by Boycott Walgreens
Friday, Mar. 24, 2006 at 4:24 PM
Walgreens is keeping a database of nasty comments on its customers.
Less than a month after a Palm Beach woman sued Walgreens for labeling her CrAzY!!" and "psycho" in its nationwide computer system, two more Floridians have come forward with similar allegations.
A Palm Beach Gardens grandmother, 64, filed suit Wednesday, accusing the retail chain of negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress for typing in its system in May 2003: "WATCH CONTROLS SHE SEEMS SHADY."
For nearly 20 years, Elizabeth Noah has patronized the Fairway Drive Walgreens near her home in PGA National, she said. So when the retired United Technologies financial analyst picked up a prescription for anxiety medication the evening of Feb. 6, she began to cry when she read the notation on the Drug Utilization Review -- or DUR -- stapled to the bag.
"It hurt my feelings so bad," she said. "I'm always nice. I've been going there forever. I've had secret clearance [at work] and never even had parking tickets. I'm always dressed nicely and have my makeup on and my hair done. I was raised that your reputation goes with you everywhere."
The other Walgreens pharmacy customer, Erin Cutler, 30, and a married mother of three who lives outside Ocala, was shocked when she saw that her Walgreens DUR labeled her a "b----." Also alleging negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress, Cutler is filing suit today in Marion County against pharmacist Bruce D. Adams and Walgreens. The initials B.D.A. are typed next to the Oct. 20 entry. Adams on Wednesday referred questions to the Walgreen Co.'s Deerfield, Ill. corporate office.
The DUR is an internal program, accessible to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, according to Walgreens spokeswoman Carol Hively. The nationwide chain's 5,122 stores -- 677 in Florida -- are connected via satellite and each location has access to the information stored in the system, the lawsuits state.
Palm Beach resident Janey Karp, who takes medication for depression and anxiety, filed suit against Walgreens on March 7, after being labeled crazy and psycho...
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-pwalgree...