Filling prescriptions is a routine part of daily life.
Nevertheless, some people have reported problems with this simple approach. For example, one Internet user claims that his father’s pharmacist refused to fill his prescription because he did not agree with the prescribed dosage. Another user claims that the pharmacy would not allow him to fill his Adderall prescription because he did not have insurance.
Given these issues, you might be wondering what goes on behind pharmacy counters to lead to these results. Now TikTok user Danielle (@dirtydan777) has the answer.
Why does it take so long for your prescription to arrive?
In the video, which had more than 575,000 views as of Sunday, Danielle recounted her experience working at a pharmacy.
“Today, a girl asked me to write her a prescription, and I was like, ‘Sure, baby… can you wait?’ And she said, ‘Yeah,’ and I was like, ‘Okay, maybe 10 or 15 minutes,'” Danielle recalled. “My sister really relies on me. [and] “Oh, so what am I supposed to do? Because it’s just in the box, isn’t it?”
According to Daniel, this represents a huge misunderstanding of what the people behind pharmacy counters actually do.
Daniel explains that even small items that are typically purchased over the counter, such as tampons, require evaluation by a primary pharmacist, or “a pharmacist who has malpractice insurance.”
Next, Daniel says every medicine he gives to customers has to be logged into a computer system, which he says is slow.
“Because if a drug company calls you and says, ‘This drug is being recalled because it contains glass,’ you have to go back to your file and make sure there is no glass in your drug, you know what I mean?” she added.
As a result, Daniel says pharmacy counter staff are doing a lot more than just handing over boxes.
of Mayo Clinic It states that pharmacy technicians may also be involved in other duties such as “processing insurance claims, tracking inventory and filing paperwork.”
translator I hate stupid “oh” questions.
The audience didn’t know
In the comments section, many users admitted they didn’t realize how many steps were required to receive their prescriptions.
“Thanks for the clarification. I don’t disagree that it takes time, but I was wondering why it’s taking so long,” one user wrote.
“I bet it took them more than 15 minutes to find the pills and put them in the bottle,” another added.
Other users cited additional issues that could lead to longer medication fill times.
“Most pharmacies are currently severely understaffed, with one or two staff members manning the front counter, drive-thru, answering phones, answering questions and dispensing hundreds of other medications. [are] “Before their jobs, and probably other waiters ahead of her, stock, track, take orders, etc,” the commenter elaborated.
“I went to Thailand two months ago and needed to get vaccinations before I left. The pharmacist I went to spent 30 minutes finding out if I needed anything specific to the area I was going to,” a second person recalled. “Y’all just need a bit more patience… pharmacies aren’t McDonalds.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Daniel via email.
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Braden Vieira
Braden Bjella is a culture writer whose work has appeared in Mixmag, Electronic Beats, Schon! magazine and more.
