Would you be upset if you overheard a pharmacist complaining about the cost of your medication?

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Just as per the title really.

My daughter is diagnosed with social anxiety and takes anxiety medication prescribed by the Consultant Psychiatrist at CAMHS.

She also has a couple of other disabilities so we’ve had to fiddle a bit with different meds and different combinations of meds to find something that a) worked, b) didn’t negatively impact her other disabilities and c) she could manage the side effects.

Anyway, a few days ago I dropped DD’s prescription off and was waiting to pick one up for DH and I (along with everyone else) could hear the pharmacist ranting away about the cost of one of DD’s medications and how it was stuff like this that was crippling the NHS.

I just ignored it at the time, but DD has MH issues, her self esteem is pretty shitty so I think that if DD had overheard something like that it would have upset her and potentially impacted as to whether she actually took the meds/picked up prescriptions in the future.

Thanks!

I think it’s incredibly unprofessional of the pharmacist

No, I wouldn’t take it personally. He’s having a rant about the system, not you or your daughter.

No. I would not care.

It's a rude, unprofessional and ignorant comment but no, I wouldn't be upset.

I would hope that she means that the NHS is getting ripped off by exploitative drug companies. (True).

I can see how you might have interpreted as her saying your DD is costing the NHS lots of money… but hopefully it was the former.

It's unprofessional that he said it where customer overheard him. But it wasn't a rant about your DD as such but at the issue with prices.

A friend's mum is a pharmasist and she has voiced similar thoughts for decades, it's unfortunately nothing new.

I agree, it’s a rant against pharmaceutical companies. No, I wouldn’t complain. Maybe it would have been best not to say it when someone overheard but sounds like that was unintentional.

It's very unprofessional. There are pretty strict rules about confidentiality and what you can say where people can here.

I'd think it was about the price gouging by pharma companies. A few years ago a drug I take that was 80p a pack went up to about £90 a pack before the CMA stepped in and fined the makers. NHS bill was over £50m a year (should have been about 0.5m).

A pharmacist was once very rude to me about the cost of a new migraine medication I had been prescribed. I was quite young (20s) and a registered nurse at the time. He was out of order, I responded truthfully and sharply that without the medication I would be off sick and the cost of covering my shift plus my sick pay was considerably more than the medication.

In your scenario imo it is irrelevant if they were moaning about the system or judging your daughter - it was unprofessional and should not have been overheard. The job they do means they deal with all manner of confidential information. Would they chat loudly about someone who had come in for the map or viagra even if that person wasn’t present?

No. I wouldn't be upset. I'd just be relieved I wasn't footing the bill directly. The same as I am every month when I collect all my meds for the cost of a pre-payment charge.

No. The pharmacist is human. Have you never said anything you regret OP?

Thanks all!

I appreciate that he was probably having a rant about the cost of the medication rather than ranting about my daughter.

However, from past experience, I think DD would very much take it as a judgement.

We paid for private therapy for a few weeks while we were on the CAMHS waiting list and she inadvertently discovered how much it was costing - she refused any more therapy after that.

I didn’t say anything - I don’t actually think he realised I was still there as they had to order in her meds so I’m assuming he thought I’d left,

Whether or not it was intended to cause an upset or not, it might be worth politely sharing your concern with them. I think pharmacists and health professionals do have an ethical duty to be mindful of what they say in front of potentially vulnerable people. You don't have to ham it up, just state in the words you used above i.e:

' Dear xxxxx, I was concerned when we overheard comments about the cost of her medication between the pharmacists at your store. Whilst I realise this wasn't intended as a personal comment about my daughter , her mental health conditions do mean that she suffers with very low self esteem, and as a result, is more sensitive to the comments of others. My concern is as a result of the comments we overheard, that she might not engage with healthcare services in future, for fear of being stigmatised or a 'burden'. I would just politely ask for you to be mindful about the volume and content of your conversations around vulnerable customers/patients (?). INSERT APPROPRIATE SIGN OFF

It doesn't matter about the intent, it's about how it was received and they can choose to disregard your feedback, or they may take it on board, but if you don't say anything, then nothing will happen.

This

I would complain. Not acceptable behaviour.

Medication is expensive but it is the fault of the drug companies rather than the patient or the NHS.

Thank you!

I was thinking of writing something along the lines of @FortheBeautyoftheEarth‘s suggestion.

I’m pretty sure that DD would take it as she was a burden.

It was anxiety medication, so not not unlikely to be for a vulnerable patient.

My medication costs somewhere in the region of £400 per injection every four weeks.

Frankly, by now if I didn't have this I'd be dead by my own hand as I couldn't live with the pain again. It's been a horrific ten years trying to find something that helps.

This injection and it's more expensive predecessors have saved the cost of my sickness pay (civil service) followed by a very early sick health retirement in my 40s.

Please complain about the pharmacist. I still regret not complaining about a locum pharmacist who asked me if I really needed my antidepressants or if I was just a bit sad.... I was suicidal, the utter utter cunt. I was also so shocked I just mumbled something incoherent, took my pills off him and left.

Guy in Boots told me that mine was the most expensive stuff he had on his shelves. Still took 2 boxes of it though.

Correct me if I’m wrong but are any of these preparations liquids/ syrups? These can be vastly vastly more costly than the same tablets so sometimes I think HCPs can be frustrated with this.

I suspect it was more about how much pharmaceutical companies charge rather than your daughter.

As others have said it is unprofessional. No -one wants to have to have treatments that costs a lot. DH has an injection once a month that costs £1000 a time, but it keeps his severe asthma well controlled, he works and he stays relatively well and out of hospital so is necessary.

It's the fault of the NHS, they routinely pay the pharmacist less than what the drug costs.

I'd chalk it up as him probably being stressed at having to pick up some of the cost of the medication and venting.

Yes, 1 of DD’s is a liquid (the one he was ranting about). The tablet form of this particular medication doesn’t come in a small enough dose.

She takes it with a different anxiety med which is a tablet form, but the tablets don’t work on their own

Thanks all!

I think I’ll write a polite email or something as previously suggested.