I am not sure where within “TuDiabetes” to put this so I can reach the most people. Perhaps there ought to be a group for consumer affairs. After all, we’re not just patients, we are also consumers of hundreds of products that impact our health everyday (though this is another issue for another day)…
Yesterday, I decided the time had come to transfer my diabetes-related prescriptions to Target Pharmacy from CVS. ATM, I needed to pick up some more Humalog and another box of BD syringes (3/10cc, 31g, 8mm needle, 1/2 unit markings). I left the box top with the prescription information on it with the pharmacists and wandered around the store for about 90 minutes (twice as long as they told me they’d need). I paid for the scripts, was handed the pag, and proceeded to check the contents: Plain old Humalog? Check. BD 3/10cc, 31g, 8mm needle, 1/2 unit marking syringes? NOT. The pharmacist have me the whole unit syringes instead.
I told the girl that the syringes were the wrong syringes. She brought the pharmacist over, who proceeded to tell me that they were exactly the same syringes I had been using. Having been through this situation before, I brought out the meter case, in which I had a syringe tucked away, and showed her my syringe. I showed her the syringe, asked her if they looked the same – to which she answered “Of course! They are the same!!” I couldn’t make her understand, even with my syringe in front of her, that just because they are both 3/10cc syringes, they are NOT the same syringe. That’s when things got weird.
The pharmacist then plunged her hand into the box, pulled out a bag, opened it, and withdrew a syringe. Then, she pulled off the orange shield and the white plunger cap and started playing with the syringe, wagging it in front of my face! All while she continued to yell at me that the syringes were exactly the same.
That was bad enough. What made it worse was, when she realized she wasn’t going to bully me into accepting her twisted logic that half-unit syringes are the same as whole unit syringes, she RECAPPED THE SYRINGE, PUT IT BACK IN THE BAG, PUT THE BAG BACK IN THE BOX, AND THE BOX BACK ON THE SHELF. FOR SALE. EXCUSE ME?? Not right. Not at all. However, at that point, she did find a box of the half unit syringes, started apologizing, and let me go on my way. I, however, was still upset. I went to guest services to speak with the general manager (Target calls them LODs) to tell them what happened.
I went home to call Target’s corporate office to tell them what happened, but when I got home and opened up my new box of syringes, I had a big surprise. THAT BOX HAD AN OPEN BAG OF SYRINGES IN IT! WTF? I called BD to tell them what had happened, and they offered to take the box back and offered me a coupon for a replacement box (Thank You Susan!). Target Corp, OTOH, has thrown up a curtain around themselves. They’ve offered to “investigate” the situation, but are refusing to do anything to make up for the humiliation and frustration I endured at the hands of their employee (who is, as I discovered, a registered pharmacist and not just a pharmacy tech, like at one point I thought she was).
I am encouraging all diabetics who use Target pharmacy to be more aware of their prescriptions, especially syringes. Don’t tolerate abusive behaviors from pharmacists (just like you shouldn’t abuse your pharmacist!). One woman who witnessed this incident told me she refuses to use the pharmacy in Target because they mocked her husband for his prescriptions, which were not diabetes-related. Thus, at least at this pharmacy, there is a pattern of mouthy, verbally-abusive behavior. If you can, maybe you ought to switch pharmacies. I know I would like to switch. I am very disgusted after this incident.