Hi my faithful readers!

 

With great regret, I have to share this story with you…it’s sad, but very true.

 

I was at work last night and we had our usual craze between 10PM to midnight (and beyond…yup, I work the overnight shift!).  We were trying to sort out an insurance issue for one of our patients in the first lane of our drive-thru (we’ll call her Sally) while another car sat waiting in the second lane.  While my colleagues were dealing with the drive-thru patients, I was on the phone with a not so happy patient.  Evidently someone was here to pick-up her medications and one of them was not ready…she said the person picking up for her was in the drive-thru in a red Bronco (take note of that last part, it’s somewhat important!)

 

You probably know how most drive-thrus work, but I’ll tell you about ours anyway. J When we talk to you from inside the pharmacy, what we say is broadcasted either through a microphone or a little drawer/window and can be heard by anyone that may be in the surrounding area (i.e. in the next lane or perhaps the next car in line).  There is no sort of privacy at all in the drive-thru, but that’s usually the case even when you are inside the drugstore. 

 

So, I solved the problem with the upset patient on the phone and had one of my colleagues sell her prescription to the person picking up for her (to the red Bronco guy in lane 2).  Meanwhile, Sally ended up coming inside to call her insurance in hopes of solving the problem.  Unfortunately her insurance had expired so she ended up taking her prescriptions back (one of which was for Percocet). 

 

We carried on with our work, helping patients as they came along and keeping things straight in the pharmacy.  Next thing we knew, Sally was calling us on the phone in a bit of a frenzy…the person in the red Bronco (who had been in lane 2 while she was in lane 1) had approached her in the parking lot outside the store asking her if she had filled a prescription for an opiate, and if so, he wanted to buy it from her.

 

NOTE: Opiates are also called narcotics and they are used to treat severe pain.  Narcotic prescriptions are commonly sold illegally on the street as a recreational drug (gets people high and happy).

 

The red Bronco guy had overheard the discussion between Sally and my colleague while sitting in the drive-thru.  Somewhere in that conversation, the Percocet prescription had been discussed so he knew she was there to pick-up an opiate medication.  Even though his business was done at the pharmacy, he stuck around in the parking lot until Sally came out of the store…that’s when he made his move.

 

Luckily, Sally had not filled/purchased her Percocet prescription – who knows what may have gone down if she had!  Chances are no harm would have been done, but there have been instances like the one I just described where people have been attacked (not in my personal experience, but elsewhere).  Sally was just freaked out (rightfully so) and wanted to warn us about the red Bronco guy.

 

Not only can pharmacies be held up, but you can be too – you may have what the bad person wants.  If they want your medications badly enough, they may take drastic measures to get them.  I don’t want to scare you as it’s rare that something like what happened to Sally would happen to you – just wanted to make sure you are cautious of your surroundings! 

 

If you feel you need more privacy at the pharmacy, please let the pharmacy staff know and I’m sure they will do what they can to satisfy your needs…besides, it is the law! 

 

Has Sally’s situation happened to you before?  Definitely share your story with us by commenting on this article or e-mailing me at cate@getpharmacyadvice.com.  I believe that the more cases shared, the more cautious others will be!

 

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