To ask my pharmacist to use my actual title on my medicine

[Everythingisnumbersnow]

decided to edit this a bit for clarity - I'm a Ms, my pharmacist keeps writing Miss on the labels (as part of a wider pattern of annoying behaviour). Will I look mad if I say please call me Ms on my labels?

(The prescriptions all say Ms)

Have you asked why it's Miss? Is there a Ms option on his printer or are the labels handwritten

The correct price was £50. I was initially charged over £250. And refused an invoice.

obviously not in scotland then!!!

Depends whether every single medication that has ever been dispensed for you is or was on a private prescription.

It's a private prescription.

What makes you think the pharmacist is disapproving of your prescription? The responsibility lies with the pharmacist regardless of what the doctor has prescribed, if the pharmacist decides you can't have the meds then you can't have them so the very fact you've got them means he/she can't disapprove that much.

When you say the correct price is £50, do you mean that is the cost of the drug from the supplier or that you paid £250 but now get exactly the same thing for £50?

um no, its your title not your name.

Yes I agree with @prescribingmum that’s likely what has happened. My DH was addressed as ‘Master’ by his private health provider for years before they finally changed it to ‘Mr’. Goodness knows why that title was entered onto the database! Where I currently live there are no pharmacies that will fill any sort of private prescription. So that’s probably something to be aware of OP if you do change to another pharmacy. I assume the cost of a private prescription will be the cost of the drug and some sort of mark up? If it’s any consolation I often get told what an expensive medication I am getting on the NHS by my pharmacy.I therefore understand you feeling got at OP. I just ignore my pharmacy generally but I did once rise to it by telling them it would cost the NHS a lot more if I went blind by not having the medication.

Can you not just obtain it elsewhere? It would be a lot cheaper than 250 quid (and the seller won't be bothered by your title!)

The correct price (including profit element for the pharmacy) is £50.

Flipping heck that's rude! They sound like they think it's coming out of their own pockets

I’m just astounded that anyone could get annoyed by this and I think it would be mortifying to bring it up. I’m Ms but often letters and documents are titled Miss or Mrs. Couldn’t care less. Mr would irk me slightly but really, come on.

@Everythingisnumbersnow yes very! I also have very limited options regarding access to pharmacies in my area and don’t fancy using the online pharmacies.

Slightly off topic but connected I guess, my GP surgery has one of those electroinic board things and when it is your turn to see the doctor your name appears on it. Mine always comes up as "Mrs Life on Mars" despite me having asked then very politely to change it to "Ms Life on Mars" or just "Life on Mars" as my marial status is irrelevant. I have asked reception to change my notes to "Ms" and explained that i have been divorced for two decades and use "Ms" on all official communications Given up now, in some ways it is a small issue in the scheme of things and I know how busy they are but on the other hand I am not "Mrs"...

So annoying!!!! Why do they use it at all if it's not important enough to get it right.

Then they were taking the piss at first (and sadly there are some that do).

If you are in an area with other pharmacies that you can conveniently get to, ask around about the price and how long to obtain stock etc. In your shoes, I would prefer to give someone else the business if they could do for same or lower price.

@PreciousRighteousTeacher pharmacists are accountable to a professional body and if their attitude is unacceptable they can be investigated. Before you make a complaint, make sure the person commenting is the pharmacist.
They can't be reported for overcharging on private prescriptions because it is an open market

What was the reaction when you brought this up with the pharmacy team? They should be able to put a note on your account with them.
I agree that you should be titled correctly.
Ms. denotes that you neither belong to your father nor a husband.

You are you, just the same as a man is not defined by their marital status, in the use of Mr.
It's no one's business, I love the idea of being a married Ms.

When you say hundreds of pounds? Are you using a quarterly annual prescription pre-payment certificate if you have lots of items on prescription? It's around £30 a quarter or £109 per annum.

Why do you care if it matters to somebody else? It does matter if someone thinks it does to them. It is rude to think that you can change someones preferred title.

OP, this reminds me of a previous GP practice, where I registered as "Dr" (on the basis that I am!) and for two years, each time I went to the GP the bloody receptionist had changed it to Mrs (which I was not and never had been). I complained each time, it was changed, and by the time I went back it had reverted again. Eventually the GP asked something and I said that I was not Mrs and I was fed up of having my title changed the that from Dr every time I went. He said he'd discuss it with reception, and it never happened again.

For a site where 99% of people seem to be willing to die over pronouns, it's interesting how many think that on'es title shouldn't be respected.

Have you addressed this with them at all? I don’t really see the issue with ‘it’s actually Ms, could you please amend your records for future prescriptions?’

MN can be very very odd about the use of Ms. It’s up there with keeping your birth name when you get married and double barrelling as ‘silly feminist nonsense that must be stopped’ for some people. Don’t take it to heart.

Why not just change pharmacy if you don’t like them, though?

I’m Ms and I assume they have print them automatically as my prescription actually says this. I absolutely would complain- it’s not ok.

Same here. I reverted to Ms after my divorce. Didn't think Mrs was still appropriate as I'd gone back to my maiden name, and felt too old and 'divorced' to be a Miss, so Ms it was. During the intervening years I've been called everything under the sun, from Mrs right through to Mr! Lol! (I have very short hair, and don't wear make up. Easy mistake to make until they look down a bit further than my face... 🤣). It has never, ever bothered me though, even when it's wrong on forms etc, unless it's governmental, I just leave it be. There are far too many real things to worry about in the world today, than get upset over the use of an extra letter or two.....

To be fair, I'm used to being mis-named because my first name is one that is always mispronounced, and I mean ALWAYS, so 🤷🏼‍♂️

@prescribingmum thanks you have given some great advice on this thread. I mostly just send my DH to collect my prescription now 😂.Needless to say they don’t mention the cost to him!

He wrote the labels by hand? He must spend half his day writing labels then?
Surely the info is just merged over from the doctor's office, and labels printed from that info?
Sounds a bit weird. Yeah, tell them.

As an pharmacist I would of course change things as requested and apologise politely for any offence.

Though in my head I would probably be thinking of the drugs I had just dispensed for the terminally ill patient or the oxygen cylinder for the young mother or the unused drugs received from a recently bereaved family member or the increase dose of morphine for someone's pain that could not get under control. None of that of course has anything to do with you at all and maybe shows how unprofessional / horrible I am, but I know I would secretly think it. I wouldn't, I sincerely hope, let anything show and treat you professionally in future. And make sure all the staff treated you also with the respect in future too by adhering to your wishes.