Quote:
Woman sues Walgreens for `crazy' label
Remarks appear on prescription printout
By Missy Stoddard, Tribune Newspapers. South Florida Sun-Sentinel; Tribune reporter Ameet Sachdev contributed to this story
Published March 9, 2006
For years, Janey Karp has battled depression and anxiety with the help of prescription drugs. Though millions of Americans do the same, Karp admits she is intensely private and can't help but feel stigmatized for needing medication to feel normal.
So when the 53-year-old Palm Beach, Fla., resident read the Walgreens printout attached to her prescription last week for the sleep aid Ambien, she couldn't believe her eyes.
Typed in a field reserved for patient information and dated March 17, 2005, was "CrAzY!!" In another field, dated Sept. 30, 2004, it read: "She's really a psycho!!! Do not say her name too loud, never mention her meds by names & try to talk to her when ... "
The information continued onto another page, which was not attached.
"I was devastated, humiliated and embarrassed," Karp said. "I honestly couldn't speak. I was trembling."
Karp filed suit Tuesday against Deerfield-based Walgreen Co., accusing it of defamation, negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Walgreens is investigating, said company spokeswoman Carol Hively, who added that computers are accessible to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. She said Walgreens does not know if the notes were entered by employees in Florida or Connecticut, where Karp lived previously.
"The drug-utilization review includes a notes field intended for the pharmacist to use to enter reminders and patient requests," Hively said. "We want to ensure that our pharmacy employees are acting in a proper and professional manner, so we are looking into this matter."
For Karp, seeing the printout underscored her long-held fears of being labeled for taking medication to stabilize her moods.
"I'm thinking they're thinking, `Here comes psycho,' that they're laughing at me as I come in the store," she said. "I had enough trouble picking these [medications] up in the first place."
While preparing for a trip to Los Angeles, Karp had a friend go to her local Walgreens to pick up the Ambien. Attached was the page with the comments.
Karp's friend immediately contacted Walgreens and left a voice mail on an 800 number. Someone from Walgreens called back first thing the next morning and "apologized profusely," noting that the comments never should have been written.
Karp's lawyer, Cathy Lively, said she made more than a dozen phone calls to Walgreens, all to no avail. She said she received "a very generic `We'll investigate.'"
Since the notes have been in the computer since at least September 2004, the date of the first entry, it's anyone's guess how many Walgreens employees have read them, Lively said.
Countless other Walgreens customers unknowingly could be in the same situation as Karp, said Lively.
"There a lot of medications with stigmas and sensitivities," she said. "A man taking Viagra--what are they going to be labeled?"
Remarks appear on prescription printout
By Missy Stoddard, Tribune Newspapers. South Florida Sun-Sentinel; Tribune reporter Ameet Sachdev contributed to this story
Published March 9, 2006
For years, Janey Karp has battled depression and anxiety with the help of prescription drugs. Though millions of Americans do the same, Karp admits she is intensely private and can't help but feel stigmatized for needing medication to feel normal.
So when the 53-year-old Palm Beach, Fla., resident read the Walgreens printout attached to her prescription last week for the sleep aid Ambien, she couldn't believe her eyes.
Typed in a field reserved for patient information and dated March 17, 2005, was "CrAzY!!" In another field, dated Sept. 30, 2004, it read: "She's really a psycho!!! Do not say her name too loud, never mention her meds by names & try to talk to her when ... "
The information continued onto another page, which was not attached.
"I was devastated, humiliated and embarrassed," Karp said. "I honestly couldn't speak. I was trembling."
Karp filed suit Tuesday against Deerfield-based Walgreen Co., accusing it of defamation, negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Walgreens is investigating, said company spokeswoman Carol Hively, who added that computers are accessible to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. She said Walgreens does not know if the notes were entered by employees in Florida or Connecticut, where Karp lived previously.
"The drug-utilization review includes a notes field intended for the pharmacist to use to enter reminders and patient requests," Hively said. "We want to ensure that our pharmacy employees are acting in a proper and professional manner, so we are looking into this matter."
For Karp, seeing the printout underscored her long-held fears of being labeled for taking medication to stabilize her moods.
"I'm thinking they're thinking, `Here comes psycho,' that they're laughing at me as I come in the store," she said. "I had enough trouble picking these [medications] up in the first place."
While preparing for a trip to Los Angeles, Karp had a friend go to her local Walgreens to pick up the Ambien. Attached was the page with the comments.
Karp's friend immediately contacted Walgreens and left a voice mail on an 800 number. Someone from Walgreens called back first thing the next morning and "apologized profusely," noting that the comments never should have been written.
Karp's lawyer, Cathy Lively, said she made more than a dozen phone calls to Walgreens, all to no avail. She said she received "a very generic `We'll investigate.'"
Since the notes have been in the computer since at least September 2004, the date of the first entry, it's anyone's guess how many Walgreens employees have read them, Lively said.
Countless other Walgreens customers unknowingly could be in the same situation as Karp, said Lively.
"There a lot of medications with stigmas and sensitivities," she said. "A man taking Viagra--what are they going to be labeled?"
They just dialed her crazy up to 11.
I used to work in a drug store and remember people just like this. 
