I’ve read quite a few stories on Reddit from folks who work in pharmacies and let me tell you, those places can be wild!

Because people want and need their drugs, and sometimes things don’t always line up the way the should and the **** hits the fan.

Let’s see what went wrong this time…

My First Pharmacy Experience.

“I can’t give away too much information (HIPAA) but what I can tell you is that this took place the first day I worked in the pharmacy.

I do need to give some background first.

When I started working in this store, I started out as just a measly cashier. As the months went by, I started getting small position changes.

Some days I’d be working more in the photo department, and other days I’d be working on projects that my boss would give me instead of cashiering the whole day.

After about a year of working at this store, I was offered a position to where I’d not only help in the front of the store, but I’d be helping in the pharmacy too.

They moved up pretty quickly.

I was helping fill and dispense prescriptions. I was basically a non-licensed pharmacy tech with entry level skills.

There was a raise involved so I took the position. In the weeks following that promotion, I was being trained on the various work stations in the pharmacy.

Finally I’d gotten a portion of one of my shifts working in the pharmacy with minimal help for the first time. I felt so anxious and exhilarated at the same time. My first customer was an elderly lady who was simply picking up a prescription.

At first she seemed so harmless and docile. I asked for her last name and everything. She was so compliant.

There was a problem…

As I was looking at her prescription information, I was terrified because the script had a TPR (Third Party Rejection).

Looking at the notes, for whatever reason, her insurance company wasn’t covering her prescription and this was for a certain controlled substance. I relayed this to the customer as delicate as I could and she absolutely blew up.

C = Customer

M = Myself

P = Pharmacist

O = Officer

C: WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY INSURANCE STOPPED COVERING THIS? I’VE TAKEN THIS FOR SEVEN YEARS! YOU MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING WRONG! LET ME TALK TO THE PHARMACIST!

M: Okay I’m sorry! I’ll let you speak to her!

I called the pharmacist over and explained the situation. She looked up the script on her own computer and had seen an error code next to the rejection that only she knew (I think I was supposed to know what it meant too but I was clueless).

There wasn’t much they could do for her…

P: Okay so it looks like you need to set up an appointment with your doctor. Then your doctor will authorize another prescription for you and we can fill it.

C: I’M MOVING OUT OF THE COUNTRY SOON AND I CAN’T GO TO THE DOCTOR! THIS IS ABSOLUTE BULL ****! CAN’T YOU JUST GIVE ME A PERMANENT VACATION OVERRIDE OR SOMETHING?

P: No ma’am, we can’t. It’s against policy for us to do that. Are you going on vacation or are you actually moving?

C: I’M MOVING!

P: So unfortunately since you’re moving, there isn’t anything we can do on our end. I’m sorry.

Wow!

C: YOU MOTHER ******! I WANT MY SCRIPT NOW!

She started picking up the scan gun at the pharmacy window register and threw it back at the pharmacist. I immediately went into a “fight or flight” response and backed up as far as I was able to.

P: Ma’am we have to ask you to leave the store now or we will call the police.

C: I AM NOT LEAVING! GIVE ME MY MEDICINE!

I was backed up against the wall, terrified of what this lady could have done. She was screaming threat after threat at myself and the pharmacist. Other customers were watching the incident from afar and didn’t come any closer.

They had a right to be scared. The pharmacist gave me a signal to call the store manager from a different phone. I do so from a phone that’s up against the drive thru window. The manager was surprised but gave me the go ahead to call the police.

After describing the threat to dispatch, they offered to send two officers to the store. They do so very quickly. It took them about five minutes. In that five minutes, she nearly got on the counter and tried to lunge at the pharmacist.

This lady was a lunatic!

Like holy ****, this elderly woman was super limber and agile for her appearance and age. I freaked out and ran to the back of the pharmacy where the break room door was.

I was afraid she’d gotten into the pharmacy and started wrecking the snot out of everything. I immediately heard “GET ON THE GROUND WITH YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD” from an unfamiliar voice.

It was the voice of an officer. They were subduing and arresting that lady. She never made it over the counter but instead cracked one of her hips trying to get on it.

O: Sir, you can come out from back there. The area is safe.

I walk out and the second officer is escorting the lady out of the store. I answer some questions from the officer and they leave the store about twenty minutes later.

I was absolutely traumatized. I’d never experienced anything like that in the four years I’d worked retail.

The store manager asked me if I was okay to continue working or if I wanted to go home for the day. I asked to keep working. I was extremely wary and on edge for the rest of my shift.

Needless to say, I’m always extremely hyper vigilant when I’m working back there now. Drugs are scary but people are scarier. That first day was the worst first day (so far).”

Reddit users shared their thoughts.

This person had a lot to say.

Another individual has been there.

This reader chimed in.

All that over a prescription…

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.