Mistake By My Pharmacy

Errors, including those in our favor, ought to be corrected. Take the bottles back to the pharmacy and ask to speak to the head Pharmacist. Get the correct number of pills. Accept their gratitude.

BTW: I would not leave this pharmacy's counter in the future without looking in the bag and re-checking the amounts. If they can give you twenty extra, it makes it just as likely that at some time they will short you twenty.

Joe(it's enough to make your blood pressure rise)Nation

I agree with Joe (he must have trained as an accountant) Nation. Being given too many pills, IMO, is the same as being given too much change. I think that you need to alert the druggist.

I rarely count my pills, but my husband counts his. He has one prescription, which is a generic cheapie. Invariably, he is shorted by 1 pill.
He always calls up, and gets it corrected. To me, it is not worth the time and effort.

Take the pills and count yourself lucky.
I suppose Joe and Phoenix would be hurrying to the police station to hand in that $50 bill they found fluttering down the road too.

In any case the phameceutical companies do a splendid job of shafting the most needy people on the planet so ... screw 'em.

Do what you like and live with your decision.

Pharmacies cannot accept returned pills once you walk away from the counter. They won't even accept sealed bottles of insulin if you walk away from the counter.

You'll get to keep the pills--but get in the habit of counting before you leave the counter.

Personally, I'd notify the pharmacy. Your order could have been packed by a pharmacist on trial or on probation or on drugs. Errors in medicine matter.

Noddy- Your answer was better than mine. I had forgotten that the pharmacy could not reuse the pills. I think that you are right that the pharmacy needs to be notified, though. In my drug store, they are so cockeyed busy, it is a wonder that they don't make lots of mistakes.



Heliotrope- Two wrongs don't make a right!

I agree - I would call the pharmacy to let them know. More for safety precautions than anything else. Pharmacies should be double checking everything. They could have just as easily given you the wrong medication as given you the wrong number of pills. Once I went to the pharmacy to get a prescription filled for my daughter. They called her name and I picked it up. As I was in my car, the pharmacists came running out. She gave me the wrong prescription and proceeded to yell at me about checking my medication before I left. I guess she was a little upset that she messed up. Obviously I would have noticed prior to giving the medicine to my child as I was double check the dosage on the package and compare it to what the doctor had said in the office. They are supposed to double check packages, but obviously they make mistakes.

Just because I am that type of person, I would call the pharmacy. If for no other reason than to let them know they screwed up.

Pharmacies are not infallible and we literally put our lives in these peoples hands. Always check your medication. I was given the wrong stuff once.

Tell the pharmacy. Keep the pills.

I once got the wrong dosage. 50mg instead of 100 Hyzaar, but I tracked it down to the Doctors office (staff). They gave me sufficient office samples to make up the difference and said they would notify the pharmacy of the correct dosage. A month later, no change in orders. Doctor gave me about a four month supply of office samples - not quite enough to keep me from changing doctors. Her front office staff could kill people.

It was the head pharmacist that filled my prescription at CVS. I have been taking this medication for over a year now. If I ever get the wrong medication, I will notice it.

I'd let them know about it, but that's just my nature. Also, they are now 20 pills short in inventory. Given that it's BP meds it won't be that big a deal from an inventory standpoint, but if it were a narcotic someone would probably be fired when the inventory came up missing.

Also, the pharmaceutical company has already sold the drugs to the pharmacy. They would in no way be impacted by the error, except to possilby have additional sales to the drug store to restock the inventory.

If you don't say anything, and it's a standing prescription, are you going to tell them to only give you 10 next month?

I have an appointment with my cardiologist this Friday, I'll discuss what happened with him, then. The medicine bottle for the last few months has the wrong doctors name on it as the prescriber. There are 7 doctors in the same office. I've asked a few time by phone to have the name changed but they have not done it. I just might change pharmacies from CVS to Rite Aid and keep the pills for my trouble.

I would definately bring it to the pharmacists attention.
They keep inventory of all medications, and if their accounts don't balance, that could spell real trouble, especially if it is a controlled substance. I'm sure he/she would be grateful to find out where those 20 pills went. (ah, more paperwork)

Being a pharmacist is incredibly demanding - what with keeping track of drug interactions, pt allerigies, pill counts, patient education, legal issues, etc.

I feel it is each persons responsibility to be an active participant in their health care. The doctor, patient, nurse practioner, nurse & pharmacist all need to be on the same team.
The more checks and balances in place, ultimately the better the care.

CVS was the pharmacy that tried to kill me....I think I might think about switching. Hm.

No kidding, but so is being a lot of things... pharmacists hold peoples lives in their hands. Not every pill has the name written on it. What if they give you the wrong stuff? Personally, that is one profession that I don't give a lot of slack to. Boo hoo. I have to be organized so I don't kill someone.

Sorry Chai Tea...that sounded kinda mean. I didn't mean to sound mean. I just get really upset thinking about what would happen if my grandma, who's life depends on her meds, got the wrong stuff or wrong dosage.

Oh, no harm taken Bella.

I guess my words didn't express part of what I meant. Yeah, definately your life can be in the druggists hands. They need to be on top of their game every minute.

That's what I meant by checks & balances, if for a moment they are distracted and make an error, you're the next in line, so you better double check.

last year, my spouse got a perscription from the cardiologist - Our pharmacist caught that it was the wrong dosage, and had it corrected immediately. It ticked off the doctor to be called on it, but he's a good guy, and a great cardiologist, and soon got over it.
If the the pharm just filled the order, it would have been in our hands to see the problem. Would we have seen it? We'll never know.

Just wanted to add - I transferred my prescription from one CVS pharmacy to another and guess what they messed up! Nothing too serious, but I was about 6 months into my birth control pills and when I went to pick them up - it now says I have 11 more refills (should be either 5 or 6). Good thing for them it is not oxycotin or something like that.