Why Going to the Pharmacy Sucks Now

It's not you. Going to the pharmacy has been a nightmare lately - and it's even worse for your pharmacist.
Pharmacists are sick of being overworked, understaffed, and forced to put your life in danger. And now they’re unionizing to demand better.
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[@LuckyCharms777]

Imagine studying 6-8 years to be a trained and licensed pharmacist only to be measured on productivity like you’re a worker at McDonald’s.

[@amybair3205]

That is sadly done across professions. My physician started using her watch as a timer. Pathetic business practices.

[@p0nt]

imagine being impersonally measured on productivity as a worker at McDonalds. general strike now; all workers have solidarity with one another.

[@LuckyCharms777]

@@p0nt Fair point, but it’s literally called “fast food”. McDonald’s entire business strategy is based on serving a high volume of food quickly.

[@p0nt]

​@@LuckyCharms777 My point wasn't that measuring productivity is bad (it is, but that's a whole different topic) - just that evaluating workers rights based on job title is inherently anti-solidarity rhetoric. Being treated like just a number fucking sucks regardless of one's education background. But I know you get that and I'm just preaching to the choir. I'm just being nit picky about language.

[@LuckyCharms777]

@@p0nt Oh, okay, I misunderstood. Yes, every employee should be treated as a human rather than a machine.

[@Outlawrockman]

It’s crazy that we outlawed vertical integration of movie studies, film distributors, and cinemas 100 years ago but we turned a blind eye on the healthcare industry

[@FlintTD]

Insurance companies and Big Pharma likely lobbied to keep the eye blinded.

[@qjtvaddict]

Woah

[@youtubesucks1499]

Why are you entitled to healthcare and who is responsible for providing it?

[@iwishiknewhowto1228]

@@youtubesucks1499 Because its the morally correct thing to do? But you seem like the type of person who doesn't operate on morals so let me put in a way you understand. A Healthy populations equals a more productive and more happy population which means a better economy. (since the economy is the only thing you can think about.)

[@youtubesucks1499]

@@iwishiknewhowto1228 Ok, so because you say its morally responsible healthcare professionals become public servants? You aren't entitled to other people's services. This has nothing to do with morals rather your entitlements. Why are you entitled to someone else's services? Should a doctor work for free?

[@WoWFREAK1336]

It boggles the mind that pharmacists are literally required to hold Doctorate of Pharmacology, and are having to unionize to get reasonable staffing and compensation.

[@Mlogan11]

Late State Capitalism.

[@poopmcgee3826]

your statement couldn't be more wrong. pharmacists make around 150k a year. pharmacy techs are the ones who are underpaid.

[@autobotdiva9268]

and there is nothing in between. you either a tech or pharmacist. like huh?

[@shawndevoid9813]

Physicians are now, as well. It’s crazy what corporations have gotten up to in the last couple of decades. I don’t know what is next, but it feels like there will probably be a back lash soon.

[@chronos401]

At one time, a HS grad could become a pharmacist by doing a 3- or 4-year apprenticeship under a licensed pharmacist then passing a test at the end. The goal of inflated education requirements for this profession and many others was to turn these people into debt slaves thus making them far easier to control. They certainly are not better than their predecessors who did an apprenticeship or earned a bachelor's degree. When the centralization and consolidation reach the right point, this entire profession and their staffs can be replaced with AI. Unionization will not stop what is happening. IMO the entire gov at all levels must be rightsized and replaced with brave, good people willing to bust up the monster companies/institutions and return us to decentralization. Americans today want to be endless complainers not productive doers. Until their own personal lives are hit very hard, probably they'll remain sound asleep.

[@ninj4geek]

Came here because the thumbnail. I used to work for CVS as a store manager. What I'm about to say, I have no proof of aside from my memory, so take it for what you will. I was at a manager training for my region, and they got to the topic of Unions. They went over tactics and techniques that Union reps might be able to 'exploit' to get information to employees (like there was one thing about not even allowing Boy or Girl Scouts to leave pamphlets for sales, that would be the Union's "in" to leave pamphlets (or something like that)). They gave us this information with the EXPLICIT purpose of making sure that the store DID NOT UNIONIZE. They finished that "no unions" section by telling every manager there that CVS would "black list" any manager whose store even began the unionization process. That is, fired, then they'd go out of their way to make sure that person never worked in the industry again. On top of that, I was chastised by my Regional Manager for trying to give my Full Time employees as close to 40 hours/wk as I could possibly do. Usually 38, so they wouldn't go into overtime if they worked over occasionally (which I was yelled at for before). I was told to give them 30, full stop. The reason for 30, was if their AVERAGE HOURS fell below that for some time period, they'd be reclassified to Part Time, LOSE THEIR BENEFITS AND SAVE THE COMPANY MONEY. It would take keeping over 30 hour average for AT LEAST 1 YEAR before benefits were reinstated. FUCK CVS.

[@brianc6218]

I was a store manager at CVS. Corporate greed at it’s worst there.

[@FS-qk5uq]

Damn CVS makes Walmart look like angels

[@jakebranum267]

I was an SM at CVS as well. All of this happened in my area as well. This was 10 years ago and our pharmacists worked 16-18 hours a day with no breaks.

[@commoveo1]

www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-rights/employer-union-rights-and-obligations#

[@leona2222]

Solidarity ✊🏻

[@sonnygower8242]

This lady is so brave for speaking out on the record against these huge corporations who only care about numbers on the excel sheet. Thank you!

[@mason96575]

The narrator referred to them as he. I would just use they/them to avoid any sort of unintentional misgendering.

[@qjtvaddict]

She almost died she had no options left BUT to stand up

[@d.d.d.a.a.a.n.n.n]

@@mason96575 I think OP means the person the video started out with, who was pregnant when she was working and passed out, not the guy who is organizing the unionizing efforts

[@mason96575]

@@d.d.d.a.a.a.n.n.n ohh, ok- that makes a lot more sense! I guess they’re all speaking out against the corporation- so I drew that assumption as to who OP meant on my own. My mistake, everyone.

[@whitestkid]

They could also be speaking out because they (luckily/hopefully) found another job in hospital or another clinical/scientific role 🥲

[@michaelgodwin6158]

Ex pharmacy technician. I have a lot of stories I could tell about the absolutely grueling working conditions, about how I had to regularly keep changes of pants on hand because I have Crohn's disease and couldn't make it to the bathroom. When my co-workers who was a veteran of multiple tours in Iraq said the work was the worst he's ever had to do by far, you know it's time to flee the profession and move on.

[@naturegirl2110]

I'm a pharmacy tech and just diagnosed with IBS. I don't know how im gonna survive in this profession. How did you cope? What profession did you channge to?

[@puggirl415]

@@naturegirl2110 Totally no context for this but my IBS is clearing up on the carnivore diet. I'm so happy I can't help spreading the word. Sorry and good luck to you:)

[@naturegirl2110]

@@puggirl415 thank you so much. I'll look it up. These spams are no joke

[@michaelgodwin6158]

@@naturegirl2110 for me keeping immodium in my car really helped, or something for bloating too. But ultimately I left retail and now do a work from home job.

[@thecrafthoard]

@@naturegirl2110 I 100% believe that the stress of working at CVS caused my IBS (as well as other health issues). I ended up quitting and became an executive administrative assistant at a non-profit organization. Complete 180 in working conditions, absolute night and day different with stress levels and how I was treated, and I loved my admin job. My IBS, constant migraines, and other health issues also drastically improved over the course of a few years due to the significantly reduced stress levels. Go figure. I will NEVER work retail again after 16 years at CVS.

[@AuxFace056]

Figures. I worked or walgreens before. Chronic understaffing was always a problem, and corporate treated employees poorly. The pharmacy got the worst of it, though.

[@youtubesucks1499]

It's not greed. Labor is a business expense. Why would you pay more? I agree Walgreens is under staffed

[@davak72]

@@youtubesucks1499What do you mean that it’s not greed? Of course it’s greed…

[@godowskygodowsky1155]

​@@youtubesucks1499Monopolization has allowed them to become a market maker for both the labor they purchase and the pharmaceuticals they sell. Free markets are a good system for setting prices so long as there is competition, externalities are internalized, and no party has its hands in the regulatory system.

[@youtubesucks1499]

@@yomoma6141 You are spot on about running on a minimum crew.

[@wombat7961]

Are the pharm techs unionized too because i can tell you for certain i was the only skeleton crew there

[@jjw6961]

Pharmacist here. This is pretty spot on and well done. Support your independent and local chains when possible, but nothing short of universal healthcare will be able to fix the issue.

[@persoro4015]

how tf does"universal healthcare" solve this, other countries have pharmacy shortages as we;;;???

[@kenofken9458]

They do not have all of the same problems we do in countries with universal health care. Here, maximum profits of shareholders and company executives are the ONLY priority, not just the first one. If they decide its more profitable to let you die than to treat you, you die. It's that simple. They are allowed to charge any price they want for drugs, and the government is prohibited from negotiating. I was in the industry when the first effective cures for Hepatitis C came out. The price? $120,000. Not for some super exotic engineered biologic drug. A pill once a day for 12 weeks. Europe was paying nowhere near that price. It's not just new drugs either. About a decade ago, a guy named Martin Shkreli, a hedge fund manager and all around capitalist got hold of the manufacturing license for a 1950s era drug called pyramethamine. It's used for parasites including some of the lung infections people with advanced HIV get. Well, being the shrewd captialist he is, he decided to raise the price 5,445%, from around $13 a pill to $750. He got taken down for securities fraud for things unrelated to that, but 99% of the time, drug companies that pull similar stunts get away with it. It's not like you can go anywhere else. The FDA bars us from securing drugs overseas. You pay what they tell you to pay, or you die. Real simple. In this country, medical expenses are the main driver of personal bankruptcy. Realistically, if you get cancer, which about one in three people will, you lose everything in this country. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars you can never pay off. That doesn't happen in countries with universal health care. Ever. The lobbyists for the for-profit health care system in this country try to scare us with stories about how it takes forever to see a specialist in countries with universal health care. It's no different hear. It takes me 6-9 months to see a specialist, bare minimum, and I live in one of the best served medical markets in the nation. We're letting ourselves be played for fools.

[@ConnieLeFan]

We have to run our universal coverage system better than other countries currently do by copying the parts and systems that function well, and brainstorm ways to improve on the systems drawbacks. Of course, the first step is to correct the political system that allows billionaires and corporate lobbyists to force tax laws to continue to allow them to not ever pay their fair share of taxes. Those amounts need to be collected in order to help fund health care for all. Plus we must concede that health care corporations need to change from the for profit plan to the tax supported non profit plan. Even then, the public will have to face hard decisions as to when care procedures are not justifiable when it is too expensive to help too few people, and be mature enough to accept that sometimes that will mean someone we love may not be granted the too costly life prolonging care they need, even when the knowledge exists, but is just too much to help too few. And even if we get to this more equitable way of dispersing health care, it will never be fully and completely equitably dispersed due to greed existing in the human race perpetually.

[@Freyja_M4106]

Save your Dieing Craft! Because my Grandfather was a Pharmacist, i beat cancer with Appleseeds. In his day, a Pharmacist was a combonation of Chemist and Medical Doctor. These days Pharmacists are mostly just pill counters, and check the computer program for drug interactions.

[@JasonAtlas]

It is not the American way to just give up and accept the status quo. If it was you would still be English. Try and you might succeed. Do not try and you will always fail.

[@christopherfernandez2305]

Burnout is an epidemic among almost all workers at this point.

[@niko_rob_GenX]

💯 Everyone is tired of working full time and living paycheck-to-paycheck. It is exhausting. No money for fun, vacations, or savings.

[@petemavus2948]

​@@niko_rob_GenX Considered Luxuries Not to mention any big mishaps and your homeless.

[@Firebringer121]

I also work at CVS and yeah the "no stool" thing is bs, god forbid your employees be comfortable. Just wish ya'll would show us front store employees solidarity when we try and get our union going.

[@Lazy2332]

Especially if you’re pregnant??? They use stools/rolling chairs at my pharmacy but it’s owned by my health care provider. Wild that they expect you to stand on your feet for 8-12 hours a day.

[@enjoystraveling]

That’s real strange, other countries like Germany, England, and France, They always have a stool or chair by the register where it’s in a grocery or other.

[@abracadaverous]

What's their stated reasoning for no stools?

[@mentallyuntouchable2918]

​@@abracadaverous"professionalism"

[@ConnieLeFan]

​@@Lazy2332Of course they should allow stools if there is no safety issue, especially if worker is pregnant, older, physically limited... But many jobs do require workers to be on their feet much of their entire shift where sitting isn't possible, so that in itself is not super shockingly abusive. It is more the understaffing and expecting workers to do the same amount of labor that 2 or 3 or maybe even more people were paid to do in the past, and to do it every day, day in and day out, with passion and a smile always, even when you are aware you are being clearly exploited, and even as you must work with often very sick customers now getting frustrated and angry at the worker, due to the outrageous costs of their medicines that they often have no way to squeeze into their over-stretched already budgets!!!

[@jeli83]

This is a situation where North Dakota, for once, seems to be ahead of the curve-all pharmacies are required to be majority owned by pharmacists licensed in the state. What that means is all pharmacies, including the few CVS and Walgreens pharmacies we have, are run by people who actually work there-not corporations. Furthermore, Target doesn’t have any pharmacies in the state because they refuse to cede profits on pharmaceuticals to locals. Walmart, Costco, and the like have independently-run pharmacies housed in their stores that have their own prices and staff. There’s no doubt this doesn’t solve every issue, but it’s kinda crazy a law from the 1960s is proving out to be so radically beneficial.

[@qjtvaddict]

US secrets 😂😂 I was not familiar with their game

[@aaronsuever4362]

Actually it doesn’t surprise me at all, if the law that you say is helpful, was passed in the 1960’s. That was a time when people actually had a lot of say in our government. They had a self and community interest, in making good, helpful laws. Now, the government mainly listens to wealthy donors in the two competing parties. The parties pretend to care about the masses (and maybe some of their members actually do). But much of what they actually do, is for big corporations and wealthy individuals. They do a few things for the masses, but never enough to REALLY make a difference. I’d like to see what Democrats would do if they had full majority (White House, Senate, House of Reps). Maybe there would be some real changes then. (Republicans won’t let them get any huge victories as long as they can block them though.) I already saw what Republicans would do (when trump was President), and I want no part of it. Instead of MAGA, it should be DABDA (Drag America Back Down Again). There was nothing great about maga.

[@nickpavia9021]

@@aaronsuever4362 North Dakota is a Republican state. A Democrat majority would make the country 10 times worse. Democrats only care about giving billions to corporations and flooding as many immigrants into the country as possible to use as cheap labor.

[@chelseyschlutereichen9009]

I'm a pharmacist, from the Fargo area, and at the time I thought it was so weird, but probably the only way I'd ever work retail again. I spent 8 years at Walgreens in the Mpls market, then got the heck out in 2015 and have been at a PBM ever since. I had to quit going to my local Walgreens in Minneapolis because it was so terrible and I kept hearing the pharmacist tell patients wrong information. I've helped people find things and answer questions and I don't even work there.

[@octawussy2331]

Please build upon this concept. CVS is a monopoly. They run my insurance company, warehousing / shipping for specialty drugs, nursing, and infusion facilities. They own Coram that suddenly let go of ppl who needed feeding tube services summer 2022. They say they wanted customers with specialty prescriptions like for MS, lupus, RA, but that is a sh*t experience, too. I need to act as my own case worker, making sure prior auth goes through, the supplies are ordered and arrive on time, and I have to bring in my own pre-meds for infusion. The on-site supplies in the closet-like infusion suite are travel items. I must carry the IV pole when I go to the bathroom so the tubes don’t wrap the pole. What do disabled people do who do not have project management skills or advocates? How can they use a space that is not accessible? Why has Selma Blair endorsed their product? It’s not right

[@naturegirl2110]

Its not right

[@lucycan6363]

The disabled are catching hell. Speaking from experience

[@merrydaye4763]

Neighbor on disability and AZ State coverage CVS only place allowed to go

[@naturegirl2110]

@merrydaye4763 yes CVS/Aetna won the contract for Medicaid

[@recovertreedragon7322]

And they crept in and merged with Satellite dialysis and bankrupted them after firing Satellite staff. They wanted to make it all pretty and get the profit from dialysis, but didn't know how to do a thing with renal health

[@KT-bg7hf]

The awful irony that she had a medical emergency while working on the front lines in health "care," helping others with their health, and no one cared. We need unions in every industry and universal health care more than ever.

[@scifirealism5943]

Except unions protest wage slavery.

[@Jebbis]

No wonder my insurance, suddenly said that I can only go to CVS for prescriptions.

[@alessandrahull5637]

CVS is just as bad.

[@Aryzuo]

Yup, they tried to keep that shit hush-hush too. I had the opposite problem, with a competitor insurer. I used to go to CVS for anything I needed (simply because it was the closest and most convenient). Had to pick something up a few months back and they just told me they don't accept that insurance anymore. Seemed really sus at the time, and now it's obvious why.

[@Annoyed_Human]

​@@Aryzuoso, thats y i was arguing wit the oharmacy cuz the physician was NOT n their system but the ins co said that they WERE n the network. Cvs sent me 2 walgreens. Walgreens sent me 2 cvs. It was an entire fukkkn emss. Didnt get script til a day later. Thanx 4 that comment

[@goodun2974]

When my wife got our health insurance ( Aetna) through the hospital system she worked for, Aetna and CVS merged and they forced us to stop using a local pharmacy in favor of CVS, who proceeded to screw up prescriptions on us for the next few years. Several times I got out of the hospital post surgery the brand new prescription and was unable to get it filled on a weekend by CV s because they didn't stop it only to find out later that they stack the right drug but the dosage of the individual pills was incorrect so rather than giving me twice as many tabs to make up the proper dosage or have me cut a tablet in half, they dragged their feet for days without getting around to checking with my doc to see if it was okay to use basic math principles to supply me with the correct dosaging. On several occasions we had to go elsewhere and pay cash for a prescription, without any insurance coverage, simply so that I wouldn't die over the weekend until they could straighten it all out.

[@mckenziechurch8860]

You should be able to get 30 day supply from other pharmacies, they just don't tell you that. You can only get 30 day, but I'd rather do that than go to cvs

[@naturegirl2110]

As a tech at one of your local chains. Why do your rx take so long? Long answer: hire hire hire but not in the way you think. New employee day 1. Throw em the register. Provide as little help to the new employee from seasoned employee as possible. New employee stays for 3 months give or take, while being cussed out by customers at least once per day, while trying to learn the cumputer system, pharmacy law, pharmaceuticals, learning to read Dr's writing, typing up rx, insurance which a very big PIA, dispensing drugs, etc, etc, etc. The now confused, frustrated, still fairly new tech just stops showing up to work. The pharmacy is already short staffed and doesn't have a lot of seasoned tech. For me, I was running 2 registers in the front, plus drop off and sometimes drive thru at the same time. How much faster can 2 hands, 2 feet attached to one body can go?

[@mtldragon9860]

Totally relate as a pharmacist who transitioned from hospital to retail. Left after 2 months. I started to question if I was as good a pharmacist as I thought with 10 years in hospital experience. It is truly a gaslighting experience.

[@stewiegrif1]

I feel your pain, and I'm sorry you had to go through this like I did. We called it the "churn and burn". Basically, we would throw new employees onto the register to wear them out so they would either tough it out or quit. Since we were always behind on rx's by about 500, the customer service experience was absolutely awful. I'll never forget looking over at one of the new hires after a grueling morning of people being horrifically awful to her, and her face just looked completely defeated. This woman was confident, in her 40's, had tons of work experience, but nothing could have prepared her for some of the worst people I've ever seen walk into a store. She, like almost every new hire during that 6 month period before I left, didn't make it more than a few weeks.

[@naturegirl2110]

@stewiegrif1 even tho I one that hung one the longesr and was treated unfairly by other tech and the pharmacist aka I was stuck on drive, drop off and register for 2.5 years and rarely ever got to do production/fill. New techs ask how I held on. I tell them my motivation is different. For years, I was unable to work due to epilepsy so I'm very thankful to be able to work. I'm happy that I can now work and my motivation is to learn the job. I could help 4 patients at the same time, while everyone in the pharmacy is standing around. I'm not the one the patients are giving dirty looks. Patient may not like my bluntness, but a lot of them prefer to work with me because I respect their time and work faster.

[@naturegirl2110]

@stewiegrif1 I don't think it's fair tho for new techs to be thrown on the register especially with little to no help from pharmacists or more experienced techs. My first day, I was put on there . Didn't know how to look patients up and once I figured that out I didn't know what the things on the screen meant. I ask for help. Thw lead tech and another tech I asked response was "figure it out." I was shocked. If newer techs were treated better, they might stay. Either Corp cut hours or new techs quit. Both means we're usually short staffed. But of course all Corp cares about is metrics

[@zeyata-cicero-herron4608]

pretty much the reason I might be leaving my tech job. I didn't get into a trade to be an overworked, overtired, over-qualified, underpaid cashier with extra steps. And that's nearly /all/ I do. So not only am I not learning, but I'm constantly being interrupted and pulled aside by customers when I try to learn literally anything else. It's exhausting and I've seen it drive at least 4 techs away so far in my year of working there.

[@OG_McLovin]

CVS is the poster child for all of America's healthcare problems. I never go there, even for a pack of gum.

[@LightsHikesAndWanderlove]

Yeah, I'm boycotting them too.

[@katv3116]

I’ll do the same now

[@ekop1778]

DONT GO TO WALGREENS THEIR EVEN WORSE

[@DragonWithAWagon]

Pharm tech at Kroger here, stools are a necessity!!! All of my pharmacists use them because it’s genuinely unethical to make someone stand for 8+ hours solid. Overlapping of pharmacists allows for thorough counseling! Ridiculous to see such shortages

[@coasterjaz89]

Retail pharmacist here. That’s one of my biggest complaints to retail pharmacy, is standing long shifts. I have since been diagnosed with foot/ankle issues. It can be miserable. Add all the corporate metrics BS, ungrateful customers equating pharmacy to fast food, reducing tech hours despite techs wanting full time, and it’s a recipe for fast burnt out.

[@thomasa4239]

How do you even do your job sitting down? Don’t you have to move around ? Do you just work DE/ ADJ/CM ?

[@nicolejennings8389]

A bank I used to work for took stools away from bank tellers to make them stay on their feet and walk back and forth from lobby to drive thru customers

[@DragonWithAWagon]

@@thomasa4239 we generally rotate abt 3 hours per, in pd we’ll print a decent stack pull and then sit. Rtp is about the only place your really stuck standing if there’s a line.

[@jayaCatLvr-ys5ix]

The reason they want full time is so they can get w(health) care. Thats y people are glued to nasty jobs they hate.

[@jesseteixeira6284]

Treating healthcare as a profit-motivated industry is a recipe for disaster. But then we live in disaster capitalism, so it's to be expected.

[@youtubesucks1499]

Do you enjoy living in surplus and abundance? Capitalism.

[@AndresRuiz007]

@@youtubesucks1499where is the surplus and abundance?

[@youtubesucks1499]

@@AndresRuiz007 Have you been to an American grocery store? Have you had to wait 5 hours for gas? Wtf are you talking about? What grocery store have you walked into that had bare shelves? Do you live in Detroit??

[@Arlene_witha_y]

It’s ALL healthcare workers!! I’m an ultrasound tech working for a private practice and I scanned 20 patients today! In the world of ultrasound that is TOO MUCH!

[@docrob5320]

I'm an optometrist and closed my practice in 2021 because the insurance companies kept cutting my compensation and started mandating I carry their frames which I paid more for and got less back. They also mandated i use their labs to make the glasses. I made less money each year. So my choices ended up being overcharge, overbook or quit. I quit.

[@Arlene_witha_y]

@@docrob5320 I’m realizing the problem is insurance companies. People scam and fraud the insurance companies for claims and then they are at a loss and have to subsidize by charging everyone else more. Just like the home lending industry caused a major housing crisis in 2008 and had to be federally regulated, the same has to happen for insurance companies. No accidents or tickets and car insurance rates are doubling, perfectly good roof and home insurance wanted to drop me if i didn’t replace it, causing me to have to get a second mortgage to pay for it. Otherwise I would be force placed into a more expensive policy. Insurance is a damn scam! I had a colonoscopy and ct scan ordered by the doctor bc of my abdominal pains (which turn out must be stress related bc everything’s normal) and the damn insurance wanted to not cover thousands and i got bills sent to me which thankfully i forwarded to my gap insurance policy which is the only one that has actually helped me.

[@dr.spaceman9193]

RIP to your wrists 😢

[@Arlene_witha_y]

@@dr.spaceman9193 I’m terrified bc my hands are my bread and butter, i don’t know what else i can do for the same amount of money and im a single mom homeowner. I try to stretch them shake snd wiggle them around and do exercises.

[@AA-iy4gm]

amazon has somewhat affordable hand massagers

[@hegyak]

Of course Corporations are doing this. Gotta KEEP making Profits NO matter what.

[@nosidenoside2458]

They actually need to INCREASE profits every quarter, even if publicly traded companies are making profit, shareholders will lose their sh*t if the amount of profit being made each quarter doesn't increase

[@jrho8033]

And those Shareholders add ZERO value to the production. They literally collect money for already having money. Corporations have bought our government, and lives are being lost because of it. @@nosidenoside2458

[@steven.h0629]

@@nosidenoside2458 Nailed IT.. no one talks about shareholders / traders only Big Corp!

[@brybryguy6314]

10+ years behind the pharmacy counter in my time as a tech. I worked for Both cvs and other big chains. 10 hour days, no breaks or lunch, always constantly non stop, getting paid minimum wage, dealing with the abuse from customers for 10 hours straight! My pharmacists, same deal non stop, buring out. It's alot of hard work. Really is, everyone always thinks oh all they need to do is just put pills in a bottle. No. There is sooo much more. I was a lead technician and I did everything under the sun, from managing pharmacy operations to ordering, inventory, billing and adjudication, all along with helping customers and filling. Pharmacy industry gets grossly over looked. I am very happy to see this and brining the spot light on this industry

[@JohnT.4321]

Healthcare and capitalism make for a lethal mix for workers and people in general.

[@tominmtnvw]

Capitalism isn’t the problem. If the Republicans in Congress, who legislate to empower big business to treat, hard-working Americans like slaves. We need a blue wave!

[@dominicfucinari1942]

I'd be surprised if the rest of the 1st world didn't consider pharmaceuticals part of the public commons. Running the sector as a corporate rat race doesn't spur innovation. It spurs profiteering.

[@joshuagharis9017]

Capitalism period. Socialism: democracy in OUR economy

[@popegeorgeringo840]

Which is why healthcare and a few other industries need to be separated from capitalism

[@JohnT.4321]

@@popegeorgeringo840 More than that. Capitalism needs to be done away with. Marx quote: "Only the working class can emancipate themselves from capitalism." I have to paraphrase this one off the top of my head: Workers must create an organization of labor in order to defeat capitalism. Unions must unite in order to have that massive organization of labor. It takes building class consciousness and learning socialist theory to accomplish the task.

[@cassieoz1702]

Yup, in all branches of healthcare, there're no shortage of appropriately trained staff. There's a shortage of people willing to work for the conditions being offered. It certainly applies to nurses, midwives, some docs etc. USA has to be one of the most exploitative business cultures in the world. All about shareholders, never about people

[@AA-iy4gm]

it's proudly a capitalist haven, sadly too many regular folks who like to dream still support it, thinking it's their right to dream of being rich and having a technical chance, a shot at it, but it's such a long shot that it's usually next to impossible unless they agree to the terms of doing rich people business and that is - exploiting others to get rich

[@LuckyCharms777]

Welcome to what the rest of American industry already knows. There’s no shortage of staff in 90% of the industries they claim, it’s that they don’t pay enough for the work. They claim shortages so they can bring in cheaper foreign workers willing to work in abusive conditions. Soon enough pharmacies will have foreign staff just like hospitals do. Some will be good and some will be bad. It’s happened in tech, engineering, medical, trucking, etc. They can’t offshore the jobs, so they instead lure in the people with chance to gain US citizenship.

[@lyntwo]

Today, because of the Chicago School of Economics,championed by Milton Friedman, obliterating all other consideration of economic structure, wages are regarded as a theft from the shareholders. And so, workers come to be regarded as belonging to the class of takers, not to the class of makers who in their pursuit of profit by extraction of wealth are held forth as builders of the economy.

[@cassieoz1702]

@@lyntwo well said

[@Splexx]

Thank SCOTUS rulings: 1- Corporation are people 2- Corporations fiduciary duty to maximize profits over all else 3- Unlimited "Dark Money" political contributions via Super Paks, etc...allowing Corps. to easily and directly buy politicians to vote against any reform of health care. Consider what it took to get the ACA "Obamacare" passed, now 15yrs later and GOP still trying to repeal it, unreal!!

[@joemama2499]

CVS was by far the worst, most hostile job I’ve ever had. From management and customers. Worse than that wing shop i worked at where one of the cooks kept trying to stab other workers. Walked out mid-shift after 2 years and not a single missed day and many nights staying in the pharmacy after hours regularly.

[@brockreynolds870]

We have an independent family pharmacy in our town of 6,000, and it's wonderful. They have a drive up window, they know me by name. All their employees are happy

[@Akanisen049]

So glad I switched to a locally owned pharmacy. My meds are cheaper there WITHOUT insurance than it was WITH insurance at walgreens/cvs. And they actually treat their staf well

[@enjoystraveling]

Are there any locally owned pharmacies left and in what states and cities I’d really like to know. I’m thinking of going outside the United States for my needs.

[@MossTunic]

​@enjoystraveling if you search up pharmacy on Google Maps or Waze, it should list various pharmacies in your area. i wish there were easier ways to omit CVS/ Walgreens/ etc. Check out the reviews, too, if they're available. good luck!

[@BFRZ89]

@@enjoystraveling If you live close enough to Canada, you can certainly come here for drugs (they are way cheaper - especially insulin/ozempic). You will have to pay to see a doctor, but it's only $80CAD. You can cross the border with your drugs as long as they're properly labelled. I've worked in pharmacy for many years and seen Americans do that. Avoid the chain stores though (Shoppers, Rexall, Loblaw (Superstore).

[@EvelynNdenial]

worked at cvs in the retail half for years and the pharmacy was consistently behind on prescriptions even with the handful of techs working overtime after their normal 12 hour shifts. they were normally behind by about 10 PAGES of prescriptions and at times it was over 80. everyone in the store begged for more techs and pharmacists to be hired and were completely ignored. promised expansions to the cramped pharmacy were cancelled last minute. meanwhile the company has 4 levels of middle manager and each of them have their own army of sycophants all making 6 figures.

[@ae2948]

And then the pharmacy gets angry at the customers who are angry. The problem was created at the corporate level. BLAME CORPORATE. Its not the tech's fault. Its not the fault of the customer who needs their heart meds or birth control. Its the giant conglomerate of thieves running CVS, Walgreens, etc.

[@annijohnson6210]

I have watched my pleasant, local CVS that I’ve used for the past 20 years turn into a complete zoo in the past few years. The employees are completely overworked. It takes days to get an important prescription. Then the worst part is that CVS now hounds me to refill prescriptions that I just got filled and insurance wouldn’t allow anyway. It’s obnoxious. The deals I used to get at CVS in the regular isles are quickly disappearing.

[@SeraphimCherubim]

The 1% must get richer.

[@tominmtnvw]

Exactly!

[@Praisethesunson]

The profits must flow. Up. To the already wealthy

[@dominicfucinari1942]

It isn't enough for billionaires to have one superyacht with another yacht docked inside it. They need infinity of those, apparently.

[@jesseteixeira6284]

@@dominicfucinari1942 Corporations aren't people. They're paperclip maximizers.

[@user-gz4ve8mw9l]

@@jesseteixeira6284 In the USA corporations are legally people.

[@dubliners0999]

Please do a story on college professors. How adjuncts are paid 1/5th of what full-timers are, how tenure is being threatened for full-timers, how professors have dumbed-down materials and are still forced to pass students who do no work, and how colleges encourage late enrollment which results in a 95% failure rate on late students. The whole profession has gone down the toilet.

[@cheesychi8317]

my mom was a pharmacist at cvs and it grinded her quite hard. It gave her arthritis in her hands from sealing pill bottles and cvs had a crazy standard where you can get your prescription filled in as little as 15min. which puts immense pressure on the staff and from when I worked at cvs (front staff) there was usually only 1 licensed pharmacist in the back and 2 technicians. It's not the workers, it's the business and their policies. Cvs is known to snatch up pharmacists straight out of pharmacy school, they're quite aggressive.

[@kenofken9458]

They're a horrible company to work for.

[@enjoystraveling]

Many countries are overseas do not even allow advertisements on televisions about medicines !! This I agree with

[@naturalnikki8675]

I am a pharmacist and agree 100% with this video! I refuse to work in retail, as it is dangerous to fill 400+ scripts / days with only 1!or 2 people. Unfortunately, it took a significant toll on my health.

[@MM71017]

What did u do instead? Still retail?

[@T1Oracle]

Health insurance companies should not be allowed to own any percentage of any pharmacy, drug supplier, hospital, or anything else related to the things that they provide insurance for. That's a direct conflict of interest!

[@honestfriend767]

And we have laws against this. We need to unionize and lobby for those laws to be enforced.

[@brendaechols5929]

I fainted at work. 3 times. Long hours , standing in one spot lifting heavy stuff for 8-12 hours a day. You couldnt leave until the work was done or management told you, you could. I was a zombie most days. It was exhausting and painful. Had alot of physical health injuries. Developed degenerative disk disease , neuropathy, muscle fatigue, pinched nerve in my neck, shoulder bursitis, tendinitis, arthritis in the both wrist, tension headaches, bone spurs in my hand, trigger finger in all my fingers, etc...Never will i do a job that physical ever again! Its because i cant ever.

[@melissahollowell7255]

I worked in pharmacies for years and the industry has changed so much. To this day, I will only use indies and have a great relationship with my pharmacist and staff.

[@kevinbissinger]

Those won't be around much longer

[@dominicfucinari1942]

Everyone who struck it rich off this market monopolization *needs* to be made into a pariah!

[@melissahollowell7255]

@@kevinbissinger I am hoping more folks get on board and start demanding better service and see indies as the solution. But I am also still waiting on that pony I wanted for my 6th birthday.

[@BladeoftheImmortal2005]

Every corporation needs to hire more people. I worked for PNC and when I finally quit we had two full-time employees for one branch. When I was hired we had 7. Fu** all these corporations doing this to us.

[@michaelhathorus4859]

CVS is the Devil. Walgreens is a Demon. Walmart and other big box chain stores are competing to take those titles. I go to my local pharmacist who is working hard, yes, but not overworked tot he point they just do not care like at CVS. I ordered a prescription in CVS at 7 am through their automated system. I was told it would take 2 hours. I went in at noon or 12:30 pm, the prescription wasn't ready (lunch break wasted) but it would be put on "expedite" and be ready in 40 minutes. Returned after work at 4:45 or 5pm, was told it was not yet filled but it would be put on "expedite" and be ready in 40 minutes. I lost it and the pharm tech looked at me dead-eyed and said "well, you want the prescription or not." I complained to corporate CVS who put me in touch with a regional supervisor who was apologetic and said he'd get the script to me by end of day (9pm). 9pm rolled around, no script. Called the supervisor; straight to voice mail. For three days. Switched to my local pharmacy and never looked back.

[@donnadrane4977]

I’m not surprised about this. CVS once charged me $60 for an asthma inhaler that should have only been $10. I paid it, went home, called the insurance company and they verified it should only cost $10. The insurance company gave me the correct billing code that I had to give to the pharmacy tech at CVS. I should not have had to do their job, they should have known the billing code. I ended up getting my prescription for free that day because they refunded me and forgot to charge me the proper amount of $10! If a had a local independently owned pharmacy nearby I would definitely give them my business!

[@thelogicaldanger]

@@donnadrane4977 Insurance is YOUR responsibility, not your pharmacy's. Filling your prescription according to state and federal law is your pharmacy's job,. Your pharmacy's billing your insurance is a bonus. No, there is no way for your pharmacy to know your individual (out of the thousands of individual insurances) billing code.

[@donnadrane4977]

@@thelogicaldanger It is listed in their computer, if they know how to find it. CVS doesn’t have the most efficient computer system. It is absolutely their responsibility to know how much money to charge me.

[@thelogicaldanger]

@@donnadrane4977 CVS is a private business, they don't have to even take your insurance. The fact that the do is a bonus that you should be grateful. If you don't think CVS is doing an adequate job billing, then YOU should pay cash, and paper bill the insurance for your own reimbursement. And no, it is NOT "listed in their computer system." When ins is billed electronically, the computer sends the insurance the prescription information, and the insurance sends back what the co-pay is, or what needs to be changed to have the claim covered. The $60 was what YOUR insurance told CVS to charge you for the copay. If YOUR insurance wanted a certain qualifying code put in, then YOUR insurance should have sent back that information, as there is NO way for CVS to look it up. Here is another fun fact, your co-pay doesn't even just go 100% to CVS. In most cases, a portion of the co-pay you pay, CVS is required by contract to pay back to YOUR ins. Get a job at CVS and find out yourself how things actually work, instead of sitting back complaining that you someone else doing a job that you have never done, isn't doing their job right.

[@Luke-cp2jz]

⁠@@donnadrane4977you paid for it knowing it was $60. We can find your insurance but it doesn’t always find it and it is your responsibility to bring your insurance card to the pharmacy so we can bill it correctly

[@ElderStatesman]

When pharmacists are grossly overworked, the tasks they aren't able to perform *because* they're overworked gets to fall on everyone else down the line. While my caregiving duties are not my career, I have to handle medications for a friend of mine. It's almost like I'm playing the role of a pharmacist when I check to make sure the doses & meds are correct. Any mistake can send my friend to the hospital. The caregiving I do on an emergency basis has given me a newfound appreciation for pharmacists & other healthcare workers. Then come to find out that pharmacists & their techs don't make much more than I do as a caregiver (up to $15.47/hr for me & $18.25/hr for them) is beyond criminal. Barely $2.75/hr more, with HEAVY responsibilities for not just one patient, but hundreds or thousands. These workers are being gouged by CVS & Walgreens. Time for a living wage for all healthcare workers, including pharmacists. Solidarity with people who do their part in helping others live their lives.

[@totonow6955]

Blood pressure problems in pregnancy are very dangerous and tie into serious complications. People die from this.

[@dominicfucinari1942]

Worse yet, that first guest speaker lives in Alabama, where the political establishment and commerce chamber are likely some of the worst in the nation in terms of bankruptcy of concern for conditions like pregnancy complications.

[@Pete.across.the.street]

Yup, the irony is the birth control pills she dispenses could have prevented it.

[@totonow6955]

@@dominicfucinari1942 exactly.

[@SH-sg8or]

Pharmacist here. What is happening in these large chain pharmacies is outrageous. When I was in a large chain, the expectation of my work environment was not sustainable. No tech help…. Massive lines…..store manager with little to no pharmacy knowledge getting involved in how I ran the pharmacy. I somehow escaped that rat race. Looking back at how my life was at the corporate pharmacy seems like a bad dream.

[@MM71017]

What did you do instead

[@shaveazapatajuan3994]

As a pharmacist myself, I can tell the public that pharmacists and technicians in the retail sector are basically assembly line workers in a factory working in harsh conditions. Just recently a former technician coworker told me that in her pharmacy they dispense close to 1k prescriptions per day and work 10hr shifts with no breaks to sit down. At one of my former retail employers, there were days I worked as the single staff member at the pharmacy. People don't know what happens behind the scenes and it's frustrating to try to keep the safety of the patients you serve and maintain your own physical health and sanity in terrible working conditions. The healthcare system in the United States is horrible: sickness is profit in this country. There are no laws and rules in America that make corporations accountable for mistakes that jeopardize the health of both patients and pharmacy staff.

[@DavidSmith-sf4rl]

I am 70 and retired. Worked retail for years at my own restaurant. I did not know any of this. We need this to be made public. It is dangerous for both customer and pharmacy worker.

[@MiguelPerez-zx2wg]

I work at Sam's Club. I've been seeing our pharmacy getting close once a while.

[@shyguy1630]

Bomani Jones said capitalism is great for things you want. Not great for things you need. When a corporation gets involved it rarely benefits the workers or the customers.

[@honestfriend767]

Capitalism is great because it supports competition. It supports a marketplace. It does not support monopolies. The problem is monopolies. CVS is a monopoly.

[@097jupiter]

i work in a pharmacy and it’s complete chaos and for no reason. We have 3 techs and 1 pharmacist. Our store has a high volume of patients. So there are periods of times when no medications get filled bc we’re all helping a patient. And then people are upset with long wait times. And having no staff definitely leads to safety issues.

[@chucky187]

Welcome to late stage Capitalism.

[@youtubesucks1499]

What is late stage and what are you going to replace it with? Will YOU start a business under your economic ideology or do you expect the ambitious to produce?? I can say with absolute certainty, why start a business under socialism? I wouldn't. Kudos to those that will.

[@Dumbledore6969x]

@@youtubesucks1499Late stage is where capitalism starts to collapse under its own weight. Karl Marx predicted it long ago and we are starting to see it begin. Capitalism will eventually leave everyone hungry and homeless, then we will build a new system, one that works for everyone.

[@Aaron14LifeZZZ]

​@@Dumbledore6969xwhen will that be?

[@Dumbledore6969x]

@@Aaron14LifeZZZUnpredictable. Global capitalism probably has a while left in it, but revolutions pop up at unexpected times.

[@youtubesucks1499]

@@Dumbledore6969x Ok, so under your economic ideology, why start a business? Why start Ring, Scrub Daddy, Amazon, Walmart, Apple... Ford, ... You tell me. I own 3 construction companies and employ 127 people. I make a really nice profit. Why spend years building q business under your economic ideology? Capitalism has been great for me. Socialism? Nope. Communisium, hard pass. So the average age of trades person is 40. Why would anyone take their place if no money in it?

[@BiPedalPossum]

As a pharmacy technician, this is great coverage and accurately covers so much of our concerns and feelings in the work environment. Thank you so much for your excellent reporting.

[@0x29aNull]

We used to have 3 family owned pharmacies in my small town. They were great! You could come in with a script and leave in 15 minutes with your meds. Walmart and CVS bought them and shut them down. Now you have to wait DAYS to get your meds. I hate CVS.

[@ClockwerkMan]

Corporate consolidation *is* the free market at work. We really need to end this myth that a "free market" is somehow going to magically pursue the best interests of mankind, rather than money at any and all costs.

[@honestfriend767]

You said it yourself free market. Meaning it is free for people to enter and it is a marketplace where buyers and sellers negotiate price. Corporate consolidation isn’t that. It prevents anyone that isn’t a corporation from entering which makes the market not free. It also prevents competition which is common in an actual market.

[@doggytheanarchist7876]

It does not have to get this bad for us to unionize. We can do it now, before any of our friends die from an unsafe work environment.

[@AA-iy4gm]

That is like those "this needs to be shared in every classroom" comments, while I don't disagree, but having observed regular people for a while now, the most realistic outcome sadly is that most people don't do things like that proactively and those few that do don't get nearly enough support. Look around you and pay attention to the small talk and people's habits, do you hear anyone caring enough to do something, I sure don't and the fact that it's gotten this bad everywhere shows that most people don't either. Not to be a downer or negative, just realistic. Take care of yourself.

[@thehoff3189]

This was horrible 10 years ago, when I left the retail pharmacy field. It's INSANE now. It's taken way too much time to shed light and support on this issue.

[@ripplecutter233]

this is enlightening. i've always wondered why pharmacists always seemed on edge

[@RamenNoodle1985]

CVS is the absolute worst. They pay shit, they're always understaffed, and the wait in line is 1/2 hour plus. Thank God my insurance has a mail order pharmacy option.

[@dominicfucinari1942]

By early '015, it seemed like a private equity firm had bought out my nearest CVS. A new manager was deployed to wear me down and convince me to hand in my resignation with nothing to fall back on, but luckily I found a better job shortly after. By '016, that CVS which I'd left behind was running on a skeleton crew.

[@lucycan6363]

And therein lies the problem. They are forcing us to go to mail order. They are squeezing people out of jobs. They do it subtlety and before we know it we have lost connection with the local pharmacist. Remember the days when I had a stomachache and could go to the pharmacist and he would recommend something that helped. Can't do that no more. Have to spend through my nose to go to the doctor or ER. We are all responsible for what has happened to us. We wanted things too easy, now it's so easy, we have lost touch with each other.

[@KASH10043]

Unless you have Anthem/ Blue Cross as an insurer. The company they use for their mail order pharmacy, Carelon, was taken over by CVS in January 2024. And to say that it hasn't gone smoothly would be an understatement. Try waiting over two weeks for your prescriptions.

[@Zackadeles]

Please please PLEASE support local pharmacies. I've been working at my local pharmacy since I was 16 years old, and my parents have gone to the pharmacy I work at for 10 years now, and I love my pharmacy. Are us techs overworked? Yeah, especially nowadays, but it's nothing that we can't handle, especially when we only fill at max 220 scripts a day. This video is actually incredibly accurate, as I see the PBM bullshit every day and frankly it's quite depressing. There used to be so much money to be made in the pharmaceutical industry, and since Obamacare, the insurance companies and PBMs are slowly taking away everything us small pharmacies have because they can and will. And what they do is completely legal, so the worst part is that we can't do a damn thing about it other than just let them fuck us. For example, at the end of the year Cigna sent a letter and a few emails to all of our customers, myself included, stating that as of this year they would not cover any prescription medications at our pharmacy. However, they did not send this letter to our pharmacy itself, and essentially lied to our customers in order to scare them away and get them on their shitty mail order pharmacy. In the end it didn't really work, some customers did get their stuff transferred out but 99 percent of our customers new better. But it genuinely pisses me off when I see shit like this, as if our local pharmacy threatens the likeness of a trillion dollar business, fuck off Cigna.

[@lucycan6363]

Can't support local pharmacies because my insurance set up with CVS and I have to go to them. I hate it, but do I have a choice? No. I feel trapped in this land of the free

[@ItsWhoIAmItsHowILive]

We fill AT LEAST 700 Rx per day.

[@LuckyCharms777]

Who’s cheaper, a chain or a local pharmacy? That’s what matters to the majority of consumers. Both convenience and cheap delivery are important to me. I’ll pay a couple of extra dollars for that, but not much more.

[@jasonlacroix6083]

This is the greatest country in the world and if the Pharmacists don't like it they can leave.

[@Zackadeles]

@lucycan6363 So often times, insurance tells people they have to go to certain pharmacies, but in actuality, they do not. I'd recommend calling your local pharmacy and get them to request a transfer for whatever script you want to fill (that's not a controlled substance). Ask your pharmacy to run the transfered script through your insurance, and I'm willing to bet that they'll cover it. Don't listen to their lies.

[@risanicola7099]

It’s gotten harder w/ a concerted assault on small pharmacies by large chains (often using the DEA to attack smaller ones) BUT you can still find small, family owned pharmacies that are 1,000,000% better than a nightmare WalGreens or CVS. As someone with a chronic illness who got SO tired of nightmare pharmacy trips I took the time to research the closest (small business type) pharmacy and those headaches NEVER happen anymore. My advice is AVOID chain pharmacies if possible and even doctors complain about the tragic way chain pharmacies operate and how it messes w/ their ability to treat patients. They HATE dealing w/ chain pharmacies and trying to get patients their medications through them.

[@Babjengi]

One thing that really needs to happen is external reporting of error data. Companies are allowed to self-police on error reports, so if there indeed has been a major uptick in misfills and other issues related to the cutting of staff, only the companies themselves know

[@charlenemack7040]

I was having trouble getting my prescriptions at Walgreens. I have around 10 medication’s and I would leave it on the recorded line with all the proper information that they needed. I would call back four days later to see if they were ready for pickup… And the pharmacist said… We never got any message that you needed your prescriptions filled!😮

[@puggirl415]

I'm surprised the pharmacy hasn't implemented an online service for the pharmacy allowing patients and perhaps doctors to send online orders for their prescriptions. Then they might be able plan their days and scheduling better when they see how much work they have. Of course none of that works under the conditions provided at the pharmacy. What a mess.

[@Lokie-cd2hw]

At Rite Aid our pharmacy district manager removed all stools and the store managers were told to spy on the pharmacy and report if they saw any stool in the pharmacy. 12 hour shifts became very hard on your legs leading to varicose veins and pain.

[@craftyourwaytopeace]

Being a patient needing IMPORTANT medication & not being able to get them because of the zillion problems these companies have, SUCKS! 😔😫😩

[@zakesoya5565]

Blame the government

[@Lazy2332]

I’m now realizing just how lucky I am that my health care provider has their own pharmacies with their own staff, they’re never understaffed and I always see two pharmacists. Everyone seems very happy and likes their job. I hope the rest of the pharmacy workers get better conditions. 🥺

[@charlenemack7040]

A few weeks ago I called my regular pharmacy Walgreens. I got a recording that said there were three calls ahead of mine. I held on for 41 minutes and couldn’t take it any longer because… The recording still said there were three calls ahead of mine. I went to the pharmacy the next day, and they admitted that they just keep that recording on the phone.

[@ae2948]

Yup. CVS does the same.

[@AlexMakesGames80]

Billionaires are bleeding us dry from every angle. This cannot continue there won’t be anything left

[@k.c.6415]

Used to work at CVS as a technician. Job was so horrible, always one pharmacist and one tech. Horrible training, horrible management, horrible pay. Walked out and never went back. I don’t even get my scripts there anymore.

[@dequarterdam1574]

My grandmas Walgreens location has brought her deadly close to having none of her medication for her mechanical valve. Without enough in her system the valve will slow and stop. This is serious and hits home

[@dizzolve]

it's very believable. I know where I go is understaffed. Used to be able to go in and wait 10m. Now it's a day plus before my stuff is filled. WAY understaffed (edit) it's amazing how often they are spot on correct after 20 years or so of pharmacy visiting ........ BUT they are ALWAYS understaffed. And they have made mistakes before for me anyway

[@ae2948]

A day's wait isn't even horrendous for CVS. Their computer system will tell you your prescription is ready to pick up. You go. Wait 20 minutes on line. They tell you theres a problem you have to wait on ANOTHER line. You wait 10 minutes on that line. Answer a bazillion questions. And then you find out there is a mistake in their system, just give them another 20 minutes. So you wait another 20 minutes only to be told - Your drug isn't in stock. Yes - even though you got the text that your prescription is ready. "Come back tomorrow." And......repeat. Annnnnnnnnnnd.....its probably not in stock on your second visit either.

[@paolocosmo6310]

I left the profession nearly 25 years ago and never looked back; becoming a pharmacist was the worst decision i've ever made--i'm much happier as a college professor

[@inkibusss]

I've been a pharm tech for 10 years. Everytime I consider going back to school for pharmacy I get told by pharmacists I'm close with that the career is not worth student debt that comes with it. I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place because living as a tech is not a sustainable lifestyle, neither is being a pharmacist, and I'm to deeply entrenched on this industry to be hired anywhere else for a living wage.

[@MrJim5280]

Not to pry, but how much does a tech make?

[@FieryFiendJazz]

​@@MrJim5280$18.25 per hour on average, according to the video

[@naturegirl2110]

​@@MrJim5280in my state, $16 to $26 per hour but hours can be cut at anytime. This week I got 10 hours

[@thomasa4239]

If becoming a pharmacist is an option for you , then a direct entry MSN is probably the best way to go. You may have to work as a nurse for a while, as NPs are abundant, but it’s a better career path and the boards don’t fuck with you (vs PAs and MDs)

[@chelseyschlutereichen9009]

We'll take you at Prime Therapeutics. All remote. I am a pharmacist in clinical review there and we need experienced techs.

[@stevendavis4727]

I had to endure this mental and physical punishment for over 40 years as a Pharmacist. I was belittled almost daily by grocery store managers, OTC managers (which were not Pharmacists), district and corporate Pharmacy managers. To be told "you have an attitude problem" when I spoke out about all of the abuses while constantly living under the stress of the various practice sites was depressing causing "burn out". I applaud the younger Pharmacists for finally taking action. Sadly none of their actions will ever change the situation. I also feel that the biggest offenders are the state boards of Pharmacy members. They have known these abuses have existed for years but have chosen to ignore them for fear that their positions, control and power would be eroded.

[@ohheyitsnicol]

I used to work CVS speciality pharmacy and mannnnn I could write a book about the things I heard seen from patients , pharmacist etc.

[@ae2948]

Do it. The world needs to know. Right now, half the people have no idea whats going on because they haven't experienced it first hand.

[@cadillacslick]

My mom worked as a store bookkeeper for a Walgreen's chain store in NJ and the store pharmacists ROUTINELY made life threatening drug prescription filling mistakes that could have caused major illness or death to pharmacy customers!

[@holodoctor1]

Americans should have universal healthcare. In lieu of that, health insurance should be non-profits. American health insurance and the healthcare system is expensive garbage.

[@naturegirl2110]

Yes it is

[@jrho8033]

Expensive garbage that cost taxpayers. Insurance companies are practically stealing from the American public. The entire line of production can be done with the government or in hospitals. Private companies just add cost to make a profit. All of this so wrong.

[@SwimFastAli]

Agreed! Healthcare insurance is expensive garbage. I work in legal and we have had to help way too many clients receive coverage they were improperly denied, including a cancer patient who paid over $200k out of pocket for treatments their insurance company kept denying (even though the treatment was FDA approved & it clearly said such treatments would be covered in his plan). Ultimately, the court ruled in our client’s favor, stating, “it is clear that they (the insurance company) hoped he would pass away before they had to pay out on the claim.” Corporations should not be managing our healthcare!

[@charlenemack7040]

I was having all kinds of problems at Walgreens pharmacy. One of the people that works there, that my sister knew very well, said to me on the phone… If you need any prescriptions personally ask for me. That worked out fine once or twice… And then she stopped working at Walgreens pharmacy. I know that they are shorthanded and stressed to the max. Something must be done ASAP.

[@sumSOTY]

I worked at Walgreens about 10 years ago when I was in college. We were always understaffed. Was common for people to wait in the drive thru for 30min+, and tell them they have to loop around bc their Rx wasn't ready.

[@saturneternal]

Every year, the amount of Pharmacy student enrollment is decreasing by a lot. These big chain corporations model is to hire new grads for cheaper labor pay and let go of seniority pharmacists. Karma is a beach, but eventually these big chain pharmacy will run out pharmacists and techs. During 2023 holidays, there was over 500 pharmacists shifts that couldn't be filled to keep stores open in my state alone. It's all about greed! Pharmacy techs get paid so low that they can go somewhere else and get pay higher to be less stressful. I already feel bad for telling my pre-pharmacy students not to go to Pharmacy school because the amount of burnout in retail Pharmacy or stay away from retail.

[@Atticus6557]

All healthcare should be nationalized with "Medicare For All!"

[@honestfriend767]

Why not say Medicaid for all, because Medicaid is tax payer funded and it sucks while Medicare is better because seniors paid into it. The solution is to break apart the monopoly that is CVS. Fine then when they collude with other corporations and bring back competition. Stop requiring tax payers to pay for something that competition can resolve.

[@jeanne-marie8196]

I appreciate your reporting a great deal. As usual, after watching one of the channel’s videos, you’ve got me thinking. Outrage, resignation to 1980’s greed exacerbations still growing at an alarming rate, followed by confusion over where empathy for our fellow human beings has gone, all inevitably follow. I remember when monopolies were forbidden. Change the name to something fancy with vertical in it, and poof!, we look the other way.

[@Gam3Junkie7]

"Corporate Consolidation" and "Vertical Integration" are just buzzwords synonymous with the same word: Monopolization.

[@BFRZ89]

Same in Canada. The pharmacies here are multi-billion dollar monopolies and they refuse to update or fix their technology, or pay the staff higher wages. After 15 years as a technician/assistant I'm now making $25/hr CAD - and that's only because I hopped through 3 different companies and everyone else quit, so they had no choice but to hire me at a higher wage. The software has been buggy and slow for the last 10 years, causing all kinds of problems with the wait times or prescriptions getting missed. Patients get fed up and take it out on us. I'm now enrolled in a polytechnic school for IT, which is what I've been doing as a hobby for my whole life. I would never work in healthcare again, and I suspect as record number of immigrants bloat our population, and Canadians are aging in record numbers, we will see further degradation of our already floundering healthcare system.

[@ellicurus]

What can I, a pregnant unemployed person, do to help the pharmacy unionization efforts? I absolutely, of course, stand in solidarity with all workers, and appreciate the important work they do every day. But I do have a somewhat selfish motivation for wanting to push this to happen as quickly and successfully as possible also, as I need to be able to get my insulin regularly and securely.

[@lesamartino7498]

I was at a Naples CVS pharmacy on a Monday and 800 plus prescriptions with only one pharmacist. Disgusting abuse.

[@threadbearr8866]

I'm thinking about putting a QR code that links to this video on a business card and then giving them out to all my local CVSs. Maybe include info on their local pharmacist union.

[@nairbvel]

The local CVS is where my time goes to die. A "fast" interaction will involve 15+ minutes standing in line and anything from 10 to 20 minutes -- often split into 2 or 3 separate discussions, each with its own wait in line -- trying o figure out why renewals aren't happening, or why something that's never been a problem is suddenly "not eligible for insurance" or "I know it says you can refill but you need to get a new Rx from your doctor to allow us to refill" or some such nonsense... often from a staff that are obviously working at or beyond their limits. It got so bad one day (the pharmacy line reached more than halfway to the front of the store) that my mother & I complained to the store manager, and he said we had a lot of company in complaining but that he couldn't do much about it because the pharmacy section of CVS stores is its own domain, complete with separate management.

[@fighttheevilrobots3417]

I was pregnant working the front of the store at CVS. My coworkers were very nice but corporate was horrid and the customers were awful. They refused to wear masks and came in sick, got annoyed when i had a partition at my check out counter. Sometimes the AC didnt work during the summer. I saw how bad it was for the pharmacists.

[@Ketocon428]

Still work there and looking my way out. They cannot pay people enough to keep the technicians. Tech get paid the same as a fast food worker. They constantly changing the budget hours, claimed that vaccine season ended so we don’t need that many staff, or budget cut. So many of the staff including pharmacist does not have stable hours that drive many of them away. Creating a pseudo-short supply of employee, which is absolutely not true. We have so many pharmacists that now I have to drive 6 hours a day to work a 7 hours shift in my area.

[@headsuphockeypodcast2707]

Healthcare needs to be run as a single payer system or highly subsidized. No more corporate ownership

[@AA-iy4gm]

Good luck trying that in an unchecked capitalist haven place like this...

[@katiez688]

I switched to a family owned pharmacy last year. I have to drive an extra 15 minutes to get there but it is so worth it. They are phenomenal. Its night and day compared to a big box pharmacy.

[@tylerwilde5355]

Until we have Universal Healthcare, I hope it gets worse. I hope all healthcare professions become a hell scape. I hope it gets so bad that you can't go to bed without hearing a neighbors' wail because their loved one died because they couldn't get the care they needed. I am sorry to say all that, but I can't see any other way for this country to get over their stubborn red scare attitude.

[@victoriahope8371]

Same. I hope working for everyone becomes a hell scape until things are done better.

[@kenofken9458]

That won't change a thing. The people at the top will never be subject to this suffering.

[@ianchandley]

@@kenofken9458oh they will be when workers start storming buildings and tossing them out of the corner office windows….

[@kenofken9458]

It might come to that, but the one thing the rich understand that almost no one else does is that it's easy to train humans. Far easier than dogs when you know what buttons to push. They've got us fighting over abortion, drag queen story hour and immigration. They know just how to set the peasants at each others throats so that none of them remember why they're peasants in the first place.

[@puggirl415]

I guess that is what must happen. I feel sorry for the people who are sick and need prescriptions during that period. I wish they didn't have to suffer but we need to hurt even more for things to change I guess.

[@lindadee5235]

The pharmacy tech pay is a LOT lower in IL. Starting pay is usually $10.00

[@ryanreedgibson]

I'm so glad I don't use CVS anymore, but my local pharmacy was just bought. I have already learned how to manufacture one of the drugs I'm taking and am still trying for the second. In another year I will never have to go to a pharmacy for my maintenance medicine.

[@MossTunic]

i'm absolutely fascinated by this. good luck on your adventures!

[@lucycan6363]

Wait till they find out you're manufacturing you own medication. They'll want to know if you have a license to do so, then haul you before the courts to answer for it. Be careful, can't be undermining corporate profits

[@ryanatkinson2978]

HELL YEAH. I love pharmacology. I was about to go down the path of getting a Pharm. D., but I read about how pharmacy school is like $200k of debt, and when you get out you end up in a position like these people. And you don't even get properly compensated for the insane student debt. I ended up having a few other career hopes like this, but they all ended up being hard to justify for similar reasons. So I went for a Computer Science degree, something I know I'm good at but not something I care a whole lot about I hope the pharmacy workers get what they need! Solidarity!

[@robertafierro5592]

Most Pharmacists are honest and VERY hard working. But a Conglomerate like Walgreens or CVS?! C'mon now! Time to unionize nation wide. Treat people right.

[@HypatiaMuse]

I work at a luxury Assisted Living facility as a Caregiver & Medication Tech. Deliberate understaffing to ensure maximum profits is a major problem in our feild too. More often than not we have only 2 staff, one Caregiver and one Tech to pass out all the medication for over 20 Alzhiemers and dementia residents on the Memory Care unit. We do 12 hour shifts and it's exhausting. We have pharmacists come to do our Medication Tech training and I've heard them speak of the crisis of overwork and understaffing in their feilds. Governments need to step in to ensure healthcare, Eldercare and pharmacy facilities are safely staffed. Problem is, lobbyists influence the standards- lobbyists that represent the private profit motive.

[@Vicki_Benji]

I hate going to pick up my prescriptions because the wait is so long.

[@tominmtnvw]

You can have your prescriptions mailed to you. I do. No problem.

[@Vicki_Benji]

@@tominmtnvw there are times I need my prescriptions immediately.

[@redred222]

have them mailed to you i have some mailed and my local place delivers the rest of mine

[@Vicki_Benji]

@@redred222 I can't always wait on the mail.

[@ae2948]

@@tominmtnvw Thats only an option if there is someone at home who can safeguard the delivery. No one can risk their heart meds left unattended at the door.

[@SoulfulVeg]

Two of my pharmacist friends are trying to exit the field. My pharmacy tech friend started a successful food truck. That industry is soul sucking.

[@pibblesnbits]

This is the problem with capitalism in healthcare. Same nonsense happens with nurses in hospitals.

[@amybair3205]

Not just nurses, all hospital staff.

[@WLOfails]

I can't even recommend anyone to go into pharmacy school. Too many students thinking they will go into pharmacy school and go straight to hospital, industry, or some other clinical position, not realizing that most jobs are CVS and Walgreens. Ngl, even to this day, pharmacy schools make a huge emphasis on "retail is not the future, it is X, Y, and Z", yet that's where most people end up. Only a small percentage can break out of the chains of retail. Therefore, if you happen to enjoy the retail setting you already work in, then all the power to you. If you are a student in pharmacy school and really want to work in a hospital, find a pharmacy intern job at a hospital and earn your manager's respect!

[@Kinuhbud]

Had no idea pharmacists were working in the damn trenches along side all the nurses and doctors...

[@dangremaus1164]

I was wondering why my local CVS only had one pharmacist on a weekend. He looked burned out and the patients were pissed. I had never waited so long for meds before.

[@closetcleaner]

Social services, such as healthcare, must be kept away from the greed of capitalism. Healthcare is not a business.

[@somethingclever2]

News flash. Education and Healthcare are the biggest industries in the country. What do they have in common. Government money via medicaid Medicare and student loans.

[@zeecalsdecals7482]

And then these insurance companies are like- we won’t allow you to fill you’re recurring prescriptions anywhere else. Ummm- isn’t that illegal?