Do you think pharmacists have the right to do this?

[user01082312345]

I was prescribed strong painkillers by a doctor for something which is very personal and I only felt comfortable discussing it with the doctor at the clinic I visited. I took my prescription to the pharmacy, and the lab technician asked me why the doctor had prescribed me this medication. I told her it was personal, and she rudely said that the pharmacist would have to know. I replied that the pharmacist doesn't have to know, that it's not her business, it's between me and my doctor. There were customers waiting within earshot in the queue behind me, and I certainly did not want them knowing the reason why I'd been prescribed this medication. The lab tech rolled her eyes, asked if I was a smoker or had any allergies (which I was happy to answer), and told me it would be ready in 30 minutes.

Are pharmacists beginning to overstep the mark in demanding customers to reveal what should be confidential information, and expecting you to discuss your medical issues in public?? I understand that pharmacists want to prevent opioid abuse etc. but they could have always just called the doctor's clinic to verify the prescription. Or if it was absolutely necessary to know the reason, then at least take me aside out of earshot of the general public or in a side room.

Interested to know what you guys think. Maybe I'm in the wrong I dunno.

I've never heard of this, but if the pharmacist had actually wanted to know, he/she could have taken you out of earshot as you say - him/herself, not a pharmacy tech.

YANBU.

Pharmacists are being called on to take a lot more responsibility and if they are concerned about a drug or dosage, they are duty-bound to query it.

Having said that, they are supposed to respect patients' privacy, they are supposed to have somewhere private to discuss such things, and any pharmacist rolling their eyes in these circumstances deserved a complaint for being unprofessional.

YANBU

They should have taken you somewhere more private. However they will need to know if you are taking other medicines that may react with your new prescription.

The pharmacist may need to ask a question, but that person was very rude to ask personal medical questions in public.

They shouldn't question the prescription I don't think, obviously it's been prescribed by a doctor so that should be enough. No issue with them asking about smoking/allergy but would assume the doctor had already asked.

Either they needed to know, in which case they shouldn’t have given you the medication, or they didn’t need to know and shouldn’t have asked!

I can imagine there are scenarios where they are expected to ask. But once you made it clear you didn’t want to say, you ought to have been offered the chance to speak to the pharmacist themselves, in a private space.

Wouldn’t the drs software flag up potential interactions in red when prescribing?

A lot of pharmacists are fucking useless anyway. You don’t realise just how much till you’ve looked after someone dying and need more than the occasional course of antibiotics just how bad it is 🙄

Dhs heart meds were prescribed by a reasonably famous cardiologist & the “pharmacist” queried it. I told him to phone the cardiologist if he was that worried. He didn’t.

Pharmacists are highly trained medical professionals and I would happily answer any questions that a pharmacist had. IN PRIVATE, away from queuing member of the nosy public and eye-rolling technicians. I think you should complain about that member of staff, personally. I hope that you're OK

YANBU and also on the subject of confidentiality I object to the name of the medication being dispensed ,being said in front of all customers!
I now know that someone in my road who was in front of me has epilepsy and diabetes !

I had some orlistat prescribed, and they couldn't find my name, and then yelled "what's it for?" Across the crowded shop....!!

I was like er, rather not shout it out, so now everyone here thinks I have something REALLY embarrassing

The thing is, it wasn’t the pharmacist who questioned that medication and what for but the lab technician. Which, imo, makes it even worse.

And yes private, confidential information doesn’t have to be shared on front of other customers. That’s why the have booths.

except that if everyone wants a private talk and pharmacists are going to prescribe more… they’ll need more pharmacists! That takes time.

I've got ten years recent experience in pharmacies. Think you encountered a jobsworth. As others have said some questions might have been required but not about your source of pain and if you weren't comfortable they should have somewhere private to speak to you

Omg I could’ve written this thread! So a couple of years ago I finally took the plunge and got medication for my mental health - it was such a big deal for me to start talking about it to medical professionals etc. and it took me about a week to pluck up the courage to pick up the prescription. When I eventually did the pharmacist said to me “what’s the diazepam for?” Within ear shot of another guy in the queue, I was too nervous to reply and she realised there was another guy there who heard so she then tried to force me into her consultation room! Which I refused to do and said just give me my medication… I then ran home and had a massive panic attack as it was terrifying enough for me to have actually gone to pick up my meds in the first place. Fortunately I’ve never seen this pharmacist again and I’ve since moved away so definitely won’t be seeing her again now.

Wouldn’t the drs software flag up potential interactions in red when prescribing?

@FormerlyPathologicallyHappy , you’d think so!
But in reality, pharmacists are often the ones who pick up mistakes like this.

A doctor once prescribed me something, when I went to the pharmacy to collect she discretely took me aside and asked if I was pregnant. I was about 18 wks. Turns out the medicine my GP prescribed was not suitable for pregnant women. I'm very grateful to the pharmacist for her diligence.

This is part of her job to ask these questions, to catch any errors or anomalies in prescriptions.

Should have been more discreet
But pharmacists have way more training than a GP on medicines, their interactions with other drugs and the effects on the body so if you were asked why the drug was prescribed there would have been a reason for that, just a shame it wasn't asked in the right way.

@grunttheterrible how is it ok to assume someone would be comfortable to discuss their health in front if everyone though?

It shouldn’t be ‘if you are not comfortable, well give you somewhere private’ AFTER you’ve asked an unconformable question that includes the name if the medication or the symptom etc….

A lot fo GPs are fucking useless, prescribing only a variety of painkillers not being bothered to try and find out the source of a problem.

Pharmacists have a duty of care too, but it does sound like this technician could have had a more private conversation - but you are being overly dramatic.

I don’t think it’s an unreasonable ask. They might not have the right dose/amount in stock but be able to give you something else or tell you to go somewhere else if it’s urgent 🤷🏻‍♀️

Who really cares if a stranger hears your ailments, we’ve all got something wrong with us.

There are perfectly legitimate reasons why a pharmacist might ask this kind of question. Sometimes they might be out of stock of a particular brand/preparation of a drug and be considering what version to give you as a substitute - and what it’s for might make a difference to the decision about what the best option is. So if you’ve been prescribed an anti inflammatory drug for strep throat then a dissolvable version might be a better option than an encapsulated pill cause you’ll get the local effect as well as the systemic effect.
But yeah, a bit of discretion wouldn’t hurt.

Loopyloo159 · Today 18:03
Loopyloo159 · Today 18:03
YANBU and also on the subject of confidentiality I object to the name of the medication being dispensed ,being said in front of all customers!
I now know that someone in my road who was in front of me has epilepsy and diabetes

I completely agree with this. The last time I went to the chemist I was behind one other lady who was being served. The usual discreet pharmacist came out of the back with a prescription bag and loudly stated the name and address on the bag, the lady in front of me stepped forward and the pharma went on to tell her (and me, and anyone passing tbh) that her Duloxetine wasn't due until such and such a date but she was owed 7 from last time so those were in there. The pharma also declared orlastat or similar and went on to say that the lady needed a medicine review before her next script. I know everything except her shoe size!

Who really cares if a stranger hears your ailments, we’ve all got something wrong with us.

Really?
You’d want yo talk all matter of health issues including pelvic pain, STD, faecal incontinence, schizophrenia, all matter if MH issues, pregnancy etc… all in public? Not knowing if this will come back to people you know. Because, you know, not everyone lives in a big town?
Strange

But it wasn't the pharmacist asking, just the shop assistant.
The medication was dispensed anyway.

Pharmacists have training, knowledge and experience about drug-drug interactions in a way that a bog-standard GP will never have.

Pharmacy is a much more specific degree then medicine, with a lot of CPD. It's not possible for GPs with their very broad knowledge to also be able to pick up on adverse drug interactions etc.

I think the pharmacy handled it badly, but they are duty bound to check and verify when dispensing certain medications.