Walgreens

I have been taking the same beta blocker for about ten years: metoprolol tartrate. I’m not fussy when it comes to brand name versus generic and all, but there is a specific manufacturer called Mylan and, for some reason, their pills are more effective for my tachycardia than another generic brand that Walgreens tends to dispense.

Sometime like six or seven years ago, I asked my pharmacy if they could put a note on my file or something specifying that I needed that specific brand. It worked just fine for years. I don’t know if it was some kind of change in the computer/ordering system, if it was because I moved and am using a different location, or if it was just Covid affecting everything, but, for the past three years, I have had such a hard time getting the correct pills.

I called my prescriber and they gave me a new prescription with the specific instruction “dispense as Mylan” and even still I end up with the wrong pills. The pharmacist told me something about the system not flagging it because since the Mylan is a generic, it doesn’t differentiate between multiple generics if there is some sort of note on a person’s file; just between brand name and generic. Another time, when I asked a tech to check and see if they were the right pills, she told me they wouldn’t be able to dispense it if it weren’t the right pills due to the order from the doctor. Clearly that’s not the case.

The amount of times I have got home to open the bag and see the wrong pills and then have to drive back to the pharmacy or spend hours on hold just to get them to correct the problem is agonizing. Sometimes I don’t even go home; I ask them to check it for me before they give it over to me. This is my most important pill as far as day to day functionality goes; I can’t just be going days without my beta blocker while I wait on them to order more pills that I have been told they have notes to order specifically, but then they just go dispensing them to whatever prescription pops up next.

I don’t know how a pharmacy works, I’ve never worked in one. I know that it’s easy to complain and I’m sure there are reasons why things happen the way they do. I feel really poorly for the staff whenever I have to show back up at the pharmacy or call and moan at whoever because I’ve got the wrong pills again; I know pharmacy workers are overworked, understaffed, and underpaid. I just want the pills that work for me. What am I supposed to do, call and wait on hold every single time I need a refill because I need to remind them that “it has to be the mylan brand”? Doesn’t sound like a fun time when I have lost my connection/been hung up on after spending hours on hold before. Am I supposed to physically go in person whenever I need a refill just to make sure the memo is clear? Sort of difficult when I don’t have access to a car 100% of the time.

Given that I didn’t have a problem with the note for years and was always getting the correct pills for quite some time, I think there’s something wrong on the inside. There needs to be some fixes to the computer system or something for this type of scenario; I know I’m not the only person who notices a difference in effectiveness between different pills. I can’t be the only person with this issue.

In addition, the amount of times I have spent on hold for hours and then been hung up on (accidentally, I’m sure) just trying to get a hold of someone for a simple request is not okay. Something needs to change there.