Question for Pharmacists / former Pharmacists

[Caveat Emptor]

I went to a drug store today to get a prescription filled. I was told it would be "about a half hour." I asked if they would fill it and said I would pick it up tomorrow, as I couldn't wait a half hour, had to get to work.

Why does it take a half hour to fill a 10 pill prescription for a common drug? Neither the pharmacy nor the store were busy, there were maybe 4 customers in there, including me, and I was the only one at the pharmacy. I was always under the impression that the pills were in bottles ready to be dispensed, but do the pharmacists actually have to take powdered medication and make the pills themselves on a machine?

[crazylegs]

In addition to I8DaCookie's comments if someone has brought in a RX for multiple items not only do the phamacists/techs have to do all of the above but they must also ensure that the drugs are compatible to take (ie you're not taking two sets of blood thinners eg asprin and warfarin)

I'm not saying that you're taking multiple drugs but there may be someone ahead of you who is taking a number of drugs for a number of conditions...

[Heksubah]

Well, I'm not a pharmacist but I am a pharmacy technician (in a class right now to try and become certified which would mean a wonderful raise and bonus, woot!) at a mail order pharmacy. I have never worked retail but I can give a couple points of insight...


As said above, prescriptions do generally have a priority order depending upon when and how they were received.
There is a large number of things that must be checked on a prescription that most people don't really notice. We must be able to determine which doctor signed it (if there are multiple), what the prescription is (there aren't jokes about doctor's handwriting for nothing!), the strength, the quantity, refills (which can sometimes get tricky depending on what the prescription is for, tablet, inhaler, eye drops, etc...), is the medication a controlled drug... that is just a small number of things there. If something is missing it can require a call to a doctor which can be harder than pulling teeth.
If you have insurance, the prescription must be run and adjudicated. Sometimes claims systems can be buggy or slow.
Pharmacists check all prescriptions for DDIs (Drug/Drug Interactions, or in layman's terms, to see if the medication interacts with anything else they have you on record as taking), they check them against the list of allergies you may have provided, any medical conditions they might know you have, etc.


There is rarely an order I can get through where I work that doesn't have some sort of issue. You would be surprised how often doctors forget quantities, strengths, signing a prescription. On top of that, if you have multiple doctors and they don't know your other medications than they could prescribe something potentially harmful. Some drugs don't mix well with others, or they can both do the same thing and fight for access creating toxic levels in your plasma.

Really there are a ton of tiny little things that are hard to predict that could cause the delay. A half hour seems minute to me but that is because I work mail order. Our rule of thumb is, once we get the prescription we try to have it shipped within a week. Though, with mail order you can order your refills after 62 days (on a 90 day/3 month prescription... unless it is controlled.)

Hope that helps some. I know I am rambling. I've been geeking out a bit over all things pharmaceutical because of all the studying I've been doing. I'm actually considering going to school to become a pharmacist. ;)

[Seshat]

Also, never forget that pharmacists work with some of the most toxic substances we regularly use. The pharmacist is the only thing between you and a horrible death. If it takes him an extra ten minutes to be absolutely certain of a drug interaction - be grateful for it, not impatient.

[Greenday]

As everyone else said, check the drug interactions is a big part. The pharmacists I've worked with tell me how often doctors prescribe multiple medicines to people that are very harmful together. It's actually pretty scary.