Filling out a prescription is a regular part of everyday life.
Despite this, some have reported issues with this simple practice. For example, one internet user claimed that her father’s pharmacist refused to fill his prescription because they disagreed with the prescribed dosage. Another alleged that a pharmacy would not let him fill a prescription for Adderall because he didn’t have insurance.
Given these issues, one may wonder what goes on behind a pharmacy counter that could lead to these outcomes. Now, TikTok user Danielle (@dirtydan777) has an answer.
Why your prescription may take a while
In a video with over 575,000 views as of Sunday, Danielle recounts an experience she had while working at a pharmacy.
“Today this girl asked me to fill a prescription for her. So I said, ‘Of course, babe…Do you want to wait for it?’ And she was like, ‘Yeah,’ so I was like, ‘OK, probably 10 or 15 minutes,’” Danielle recalls. “Sister really turns to me [and] goes. ‘Oh, well, what do you have to do? Cuz isn’t it just in a box?’”
According to Danielle, this represents a major misunderstanding about what people behind the pharmacy counter actually do.
Danielle says that even small items that are typically available over the counter, such as tampons, must be assessed by the main pharmacist—”aka the pharmacist who has the malpractice insurance,” explains Danielle.
Next, Danielle says that every medication she provides to customers must be logged into their computer system, which Danielle says is slow.
“Because when the drug company calls and says, ‘Oh this drug is recalled because there’s shards of glass in it,’ I’m gonna need to go back into your file and make sure that yours didn’t have that. You know what I mean?” she adds.
As a result, Danielle says that there’s much more that someone behind a pharmacy counter does beyond simply handing over a box.
The Mayo Clinic notes that a pharmacy technician may also be involved in other tasks, such as “processing insurance claims, tracking inventory, and filing paperwork.”
@dirtydan777 i hate a stupid ah question
♬ original sound – Dirtydan
Viewers had no idea
In the comments section, many users admitted that they were unaware of just how much needs to be done before a prescription can be handed over.
“Thank you for explaining, cause I would never argue about the time it takes, but it’s been a mystery why it takes so long,” a user wrote.
“I thought it took 15+ mins for them to find the meds and then put them in the bottle,” added another.
Other users cited additional issues that could lead to long medication fill times.
“Not to mention most pharmacies are extremely short staffed rn with 1-2 people having to work the front counter, drive through, answer phones, answer questions, fill 100s of other medications that [are] before theirs plus the other waiters that are probably before her, do stock, truck, orders, etccc,” detailed a commenter.
“I went to Thailand 2 months ago and needed to get shots before going, the pharmacist I went to spent half an hour researching to see if I needed anything specific to the areas I was going to,” recalled a second. “People really need to have some more patience…a pharmacy is not McDonald’s.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Danielle via email.
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