Tue, Feb 23, 9:42 PM

396 CVS in Memphis is a Mistake for Prescriptions

CVS pharmacy has recently entered the Memphis market for the first time. They built a brand new pharmacy very close to my home, and I thought I'd transfer my prescriptions there for convenience, because stopping by my Rite-Aid doubles my commute time home from work. My experience shows that transferring my prescriptions to CVS was a poor decision that has had the potential to compromise my health. If you take prescription medications which are either life-sustaining or intended to maintain your physical health, and you're considering CVS as a pharmacy in the Memphis or Cordova area, please reserve a couple of minutes to read this, and don't repeat my mistake. For the record, I take 5 prescription medications daily: Amlodipine Besylate 10mg (blood pressure) Benazepril HCl 40mg (blood pressure) Carvedilol 3.125mg (cardiomegaly and angina) Omeprazole 20mg ("Prilosec OTC", but cheaper with Rx) Paroxetine HCl 30mg (generic Paxil, for stress) I've been on all of these medications for a year or so. In the past, I'd always had them filled at Rite-Aid #7191, 1770 N. Germantown Parkway, Cordova, TN, 38016. I can recite that address from rote memory because I spent five great years working in suite 3 of that very building, back when the Rite-Aid was a K&B. Most of the prescriptions I had to fill during my teenage years were cosmetic and vanity in comparison to the blood pressure and heart medications I take these days, which actually maintain my health. But my meds have been dispensed from that building since I was 14 years old. The Rite-Aid pharmacist who works weekday evenings knows me by both sight and name, greets me as such, and grabs my prescriptions from the waiting bin before I even make it all the way to the counter. Rite-Aid has always treated me well, it's just out of the way at this point. And so began my unfortunate CVS experience. I've told you about my five prescriptions, and I tried to transfer all of them to CVS via their website on Friday, February 12th. I created an account on CVS.com, and dutifully entered all of my prescription numbers along with Rite-Aid's information. I never got any confirmation email or phone call, so on Monday, February 15th I stopped into the CVS store to inquire. To my surprise, no prescriptions were waiting for me. Of the 5 different medications I'd tried to transfer, they only had a record of 3: carvedilol, omeprazole, paroxetine. Amlodipine and benazepril had apparently vanished into the ether. Of the 3 transfer attempts that were recognized, they showed that two of them had already been filled, picked-up, and paid for on Friday the 12th. This is not true, as I never set foot into any CVS pharmacy until the 15th. Worse, they had sent this incorrect information to Humana, who refused to allow my scripts to be (actually) filled on the 15th, because Humana's records said that CVS had already filled them, billed them, and dispensed them three days prior. Confusing matters further, the CVS website showed that they'd transferred the paroxetine prescription twice - one of which was supposedly filled and paid for on 2/12, and again, I never stepped into CVS until 2/15 - thereby pushing my potential for a refill well into 2011 which is entirely out of line: Sigh... I walked out of CVS on February 15th with a fresh refill of a prescription I wasn't low on to begin with (carvedilol), and 0 pills of a prescription I was completely out of (paroxetine). To CVS' credit, the pharmacist on duty seemed just as flustered about the situation as I was. He gave me a $25 gift card for my trouble, and the paroxetine is not essential to my health. On Monday, February 22nd, I was down to one more pill each of my two blood pressure medications, amlodipine besylate and benazepril HCl. You'll recall these are the two medications which vanished during my first attempt at Rx transfer. This time, I called CVS instead of attempting another web session. I thought I was being "smart" this second time around, I was going to do things through a human being instead of hedging my bets on the CVS.com website which had already proven futile. So I spoke to a CSR, gave her my email address to load my CVS.com account, confirmed my birthdate, and transferred those two prescriptions by reciting the current Rite-Aid pharmacy's phone number and the prescription number on each bottle. I was given a confirmation number and told they'd be ready anytime after 5PM Monday. On Tuesday, February 23rd, I went to CVS to pick up my two medications. Once again, nothing was waiting for me. Once again, the store had no record of any transfers. Eventually, the pharmacist on duty asked for the empty Rite-Aid bottles I'd flashed. I handed them over. After a half hour wait, they claimed the mix-up was because those two prescriptions were out of refills - but they wouldn't return the Rite-Aid bottles for me to verify that claim one way or another. Anything's possible. I'll be the first to admit that I don't keep track of these things religiously. But I sincerely doubt that I tried to transfer two prescriptions with no refills left on them. As of Tuesday night, I'm completely out of my blood pressure medications. No amlodipine besylate, no benazepril HCl. I take one of each, each morning. CVS is supposed to call my doctor tomorrow morning to get brand-new scripts, so until this matter is resolved, I'm late for work. The first blunder I attributed to growing pains for CVS. New stores in a new market with new employees and new customers, there are kinks to work out. I can't forgive it happening a second time. If you have prescription medications, I cannot possibly recommend transferring those meds to CVS.