Concerns About CVS Auto-Refill Program

Have you ever received a prescription from the pharmacy after your doctor stopped prescribing the medicine? Many pharmacists have been dispensing drugs even after doctors discontinue the patient’s prescription. In fact, a recent study revealed that 1 in 100 prescriptions were filled by pharmacies after doctors canceled the prescription.

This study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, looked at 30,406 adult health records and discovered that 1,218 prescribed drugs were filled by pharmacists even though doctors had stopped prescription refills.

According to a former CVS pharmacy technician, Anna Namnard, who is suing CVS, she and other employees were forced “to fill prescriptions in a way that went against store policies and possibly the law.”  Her lawsuit claims that she was told to refill these questionable prescriptions, and not waste time by calling doctors or getting patients’ permission, in order to meet strict quotas.

Not only was she told to enroll prescriptions into the pharmacy’s ReadyFill Program, she also said that CVS pharmacists would change prescription details such as drug quantities without informing the doctor or getting the doctor’s permission. They were pressured to meet quotas and fill prescriptions quickly, which could potentially cause serious harm to patients if drug errors were made.

Some experts say pharmacists are human and simply make mistakes – for example, not catching that the prescription shouldn’t be refilled because it was cancelled by the doctor. However, others say that pharmacies and pharmacists are conscious of what they are doing. They continue to refill prescriptions because they get graded by the patients on how fast orders are filled.

If you or a loved one was harmed by a negligent pharmacist at CVS or at another pharmacy, please call a pharmacy error attorney at Kennedy Hodges, L.L.P. at 888-526-7616 for a free consultation today.