CVS is allowing pharmacists to withhold presribed medication. Las Vegas Nevada

Magamia and Kevy, two employees of the CVS store mentioned in the subject line are two of the most unprofessional staff members I have ever spoken on the phone with. Not ONE shred of decency, respect or care. Kevy is a big, nasty, bully who uses her position to be rude, hostile, uneducated, and plain vulgar. Horrendous customer service! The phone call I had with her should be pulled and used as an example as to what you should NOT do when speaking to a customer. Nasty, vile woman.

She told me that she was done speaking to ME! What a world where you can speak to a customer this way and STILL collect a paycheck when the error is on CVS. CVS decided not to fill my prescription and to not inform me in a timely fashion and I was told that I should be mad at the pharmacist who worked on Thursday, and then Kevy says "oh you mad at me now too" as though we were about to street brawl. How embarrassing that these women represent CVS!

While the customer service is abysmal at best, the pertinent issue is that CVS is withholding fulfillment of my prescription and was negligent in processing my prescription when it was sent electronically on 8/20. I had an appointment with my primary care doctor on Thursday 8/20 and they electronically sent over my prescription to CVS the same day. I called at 4:40 pm on 8/21 to confirm that this as well as another prescription were ready for pick up. I was told by the pharmacist that she is not going to fill it because the doctor needs to be called when a new medication is added which I know to be patently untrue as they have filled other new prescriptions for me with no issues and I also called another CVS where they advised that there is no such policy internally or as a matter of law or a standard protocol.

They have had the prescription since Thursday early afternoon. The pharmacist said she will try to call but that it can be a hold of 20 - 30 minutes to which I advised if the office closes in 20 mins so why would I be on hold for 30 min? She claimed to attempt to call, but the office was already closed and is closed on Saturday and Sunday essentially creating a situation where I am unable to start taking prescribed medication that I desperately need to start taking. This prescription has been properly issued by a medical doctor for a real and debilitating condition!

   1. CVS made no attempt to adhere to their own "policy regarding verification" because no one called my doctor from Thursday until I called CVS to find out the status of my meds on Friday at 4:40pm! I received no calls regarding any questions or inability to contact my physician. If they were not going to process this I should have been alerted so that I can have the prescription transferred to a pharmacy that will either fill it or make any necessary calls needed to confirm whatever information is needed.

I now, for four days will not have access to my medication since the made  up policy that the pharmacist advised of, precludes them from contacting my doctor for two days since most doctors offices are closed on the weekends.  CVS had the prescription ALL DAY  and did NOTHING! Your pharmacists are playing doctor and it's a very dangerous gamble with peoples health.    

2. The act of not filling my prescription is racial profiling and a clear disregard for my rights under ADA. I know that this location is not in the best part of town and perhaps the employees are taught to give the general customer base (minority) more scrutiny. I am a black woman who suffers from Depression, Anxiety, and ADHD - I understand that I may not be the typical archetype for prescriptions for Vyvanse, Wellbutrin, and Xanax, and I know that because they are Schedule II and IV they are closely regulated, but that shouldn't mean that I should be denied services and have my prescriptions disregarded with NO NOTICE when they were prescribed by a MEDICAL DOCTOR.

There is no legitimate reason for the denial. This selective duck, duck, goose of deciding who gets their prescription meds or not needs to cease immediately.   Mental health issues are just as serious as physical issues, but your staff apparently didn't get the memo on this. Ironically your pharmacy is now causing the very thing that my prescription was supposed to assist with. Why am I ALWAYS getting push back on my prescriptions that treat my mental health issues with CVS?  This is unethical by any professional standard.    The first time I went to this CVS to have the Vyvanse prescription filled, they initially advised that the pharmacy manager was away and he would need to fill it.

I politely advised them that it is unfathomable to make someone wait until an employee returns from vacation to fill a prescription. After some discussion the prescription was filled, however I am still unclear as to why these made up policies and procedures keep applying specifically to my treatment plans? There is a serious issue and it needs to stop now! I need these medications for serious psychiatric conditions. If this were a cancer medication would it be withheld in this manner?   

While waiting for the Vyvanse to be filled, I overheard the pharmacist and a staff member talking about if a customer comes in  and pays with a Chime Spending Account card "you can tell what type of customer this will be", suggesting that this payment method denotes an undesirable customer. Chime is a card used by people who generally can't open traditional bank accounts - minority customers. I have a Chime Card, and a Wells Fargo Card, and several credit cards. I used my Chime card that day to pay. I wonder if by me doing so that opened me up to this pharmacy's profiling too.

There is something rotten to the core at this store and this pharmacy department, when behaviors and practices such as these are pervasive and sanctioned. Look at your Yelp page, it's littered with instances of customers sharing their experiences of profiling and discrmination and customer service issues. Something is definitely wrong here. It's pathetic that I have to go to another CVS store in a "better" neighborhood so that I can interact with educated, articulate, and professional staff members who don't profile you and determine that you shouldn't be using certain meds because you are brown and instead  simply take my insurance card, copay, process my prescription, and have me on my way - like it's supposed to go.

#Blacklives AND #Blackmentalhealth matters even if CVS employees don't seem to think so.   The pharmacist’s “professional discretion,” still has to be based on a real concern AND if this really what was happening then this should have been communicated to me in a timely manner to allow me to get my medications filled elsewhere.   I don't expect that anyone at the store level actually cares considering how the pharmacy department has been allowed to run thus far, but hopefully with some questions from the regulatory boards, perhaps you will investigate these pervasive issues before someone really gets hurt from your pharmacists playing doctor, being reckless, and withholding prescribed medicine for no reason - other than they can.  

If these issues continue to happen, I will be forced to procure legal counsel to establish how I should proceed as this is now the second time I have had issues with filling prescriptions with CVS. Each instance has gotten progressively worse and we are now at the point where my medications are being withheld with no just cause.   The employees are the actual bosses  and managers here so they say and do WHATEVER they want, whenever they want and they know that they run that store which is why they continue to behave as they do. I will not allow them to play with my health and wellbeing ever again.