The comments, which included statements such as 'She seems shady,' were entered into the database by pharmacy workers using computerized on-screen forms, according to the lawsuits. The on-screen forms used by the Deerfield, Ill., company are Drug Utilization Review (DUR) records kept for customers, featuring the name of the drugs prescribed, dosages, patient addresses, phone numbers and details about the drugs dispensed. There are also blank areas of the form where notes can be entered, which is where the unflattering comments were entered, according to the lawsuits.
'The system is a great system for the intended purpose,' said Cathy Purvis Lively, a Lake Worth, Fla., attorney who represents all three plaintiffs. 'On this particular entry in the database, people are using it for a different purpose,' she said. 'Our concern is whenever that kind of [insulting] information is entered, where does it then go?'
Lively said she is concerned that any derogatory comments in a patient's record can be seen by other Walgreens workers in the approximately 5,100 locations that access the store's companywide database. 'This is not some anti-computer thing,' Lively said. 'It's a tool and it's dependent on who makes the entries.'
Each of her clients received a copy of the DUR screen shot with their prescriptions and then saw the derogatory notes, she said. 'Whether or not a customer is supposed to get it, I can't imagine.'
The plaintiffs are Jane Karp, 53, of Palm Beach County; Erin Cutler, 30, of Marion County; and Elizabeth Noah, 64, of Palm Beach County. Karp's lawsuit was filed March 7, while the other two suits were filed Wednesday and yesterday.
In an interview today, Jane Karp said she noticed the extra sheet of paper stapled to her prescription bag for the sleep aid medicine, Ambien, when she picked it up and it piqued her curiosity. 'I opened it up and I was astonished,' she said. The notes on her DUR form said 'CrAzY!!'' and 'She's really a psycho!! Do not say her name too loud, never mention her meds by name & try to talk to her when....'
'No words came out of my mouth,' Karp said after she read the notes. 'I was traumatized. I don't think anyone could imagine how I felt unless it happened to them, unless you've gone through some sort of depression in your life or have seen a family member have problems with depression. Walgreens will never know what I am going through at the moment.'
Karp said she filed her lawsuit because she was upset that no one in the store challenged the writing of such notes in patient records. 'Why hasn't any professionally trained pharmacist seen such remarks and not brought up the issue?' she said. 'Someone with any ounce of sensitivity at all would have said, 'Why is that there?''
The remarks typed into Cutler's DUR form were derogatory, while one comment on Noah's DUR said: 'She seems shady.'
The lawsuits charges that the medical records of the three plaintiffs are discussed in unprofessional manners and fail to respect their privacy. The suits seek to have the comments removed from the records, ask that Walgreens be barred from entering such remarks in its patient records and request damages of at least US$15,000 in each case.
Carol Hively, a Walgreens spokeswoman, said the DUR screens are supposed to be used by pharmacists to enter reminders, such as when a patient prefers brand name drugs instead of generics.
'The purpose of the notes field is to help our patients by entering information related to customer service preferences or insurance,' Hively said in an e-mailed statement. 'Personal or uncomplimentary comments about a patient is a totally inappropriate use of the notes field. This should never have occurred. We take patient concerns very seriously. We have reiterated our policies with pharmacy staff and have launched an investigation into this matter.'