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Walgreens sued over "insulting" prescriptions
sun-sentinel.com — Need medicine to control your anxiety problem? Come to your neighborhood Walgreens. The friendly people there will lift your spirits with kind words like "CrAzY B****" and "psycho" stamped in your Prescription's notes and posted in their national database. At least that's how good Walgreens service has been in Florida lately...
longofest- 1353 diggs
- digg it
- chris_hale, on 10/12/2007, -25/+6Story should read... more people sue... thought this was a dupe at first.
- longofest, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15naw... more people are suing. I didn't include the word "more" in the description because I only found one submission for this topic that was 13 days old and never made it to front page, so I just wrote the description to describe the basis of the story, not the fact that 2 more people are joining the lawsuits.
I definitely feel this is worth making it to front page. Its freakin' hillarious... I guess it wouldn't be if I was on the recieving end of those notes, but then again, I wasn't. - smellinator, on 10/12/2007, -43/+10ok, it didn't make it to the front page the first time, and it didn't make it the second time. How many times do you propose that we duplicate this story, since you think it's freakin hilarious?
Doesn't seem tech to me. no digg - wayjer, on 10/12/2007, -29/+4This means you should read into the story a little bit more before you hit the duplicate, old story trigger!
- misterpony, on 10/12/2007, -33/+6C'mon. It's just a dupe variation. It's just a continuation of old news. Not frontpage worthy. Reported old.
From March 9: http://www.wbbm780.com/pages/13425.php?
From: March 10: http://digg.com/links/Woman_Sues_Walgreens_over_Insulting_Comments_on_Prescription - icewolf, on 10/12/2007, -16/+20I think this is a little over blown none the less. I used to work at CVS/Pharmacy, and I knew one pharmacist that would put, 'inventive', comments next to some customers... My favorite was "this person might contain the arrogant gene", to be honest, that person was a pain.
FTA when it said: "WATCH CONTROLS SHE SEEMS SHADY." is perfectly normal and okay. 65 year old grandmother or not, there is still a fairly good chance she takes the drugs she gets and sells them. I know of some people in the grandfather/mother age bracket that we kept a very close eye on because they would try to frequent various drug store chains with different RX's to get more than they needed so they could either sell them or give them away. I'm not defending everything the Pharmacists did, but some of this that they are getting sued over is bunk.
Why exactly the Walgreens personal notes file is being attached to RX bags is beyond me, something would have had to change in their system to start doing this recently. - mistshadow2k4, on 10/12/2007, -9/+8@Icewolf: That's not a good defense at all. What you're secribing is EXACTLY what a customer should sue you for.
- spectre, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Seems to me that Walgreens didn't have anybody thinking very hard when they built the database.
This smacks of bad software and database development. They should have built a database that included the ability to create notes for an account, but those notes should never have been visible to the patients. Unprofessional comments on what is people assume are internal documents is normal. Developers need to expect this type of commenting to occur. So instead of allowing users comments to ever be shown to a patient, all comments made should be internal only ( and difficult to print where a patient could see it). In order to make sure system users could flag potential abusers quickly, there could be a coded flag system that the users understood. A coded system that users understand could be even printed on the delivery write up, and replace the open comments they are placing on the bag now. No patient would be the wiser.
I think that this whole situation would have been neatly avoided if the doctors and other users were more professional. However, if the architects of the system were using their heads, the opportunity would never have been presented.
- longofest, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15naw... more people are suing. I didn't include the word "more" in the description because I only found one submission for this topic that was 13 days old and never made it to front page, so I just wrote the description to describe the basis of the story, not the fact that 2 more people are joining the lawsuits.
- szelij, on 10/12/2007, -3/+27Well the main problem is professionalism and tact. You do not hand someone medicine and attached to it insulting notes on their behaviour. That's just plain wrong. They should sue the pants off Walgreens for that.
But that ain't mean she's no bitch either. It could be true. :P- rft3rd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15so someone with anxiety issues "obvious has an attitute problem" and is "a difficult customer".. do you know these people? were you there? You haven't a clue buddy. let someone write something about a fmaily member of yours or even you for example and lets see how you take it.
I agree int he press release but in order to impact any business for libel and defamation, yo uhave to go to the courts... Press releases bring attention to thesubject yes, but they don;t get results. - andreo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21I agree with Szelij.
When I started in IT my first job was over the phone tech support for a computer company. The one thing that we could not do was put in our own personal opinions about the customers that we were helping. And trust me, there were some characters!
For example, I was talking with a person that complained that she just received her computer but it didn't work. After going over the very basic troubleshooting steps it turns out that computer wasn't plugged into an electric outlet. Even then I had to describe what an electric outlet was by having her follow the cord from the back of her TV to the wall. I could have made notes that would have cracked up the rest of the support team. However I kept it professional and just stated what the problem was and the steps that I went through to solve it.
On another call I had to have a lady re-seat a card in the computer. She did not know what a screwdriver was. And I honestly believe that she didn't know. While I ended up having to have that computer sent back so we could look at it, since she didn't own a screwdriver, I again could have made some pretty funny notes.
There's a certain way that you should deal with the public. Especially when members of the public are your customers. And even more so when they are at some type of a disadvantage. You would be surprised just how friendly an upset person can become when you show support and understanding, or at the very least not make them feel more uncomfortable then they may already be. You would also be surprised at just how bad a situation can become when you try to get a cheap laugh at the expense of others. - Iriel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13@turgor
I, also, don't think that it's morally 'right' to sue a company for being that unprofessional about something directly related to their job, but I also agree that the sad truth of the matter is that American companies don't care unless they're losing a few million dollars in the process. Only by settling out of court will Walgreens be exposed to public as having f***ed up on the job. Otherwise, nobody pays attention.
Here's another point to meditate on: Have you stopped to consider that this alleged "crazy b----" is taking this medication to help them with an anxiety disorder that is a large cause of their erratic social behavior? - supergwiz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9The walgreens workers should also be careful because they can be jailed for breaking federal guidelines.
HIPAA is a set of laws that was created to protect patient's privacy. You might have noticed that, within 2 years or so, they put the meds in unlabeled bags when they hand it to you. This is one example of how tight it is. HIPAA has a whole set of laws that deal with disclosing personal info. Posting "crazy" on a nation-wide system would be a violation. - mistshadow2k4, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2"I, also, don't think that it's morally 'right' to sue a company for being that unprofessional about something directly related to their job"
How is morally not right to force a company to take responsibility for their employee's unprofessional behavior as you've requested when they fail to do so? That's *****, man. - Iriel, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3@mistshadow2k4
I have no problem with the company taking responsibility for their actions, but I also have a problem with the sue-happy culture America seems to have created. While the act committed was unprofessional and seriously insulting, it was not blatantly and intentionally harmful as tampering with medications or something of the like (I'm not defending the employees at all, but seriously, do you think they honestly comprehend that insulting people with disorders counteracts the medication?).
I don't support the idea that everyone needs to settle their differences out of court for several million dollars normally, but in this country, it's about the only way that the voting public cares. Boycotts are pretty close to useless as long as the prices are good, so it's a sad truth that nobody is held accountable unless they get a summons.
To summarize:
Do I think the guilty party should be held accountable? Absolutely
Do I think it's ethically right to place said accountability through a lawsuit? Not really
Is there a realistic way to place the blame otherwise? Even less so - shaun944, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@iriel,
what do you think defamation and slander are? I'm so sick of people whining about how American's sue too much every time there is a lawsuit. Are their frivilous lawsuits? Sure, like when someone spills coffee on themselves and then sues. But this is not someone suing a company because of their own clumsiness or incompetence, this is people trusted with providing medication to sick people posting slanderous comments about those people to a national database. Don't you think that if Customer A has been labelled SHADY or CRAZY that if they were to go into a random Walgreens, they would be treated differently, or with suspicion by a pharmacist reading those comments on their file? That's discrimination my friend, and that's what this lawsuit is about.
Many of these seem to be people who already have established personality or social disorders, which is of course the reason their taking the medications in the first place - and based on the comments added to their file, you can probably assume their being discriminated against from start by the pharmacist making the comments in the first place.
- rft3rd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15so someone with anxiety issues "obvious has an attitute problem" and is "a difficult customer".. do you know these people? were you there? You haven't a clue buddy. let someone write something about a fmaily member of yours or even you for example and lets see how you take it.
- prot0col, on 10/12/2007, -22/+5Boo friggen Hoo, you are psycho get over it! At least they are truthful on the labels....no false advertising suite in this story.
- rft3rd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11its not advertising idiot, its defemation and libel.
- Kellan, on 10/12/2007, -16/+3I think it's funny. People just need to lighten up a bit. I'd laugh my ass off if a pharmacist wrote a hidden message on my bottle.
- Schmitty, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Dealing with the public before, I can sympathize with the note-makers, but still, it would be better to talk to co-workers or friends rather than blatantly calling the woman crazy like that. What did he think would happen? Sheesh.
- Scik, on 10/12/2007, -1/+25Some people, who have mental illness, this can completely destroy their life. If they were paranoid before and had worked for, maybe even years to control it, just to find out this is what people think of them? Its devastating. No company should ever allow employees to bash customers. That's common sense. All businesses should have standards set much higher than what Walgreen's is allowing to occur in their stores. Its horrible.
People with illness or handicaps have just as much rights as anyone else to not be labeled by a business. It may roll off some people easily but others it does not. Mental illness is not their fault.- longofest, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8I totally agree. I mean, you have a mental illness, and you get those kind of messages... it hurts REALLY bad.
That being said, I still think it is funny as hell. Of course the only reason I am able to say that is because I didn't receive those notes - rft3rd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12having any sort of anxiety disorder or depression and being called out like that, does NOTHING to help that person. MAybe the employees get a snicker but people in a pharmacy should realize they are in a service industry that caters to sick people all the time. Normally exclusivley to sick people so they should have more of an understanding when it comes to tough customers.
- PrayerNeeder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2excellent comment. No person should ever have to read this kind of slur about themselves from a professional. Should a psychiatrist diagnose Jane Doe with psychosis, dissociative disorder, social affective disorder, paranoia, et al, that 's one thing. Should a psychiatrist request that a pharmacy dispense medicine in order to help poor Jane deal with these problems, or make professional remarks in court-related testimony, that's well within the bounds of professional conduct. But if the psychologist, the pharmacist, or any pharmacy technician tell anyone that Jane is a crazy, paranoid, psychotic, two-faced bitch, then they would be stepping far beyond those bounds, and committing character defamation.
- longofest, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8I totally agree. I mean, you have a mental illness, and you get those kind of messages... it hurts REALLY bad.
- rtay150, on 10/12/2007, -15/+2not tech related
- sqrlproductions, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10helloooo! it was typed into a computer system ... computer == technology?! sheesh!!?! some people :)
- chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11I used to work in the pharmacy at Walgreens, and this sort of thing does get put in the database. But it IS valuable if you have a patient that is constantly seeking C-II's or acts erratically. At least if I know she's a psycho bitch before she comes in, I know what to expect when she flies off the handle. Believe me, it happens in the chart at your doctor's office too!
- Jubaju, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3That's true that it would be useful, but you don't have to call the person a bitch outright. You could say it in more polite terms so that in case this does come up, it wouldn't be as devastating. It's appalling that people would actually sluff off at work so much that they lose all sense of customer relations, tact, and respect for people with genuine issues.
- mistshadow2k4, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I agree with Jubabju. A simple note like "troublesome" or "abusive" would suffice quite well, not ***** like "crazy bitch" or "psycho". That alone is enough to tell you that the person who made the note is the one with the problem, namely being the bitch he or she says the other person is.
- SbooX, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12For those of you who still live in your parents basement (rent free!) and never had to work retail before, sometimes the customers really are crazy bitches or psychos.
That said, shame on the Walgreens employees who actually did this. Obviously not appropriate/professional/whatever. Proper retail etiquette says that you sarcastically help the customer, then once they leave call them a crazy bitch or psycho.
Then the Salsa Shark shows up.- dogbyte_13, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Good one about the salsa shark!! Clerks FTW!!!
- daeken, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4What's your encore, do you anally rape my mom while pouring sugar into my gas tank?
- nydan, on 10/12/2007, -12/+5I didn't see it before SO I AM DIGGING IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good story.
- fatsobob, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2"Your Ugly. Asprin can fix that."
- psxman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8My ugly? What about it?
- FatD, on 10/12/2007, -15/+10I have a mental illness.
So I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies.
Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what you are talking about.
But trust me.... You don't.
I think you just want to make yourself sound smart, when in reality you dont know what you are talking about.
This is how bad info gets passed around.
If you dont know about the topic....Dont make yourself sound like you do.
Cuz some diggers believe anything they hear- dcmiltown, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5While there are plenty of people with legitimate mental illnesses, there are plenty that are falsly medicated just because they have a few bad days. Unfortunately it is this willy nilly distribution of medication that a lot of society takes mental illness less and less seriously. And the people it is most unfortunate for, are those with actual illnesses.
- longofest, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6are we now supposed to feel sorry for you, and listen to everything that YOU say? Does everyone else's opinion on this matter not count?
- Bachus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3It's been a long while since I visited Fark, but I do believe this was one of the cliches that got tossed around quite a bit. The guy isn't serious. :)
- FatD, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6lol, That troll works on about everyone everywhere else.
last week it was
I took a unix class
So I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies.
Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what you are talking about.
But trust me.... You don't.
I think you just want to make yourself sound smart, when in reality you dont know what you are talking about.
This is how bad info gets passed around.
If you dont know about the topic....Dont make yourself sound like you do.
Cuz some diggers believe anything they hear
- myusername111, on 10/12/2007, -14/+2Nice!
allIwantissomespam@yahoo.com - LoungeActx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3this isn't new, many companies have these note fields in their database. i know for a fact that insurance companies do this when you call to file a claim. if you are abusive, or disrespectful that goes in the notes field, and it goes into the companies claims database, so whoever is helping you can see that you were an ***** in the past and to be careful. So knowing that as a fact it's reasonable to think that any customer service line like tech support for your computer does it also.
- timmclargehuge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Its true. When I was putting myself through college I was working for the credit arm of a major chain of stores and we were brutally honest in the comments about the customers.
Honestly, I highly doubt that the people did nothing at all to the people who left those notes. For whatever reason the vast majority of people believe its ok to abuse the crap out of frontline retail workers and don't remember doing it. Ask yourself this: who remembers an instance of verbal abuse better, the abuser or the abusee? - Valdar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The abuser, definitley. Many times in my life I've been reminded by people of something they thought they did that was horrible and they apologized for it. I however, do not remember these events or did not think of them as being nearly as bad as the other person made them out to be.
I remember treating others badly and when I apologize to them about it, they barely remember the event.
- timmclargehuge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Its true. When I was putting myself through college I was working for the credit arm of a major chain of stores and we were brutally honest in the comments about the customers.
- CiXeL, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Have you SEEN south florida customer service? If you've stayed down here at all with the exception of miami beach you'd know that people here don't make the slightest effort to fake being nice and friendly.
- Machismo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8The "Watch Controls Seems Shady" is an entirely appropriate comment for the patient comments field, BUT it shouldn't be printed out with the DUR. Those comments are confidential to the distributing company to protect patients from becoming addicts, easeing insurance woes, and more. The use of the negative comments was entirely wrong though.
- Lumiras, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Right. It sometimes is useful for employees to leave comments about certain customers because they may have behaviors that are potentially damaging to themself or your place of business, but these comments should never be something like "this woman is a bitch" or "this lady is ***** crazy", and they should never be seen by the customers
I used to work at Blockbuster and we would write comments on customer's accounts all the time for security purposes, but the customers never saw them (unless a person was really stupid and printed them off) - dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I was gonna say: "It's that Blockbuster story all over again."
You can write those comments legitimately in the database, and no one will ever know. Not to mention, if you're a crazy bitch or *****, maybe you deserve it. But I guess if this process changes hands enough times, something like this is bound to show itself to the outside world.
Frankly, everyone just needs to be nicer and more patient with each other. - andreo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ Machismo
I can see having "Watch Controls" in the notes. And frankly the customer would see that sitting on the label somewhere and have no idea what it ment. It could also be explained away very easily.
However the "Seems Shady" part is what will land you in court and cannot be explained away. The employee took it on himself to decide that this person was "shady". And to make matters worse he's made this opinion available to every Walgreens in the country.
When I used to write up notes on trouble cases and even now when I have to explain timelines in outages. I don't write anything that I would have to explain why I wrote it. In many cases someone will do something that was totally screwed up. Instead of putting down that the person is a nitwit, I just put down what happened and who was involved. If someone further up the chain wants to label the person a nitwit then they can. But I'm only going to put info that will explain what happened and keep my personal opinion out of it.
- Lumiras, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Right. It sometimes is useful for employees to leave comments about certain customers because they may have behaviors that are potentially damaging to themself or your place of business, but these comments should never be something like "this woman is a bitch" or "this lady is ***** crazy", and they should never be seen by the customers
- egorgry, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4as a certified crazy person I find this somewhat funny, but I can see why people would get upset. Remember, this is the US we love to sue here and we have more lawyers that we know what to do with.
- Lumiras, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10First off, this is what happens when you hire 26 year olds who didn't finish high school to distribute medication to people.
Secondly, all of you people who are saying "She was a crazy bitch because she took medication" are really really stupid and inconsiderate. You guys probably don't know what it's like to have a mental illness or know somebody who does.
Three people very close to me take medication for various mental illnesses, but it doesn't make them crazy and it doesn't give the right for some idiot to write insulting messages on their prescriptions.
The people at Walgreens who wrote these messages should be sued for libel, because the messages they wrote were insulting and do constitute as defamation of character, because these records were available for thousands of people to look at, which I'm sure this changing the DUR thing is a little inside joke between Walgreen's employees- n3tfury, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3Lumiras just owned this entire topic. kthx.
- Lumiras, on 10/12/2007, -7/+4Well, that's an honor. Thanks, i was just trying to clear up some of the fog from all of these ***** idiots who think that don't know what they're talking about
- Nik420, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I always thought libel and defamation of character had to with publicly exclaiming falsehoods about people. This is a private database. I fail to see how this is libel or defamation in that sense. It is not like they were printing them in the newspaper or in a blog for the whole world to see.
I worked in tech support, and we made comments about how the clients treated us and such. I wouldn't have wanted clients to read what some people had written, but the information was very valuable to the next agent that had to deal with that client.
Obviously, this informations should NEVER have been printed on the customer's prescription - and was a major ***** on Walgreen's part
- sk545, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what you are talking about."
Everyone on digg does not have any kind of mental problems...cmon, didn't you know that? - OafTobark, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Ill never EVER shop at a walgreens.
- cogent_bob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Me neither. Until I need a decongestant or a rubber at 1 in the morning. But only then.
- reiggin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Try googling every other company you've ever shopped. If you apply the same standards, you might suddenly find yourself with very few options for your retail needs.
- Wendt, on 10/12/2007, -11/+5what a bunch of babies....
"I started crying and I ran to the drawer to get a pill to calm down," she said. "I talked to my psychiatrist. All my fears came out. Everything I always thought came out -- that nobody likes me and everybody talks about me."
Sounds like dependent on pills for your well being. I'd say there is something weird about that. Ha... so sue me. I love how American society is starting to sue for hurt feelings... People just need to grow up and get some tough skin.- 5blocksfree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I will state that I think what Walgreens did was wrong, but in reading the story, and in particular, the section that you posted, I also think this exmplifies what I see as a growing problem with American culture - it has become so "pill-oriented" that this seems to be the solution to almost everything. Got a problem? Take a pill.
Of course, there are legitimate cases where medication is a necessity, but I really wonder sometimes when I hear about the number of prescriptions being written for conditions (real or simply diagnosed as such) like ADHD. It seems (at least in some cases) like Big Pharma is becoming the supplier of whatever form of crack we think we need to deal with whatever problems we think we have. - oliverc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2There are far too many lawyers taking dumb cases and hoping to settle out of court for big cash
- andreo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1After reading so many posts that say they should just toughen up some. What if they would have taken offense to the comments to the point of coming back with a weapon of some sort, maybe a gun, and showing the pharmacy just how they felt about the comments? I wonder what people would be saying about *that* story?
- oliverc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Shooting someone - illegal
Insulting someone - not illegal
Not too complicated. - andreo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ Oliverc
I know that shooting someone is illegal. However I would rather the problem be solved in court then at the end of a gun. Some of the people here are saying that taking it to court is the wrong way to handle the issue. I'm just throwing out another way to handle it (not something that I would advocate though).
- 5blocksfree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I will state that I think what Walgreens did was wrong, but in reading the story, and in particular, the section that you posted, I also think this exmplifies what I see as a growing problem with American culture - it has become so "pill-oriented" that this seems to be the solution to almost everything. Got a problem? Take a pill.
- ebola, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It doesn't matter whether the customer was over-reacting or whether the case is worthy of a lawsuit. Walgreens has acted in an incredibly unprofessional way and deserves to get their collective asses sued to hell and beyond. In a country where everyone sues everyone else for everything, this is the least they deserve.
- oliverc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3On what basis should they be sued? Yes, it was unprofessional, stupid, and insulting, but none of those things are illegal.
- filovirus, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3Beware.....Walgreens = price gouging *****. You are subsidizing their global 24 hour pharmacy on every neighborhood street corner.
A few weeks ago, I filled a prescription at walgreens for four tablets of decadron 20mg. Decadron is a steroidal anti-inflammatory that has been generic for 50 years or better. Walgreens price for this prescription was $11.50
The drug probably cost walgreens 5 cents per pill. They charged me almost 3 dollars a pill.
I then priced my thyroxine 150 mcg prescription #90 prescription at walgreens and it was $36.50
A price check at a local supermarket for the exact same drug was $26.50
Walgreens sucks and you may be getting anally raped by them.- cvrefugee, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1That's why God invented insurance.
- dcmiltown, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Medicate your problems, and sue if you those don't work. The American Way.
Sidenote: Every customer service company using a CRM has a notes field. Many use this to make notes on the customer, because there are always crazy people out there, and it's nice to warn the next person who takes a call/deals with a customer what may happen. However, most responsible companies warn employees that any information regarding the customer is within access by law to the customer, and may be eventually seen by the customer. Walgreens should have probably made their employees more aware, and obviously shouldn't have printed it off. - vostek, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Walgreens is BS. I called them the other day to ask them if they carried soy milk (its the closest store to my house) and the employee said they did. I needed it for my breakfast recipe and i'm lactose intolerant. Anyway I get there and not only do they not sell it, only one employee even knew what soy milk was. What a bunch of morons.
- dcmiltown, on 10/12/2007, -14/+4What's soy milk?
Hippy. - akpak, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2just get lactaid or sumthin like that. why drink soy milk just cos your lactose intolerant?
- MedHead, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2What exactly did the soy milk comment have to do with this topic? Why would *one* instance of *one* store somehow make *all* Walgreens bad, and why would we care that they were bad at *one* store...? Not knowing about an alternative milk option doesn't make them morons. Good grief, get over yourself.
- gotsoymilk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's another example of bad customer service. If the salesperson didn't know, he/she should've found out before providing an answer. For the customer, the end result is a waste of time & gas, with the fun side-effect of being very pissed off at whoever they were talking to over the phone.
(Please note that my being a soy milk aficionado does not make me overly biased one way or another.)
- dcmiltown, on 10/12/2007, -14/+4What's soy milk?
- kcornwell, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1lol
- Matt2k, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4"Hey, I'm not a bitch! I'll see your ***** asses in COURT"
- slackbuster, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I can see why this happens, ever been into a Walgreens? It looks like a friggin prison- The walls are high and at the top they have the 2 way glass tilted down. For some reason they put them in all the bad parts of town here as well. I was reading through some of the comments, and I'm sure other people will agree with me that you can sense the maturity gap of some of the posters here, it is their generation that is most likely the ones that work at places like Walgreens.
- SmeRndmGy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8You can sue someone for calling you names? I hope they throw this case out of court. Also, sueing someone for calling you a "crazy bitch" is a pretty damn good way to prove that you are in fact a crazy bitch. These people are spending thousands of dollars on court costs because someone called them a name. Let it slide, people.
- brentdanley, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Awesome! Thank you for putting up the ***** flag. Niceness isn't requisite for the rights afforded by the First Amendment. If a patron isn't satisfied with services rendered they can confront the individual, report to a manager, or use another pharmacy. I think some people are looking for justifications for being offended.
- VadimKatchkakov, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1If workers at Walgreens continue to treat patrons with such defamations of characterisations then maybe can institute a boycots of they're storage!
- brucemolloy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3What mind altering drug was your prescription for?
- n3tfury, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"If workers at Walgreens continue to treat patrons with such defamations of characterisations then maybe can institute a boycots of they're storage!"
LOL that's quote material - RabbidSquirrel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Is english your second language, or do you make google translate your comments into and out of russian before you post them?
Because either way, it's hilarious. - Metal_Guru, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Geez, the replies to the above comment sound quite like the ones from Walgreens. Hardly nice.
- lokai, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3I have found that most individuals who believe they suffer from mental disorders just think themselves into a larger mess than they are already in. In a world where almost anyone can be diagnosed with some form of mental disorder if one so wishes, using mental illness as a crutch seems to be wildly popular.
The woman featured in this article appears to be one of the many who are trying to get through life on a relatively easy ride with their "problems".
Of course it is wrong for Walgreens employees to have written such comments in the DUR system, and they need to be reprimanded somehow. This woman, however, is just using her crutch to milk this for all it is worth.- LoungeActx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i agree with this to a certain extent. I there are some people that use a personality disorder as a crutch. But then again, we all have some sort of personality disorder to a degree. Anyone that has taken an Abnormal Psychology class will can vouch for this.
I'm willing to bet that this lady did at some point treat a sales person with disrespect at some point, the comment got added to the notes section, and it accidentally got printed out. However, not knowing the full story i don't think we can possibly conclude anything with certainty.
- LoungeActx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i agree with this to a certain extent. I there are some people that use a personality disorder as a crutch. But then again, we all have some sort of personality disorder to a degree. Anyone that has taken an Abnormal Psychology class will can vouch for this.
- pettusta, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This is no surprise. Walgreens level of service has degraded to the point that I've switched over to CVS. On more than one occasion, my prescription had been forgotten or delayed unreasonably. I don't know if it's just in Florida that these things occur, but one thing is for sure, Walgreens management doesn't give a rat's ass about their customers!
- Rxbrent, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5CVS does it too friend, though they probably won't make the mistake of putting the note on someone's bag. I work in a pharmacy (not Walgreen's) and this is common and confidential info. Their only mistake was allowing it to get out. That is a violation I believe. Believe it or not Walgreen's is the pharmacy everyone wants to work at. Best management, best service, best benefits. Sounds like a software update that allows the notes to be printed on the customers receipts and there are toooo many comments already on file to catch them all. Oops!
- rimco, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6OK, it'd be wrong to put stuff like that on anything the customer sees, and I agree they could be more tasteful, but I used to work at a casino where we accessed patron's accounts and could leave internal messages about those patrons, and sometimes you have to leave a negative note about them so that other employees can be aware of any possible situation that may come up. If a customer was unusually crass or did something suspicious or wrong, we'd note it so that other employees knew to be on guard. As long as it stays internal and tasteful, I see no problem with it.
- hypocalypse, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Oddly enough, I'm just about to call up Walgreens to order my diabetes medication.
I wonder if I'll get rude comments on my prescription notes. Probably not. The pharmacists have probably been warned to not do this. You can bet I'm gonna check though. - MouseCircus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I am ***** tired of people suing various companies and people for "emotional distress."
I seriously think you should not be allowed to sue someone over emotional distress. It leaves a huge hole open as to what exactly "emotional distress" is. You could pretty much sue ANYONE claiming some form of emotional distress.
I understand the negligence part of the lawsuit, but I don't think that's worth a lawsuit. - tont0r, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1rate me poorly if you like, but this isnt exactly 'tech news'... or anything closely related to it.
- CheeseMan316, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I just hope it's the pharmacists who get sued and not Walgreens. That is grounds for firing and those pharrmacists should be held accountable... not their employer.
- felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I agree, I want to see each of the individual pharmacists sued personally. That said, Walgreens obviously has responsibility in this, because the problem is so widespread. That's what supervisors, managers, and the whole corporate chain of command is for.
- LegendOfLink, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3I think what scares me is that the first lady told the news something about "Secret clearance". I'd say the bitch is crazy, if you ask me.
- velocipenguin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The article says she worked as a financial analyst for United Technologies. UTC is a defense contractor, and it is quite likely that she would have needed access to sensitive national security information in order to do her job. This would require her to hold a government security clearance, which is not at all unusual for employees of defense contractors.
- narula, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Whatever the reason, it goes to show that people in all areas of the B2C service sector need better sensitivity training. Imagine a fast food attendant printing something about a customer being overweight on a receipt or a motor vehicles agent using racial slurs to describe someone latino or jewish on a newly issued driver's license. Why do we accept this in our "progressive" society?
- fani, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6FTA "I started crying and I ran to the drawer to get a pill to calm down," she said.
... And on this pill it was written - "Losers pill" and on seeing this she started crying and hiccupping and she ran to another drawer to get another pill for the second pill to be taken for the first pill.
And on this pill it was written - "psycho" and on seeing this she ran to another drawer......- MedHead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4That would make a hilarious Saturday Night Live skit.
- s1ipstream, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I see no problem with objective comments, but the ones highlighted were subjective.
If the pharmacy tech was in a bad mood one day and decided you were annoyingly happy, they could put an insulting remark in your file. Thus the opinion of one unknown person becomes "fact!" When someone adds a note to a file, their name should be associated with it (if it isn't already). It's easy to insult someone when you're anonymous.- felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2How true. Can you imagine if all the Digg comments people make were printed on t-shirts that they were forced to wear?
- MedHead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well, *according to the article* (hint hint), there was at least one person already typing his name next to the comments. Whether or not it was done by the computer or by the person isn't mentioned, though.
- skilzygw, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2People shouldn't be so sensitive. Who cares what someone else writes about you anyway. get over it, I hate overly sensitive people.
You hurt my feelings so I'm gonna sue. Sniffles sniffles... cry cry.
Probably just want more money to buy more meds. - bigboehmboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2sue? no.
boycott? sure.
litigation doesn't solve anything, just a way of tying up the courts to make money for yourself. - oliverc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Last I checked it was not illegal to insult people. The Wallgreens employees have a 1st ammendment right to insult the pants off whoever they like. I don't think it was very nice of them, but this is not actionable. This is just someone lawyering up and hoping for a big payday. I really hope they dont settle out of court and they get absolutely nothing.
- Lumiras, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1No, this constitutes libel. The fact that these records are available to be viewed by thousands of people means that it's a lot more than just talking about the person behind their back.
- JohnboiWaltune, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1If these people sue in civil court, they only need to convince a jury that Walgreens' actions caused them some sort of harm. I'd say these people have a very strong case.
- Nik420, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3No, libel only applies if the information is publicly available. Thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of individuals working for Walgreens is not the public just because this select few have access to the information. A private company database is not publicly available, hence no libel.
- mac0Fd00m, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3maybe some people were crazy bitches and psychos. working in the service industry sucks ballz
- au071, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Maybe they are and the Walgreen employee have the rights to have their opinion; but it is just completely unprofessional to put it in the system and even worse print it out; All these employees should be fired; along with whatever moron deisgned their system
- Moocat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1For those of you DEFENDING the Walgreens people I don't really understand ALL of your reasoning. Sure, she might've been a crazy bitch, but you know what? It's pretty common sense not to write that on an official perscription in a national database. It'll be a cakewalk to get a settlement, I mean, take a look at some of the other things people have gotten money for (spilling their OWN hot coffee in their lap, eating poison, etc.).
She should've gotten an apology at the very least, but hey, if they don't want to do that, suing seems just fine to me. Some companies won't change policy until splattered under the lime light, that's just the way they work.
Now for what I would do, I'd probably prove them right and break their face. Seems perfectly acceptable to me. No messy lawsuits, just punch them in the face and then we'd be even :)- Moocat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Whoops, I'd also take a settlement of having the person who entered the comments fired (read it a few comments up). Talking to someone else or writing a blog on someone else is just fine IMHO, it's when you write "crazy bitch" on a medical perscription is where it takes it over the line for me. I'm all for freedom of speech, but there's no retaliation available for the people who are getting these little love notes, hence why some people resort to suing.
- lmlloyd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I know people will rip into me for this, but if having a mental illness doesn't make you crazy, then what does? I mean, crazy is a word, and it does have a meaning. If not being in possession of a healthy state of mind isn't crazy, then I guess I am a little confused by the definition of crazy.
I understand that sensitivity is the order of the day, but perhaps what you should say is "it isn't nice to call a mentally ill person crazy" as opposed to saying stuff like "just because you are mentally ill, doesn't make you crazy." Being mentally ill, does make you crazy, that is why you go to a doctor and get medicine for it. If you were still healthy and rational, you wouldn't have a mental illness, and you wouldn't need the medicine.
If I have Chicken Pox, and someone says "get away from me, you're diseased!" that isn't nice, but I am still diseased.- Iriel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think people are ranting about the word crazy because the word is entirely unprofessional in the US medical practice, and having b**** appended to it doesn't help matters. However, I see your point entirely.
- invaderJEN, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I have bipolar disorder and social anxiety disorder. So according to you I'm crazy?
It's not like I'm hallucinating and speaking in tongues or whatever...
I'd say what these people should have done is just talk to the manager, get whoever wrote the comments fired. - JohnboiWaltune, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0To answer your question, having a mental illness doesn't make a person crazy. 'Crazy' means delusional, out of touch with reality, erratic behavior, etc. Millions of people have depression and anxiety disorders, but nevertheless are able to function normally. It is just a personal problem that makes them unhappy... they are not 'crazy' or 'psychos'.
I hope you understand the distinction now. - Craptacular, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0For me, the word "crazy" is a slang term for anyone I consider of sound mind doing completely irrational things. I use it in casual conversation all the time, but only in jest and never directed at anyone who could actually have a mental illness.
Having a mental illness is having a chemical imbalance in the brain causing you to perceive and do things that may be irrational. One in four people in America can be diagnosed with a mental illness in the span of a year. It is an illness. The word "crazy" shouldn't be used as a label for anyone who is sick. That's just ignorant.
I hate when folks sue for stupid things, but if you're gonna sure for emotional distress I don't see a better scenario than this. These customers are emotionally fragile in the first place. B.D.A. should be fired and his license to practice suspended.
- jet3004, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Whoa...Whoa...Someone care to explain this further?
"Erin Cutler, 30, and a married mother of three who lives outside Ocala, was shocked when she saw that her Walgreens DUR labeled her a "b----."
"The initials B.D.A. are typed next to the Oct. 20 entry. "
"Reading the slur prompted a panic attack, she said."
"When Cutler finally went into the store on March 14 she discovered that the initials B.D.A. were those of head pharmacist Adams. "
Did it say "bitch" or "B.D.A.?"- Iriel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1B.D.A. were the initials next to the entry that had a note citing her as a 'b****'
- jet3004, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thank you very much iriel.
- Karyyk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I personally think suing over this as "intentional infliction of emotional distress" is a bit much, and is just another sign of how sue-happy our society has become (don't like something...just sue). I hope they don't win the case on that point. That being said, if Walgreens is stupid enough to hire people who would 1) not be able to keep their opinions to themselves to the extent that they would enter it into the patient's persona file and 2) stupid enough to give a patient documentation with the aforementioned opion, well, they kind of deserve it. Makes me wonder how much these geniuses get paid an hour...
- Run4yourlives, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Only in America can you sue someone for calling you names and hurting your feelings.
Sheesh. Give it up already. Life is tough. Deal with it and stop crying already and maybe you wouldn't need your "meds" at all.- Iriel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Only in America do we still have the vast majority of office workers still overstressed (even in the opinions of foreign doctors/psychologists/analysts) due to the managerial obsession with %100 efficiency. Themes such as this, which run rampant in America, are the very tenets of our twisted perception of 'modern society' that push many people to/beyond their breaking points.
- Run4yourlives, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@iriel
"do we still have the vast majority of office workers still overstressed..."
Then they need to look inward, at themselves, for solutions because that's where they'll find them.
Blaming somebody else for your personal problems - real or imagined - isn't going to fix your problem. Feeling stressed at work? Find a new job. Personal relationship getting you down? Fix it. Weight problems making you depressed? Get off you fat butt and get exercise.
Seriously. I have no patience for people that refuse to grasp the most fundamental lesson in life: You control your destiny. (Especially in a country like the US)
Sure it may not be your fault that you got into whatever negative situation you're in. Such is life. What certainly is your fault is that you're still there
-
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