying staff to cover up for losses caused by the Amish stealing horse linament.
I know a couple pharmacists working for retail chains and they say their companies are putting pressure on them to push vaccinations and screenings that are being offered. Since they work at busy locations they say it’s not a good situation when just getting all the prescriptions filled can be a challenge. A rushed or distracted pharmacist is not who you want filling your prescriptions.
I used to work at Walgreens back in the 80’s. They actually had a warehouse in the story (not just in time back then) and I was the warehouse monkey.
Had to climb up to the top racks and throw items down to the manager.
It was an easy job.
You've grasped the core issue. When responsible, credentialed individuals work in an understaffed entity, ERRORS occur. It's not a question of working harder or working longer. Deming published a book addressing the issue in the '90's, I think.
Good thing I switched all my prescriptions to Amazon then
Hubby and I have prescriptions for controlled substances (ADHD meds). We have to go in person every month to pick them up. I can never reach the pharmacy by phone to tell them to fill the scripts, so we end up going in to tell them to fill it and then returning a day or two later to pick them up. 😖
The ‘shopping’ experience at CVS stores is atrocious: chaotic merchandise ‘displays’, filthy/stained carpeting, crap all over the place, ‘self-serve’ checkout, dull/annoyed employees, etc.
Harsh conditions in a pharmacy? How is that possible?
This is 100% true. Each store has a certain number of vaccines and screenings that they must get each month. As a result there is little time to be consultative, do minor compounding and even do fills. That why you are so many pharmacy technicians doing more and more of the work. Don’t forget the big three pharmacies just recently started giving their pharmacists a half hour lunch break. Throw in inventory, receiving and stocking the pharmacy and there is absolutely room for dispense error.
I was the recipient of a dispense error back in 2008. I had Graves Disease, an extreme hyperthyroid condition.
I was filling my prescriptions at a Safeway pharmacy. Once, the pharmacist gave me a sedative instead of the thyroid drug. Just this once I did not check to make sure I had the correct medication when I took it home. The pills looked identical to the correct ones, except for a different inscription.
When I took them back, the pharmacist was so grateful that I did not tell anyone else that he arranged for me to get a $200 Safeway gift certificate.
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