Is Walgreens labeling their customers?

[Evo]

I just think this is one of the funniest interviews I've read in a long time. I am against frivolous lawsuits and he's right, although it was an incredibly stupid mistake on Walgreen's part, is a lawsuit warranted over hurt feelings? It wasn't a publicly issued statement, so libel and slander don't apply.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12038728/

 

[Moonbear]

By the second paragraph, you know why they are being labeled "crazy."

*cough ahem* I mean, yes, that was very unprofessional of Walgreens, and the employees involved should be reprimanded.

 

[Pengwuino]

Now, I can understand why these patrons had their feelings hurt, but having your feelings hurt, you know, doesn’t entitle you doesn’t entitle you to a cash payout. How exactly are these people deserving of money from Walgreen’s?

Wasn't the idea of giving out money for no reason established in Lawyers vs. Justice?

 

[Evo]

Wasn't the idea of giving out money for no reason established in Lawyers vs. Justice?

I think in America you don't really need a reason to ask for money, you just do it and the company will pay because it's cheaper than fighting it.

 

[Pengwuino]

I think in America you don't really need a reason to ask for money, you just do it and the company will pay because it's cheaper than fighting it.

im offended by that smile. Consider yourself sued.

 

[Evo]

im offended by that smile. Consider yourself sued.

<stuffs money into Pengwuino's computer>

 

[Pengwuino]

<stuffs money into Pengwuino's computer>

Thank you.

Sucker

I don't even have a lawyer!

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Now that's just stupid. Who's dumb enough to put such language in official company records let alone ones that the customers they are talking about are going to have handed to them.
Those people seriously deserve to lose their jobs. I think that the crazy lady should just get over it though and not try to con people out of money this way.

 

[Cyrus]

I think someone should sue Tucker Carlson for wearing a boe tie. He looks like a 5 year old. I would not be suprised if the medicine he gets is labeled crazy too.

 

[Pengwuino]

I think someone should sue Tucker Carlson for wearing a boe tie. He looks like a 5 year old. I would not be suprised if the medicine he gets is labeled crazy too.

I should sue you

 

[Cyrus]

You can't sue people when your dead.

 

[Pengwuino]

You can't sue people when your dead.

You obviously know nothing about the US legal system

 

[JamesU]

You can't sue people when your dead.

I'm sure there's some loophole that allows it..

 

[scott1]

they claim the staff labeled some customers, “crazy,” others “psycho” and still more “shady” in the nationwide database. Those words appeared on slips stapled to the prescription bags.

After looking at that article I think walgreens is competly right and it is based off of secientific/medical data and I think should be taken seourisly and be put on the prescription bags

 

[Moonbear]

After looking at that article I think walgreens is competly right and it is based off of secientific/medical data and I think should be taken seourisly and be put on the prescription bags

They just need code words like physicians have...things that sound medical but mean "hypochondriac" and "prescribe placebo."

 

[zoobyshoe]

CARLSON: Nobody says it’s a clinical term. I would never say something like that. I think it’s rude and it’s mean, and I wouldn’t do it. However, how far off base is it, really? I mean, it’s not like they libeled her. She does have a mental disorder.

People have to go to the pharmacist for all kinds of medications, all of them for ailments that anyone could make viscious fun of if they wanted. They could be writing "careless b*t*h" next to any woman getting a med for an STD, and "pathetic crip" next to an old man on crutches getting painkillers after an operation on blocked leg arteries, and "Miss Shakey" next to a woman with Parkinson's. Its a matter of common business sense that you don't behave abusively to your customers: they're paying your rent, and buying your groceries. I don't think it's a frivilous lawsuit.

 

[Evo]

They just need code words like physicians have...things that sound medical but mean "hypochondriac" and "prescribe placebo."

Make sure it's not printed on the patient's bag.

 

[Moonbear]

People have to go to the pharmacist for all kinds of medications, all of them for ailments that anyone could make viscious fun of if they wanted. They could be writing "careless b*t*h" next to any woman getting a med for an STD, and "pathetic crip" next to an old man on crutches getting painkillers after an operation on blocked leg arteries, and "Miss Shakey" next to a woman with Parkinson's. Its a matter of common business sense that you don't behave abusively to your customers: they're paying your rent, and buying your groceries. I don't think it's a frivilous lawsuit.

I don't see why there's sufficient reason to sue for monetary damages, as these people are doing. It does seem to be a serious ethical issue that should be reported to the state board for pharmacy if the pharmacist was the one involved in this, and any and every employee involved should have been reprimanded, probably even fired, but I just don't see how monetary damages are necessitated. I don't even see how any sort of lawsuit is necessary here. I could see even publicizing it and calling for a boycott if Walgreens didn't take action and reprimand the employees involved, but still not a lawsuit.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I don't see why there's sufficient reason to sue for monetary damages, as these people are doing. It does seem to be a serious ethical issue that should be reported to the state board for pharmacy if the pharmacist was the one involved in this, and any and every employee involved should have been reprimanded, probably even fired, but I just don't see how monetary damages are necessitated. I don't even see how any sort of lawsuit is necessary here. I could see even publicizing it and calling for a boycott if Walgreens didn't take action and reprimand the employees involved, but still not a lawsuit.

Yes, I realize you don't see it, and there's no way to persuade you since your first instinct was to snicker at the "crazy" people along with the Walgreen's pharmacists:

By the second paragraph, you know why they are being labeled "crazy."

*cough ahem* I mean, yes, that was very unprofessional of Walgreens, and the employees involved should be reprimanded.

I don't believe you think there's any "serious ethical issue" or that reprimands and firings are in order either.

 

[Moonbear]

No, I do think there's a serious ethical issue, but the reaction they had to it does seem rather overblown to the point of absurdity...i.e., crazy. I stated quite directly that I do think reprimands are in order, so don't try telling me I think otherwise, because even if you're honing those mind-reading skills, you're not going to find anything different other than what I stated. But their claims of the damages inflicted by it are absolutely outrageous as well, obviously exagerrated to try to get money. Perhaps the problem is that our culture of lawsuits has led everyone to think everything can be fixed by just squeezing money out of someone else. Nobody even tries to solve their problems on their own anymore, they just run straight to the lawyers' office and demand bribes to shut up about their complaints...that's usually the outcome, the companies just pay to avoid dragging out a lawsuit and include a clause in the settlement that keeps them from talking about it, so it gets quietly brushed under the rug.

For all we know, it could have been a disgruntled former employee who did this and nobody realized it until someone saw the labels. I'm not saying that made it okay, just that if the employee was already fired, other than apologize profusely and have someone examine every record that former employee had access to, what is there really to do?

 

[Evo]

It's actually a good idea to put information about a "customer" somewhere in the records so that employees are aware of "issues". You don't want it to be visible to the customer though. At my former company, code numbers were used to classify if a customer was a whiner or chronic pain in the rear or nut. That way anyone that spoke to the customer was aware of their temperament.

 

[JasonRox]

Should I even move to America?

Some Canadians would consider moving to America for job oppurtunities, but I can tell you that many chose not to go because of fear of getting sued over something ridiculous.

It Canada they don't offer punitive damages. So if you are hurt emotionally, you would very unlikely get a dime. If you get anything, it's for the medicine and that's it.

 

[JasonRox]

Want to sue someone?

SUE THE GOVERNMENT FOR MAKING YOU PAY TAXES! OH THE EMOTIONAL DISTRESS!

They have lots of money...

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

 

[Averagesupernova]

It's unlikely I'll ever go into Walgreens. Not because of this though. Years ago when they first came to the city I live close to they told the locally owned pharmacies that if they didn't sell out to them they would build a Walgreens across the street from every one of them and run them out of business. Well, years later, all the locally owned stores are still running smoothly and the parking lots at Walgreens never look very busy.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

"All depression has it's roots in self-pity, and all self-pity is rooted in people taking themselves too seriously."
Tom Robbins - Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates