Woman Went to Get Her Medication at Walgreens, Only to Find Staff Gave It to Someone Else Instead: ’Accused of Being Drug-Seeking’
A case of mistaken identity.
What was supposed to be a quick prescription refill turned into a possible HIPAA violation when a woman found out her medication was supposedly given to someone else at Walgreens. TikTok content creator and travel nurse Gracie (@travelnursegracie) shared a video on her account detailing the severe mixup that ended with her getting accused of being “drug-seeking.”
In Gracie’s video, she claimed that she visited Walgreens to pick up her prescription of Wellbutrin—an antidepressant—after getting notified that it was ready for her. As standard with prescription medicine, Gracie gave the pharmacy technician her name and date of birth—only for her to allegedly be told that there was no medication to give.
“I was like, ‘That’s weird. I got the text yesterday that my [prescription] was ready,’” Gracie said. According to Gracie, the pharmacy technician claimed that the prescription medicine under her name had already been picked up. “By who? Not by me. I never picked them up,” Gracie stated.
Walgreens pharmacist allegedly gave a stranger the prescription
Gracie alleges that the Walgreens staff had given her a “weird look” before calling over a manager to handle the situation. But, according to Gracie, the manager had told her that she already picked up her medication the day before.
“And I was like, ‘Excuse me? No, I didn’t.’ Like, now I’m being accused of being drug-seeking,” Gracie recalled. She added that unlike oxycodone or Adderall, Wellbutrin is not a controlled substance.
Gracie allegedly inquired about the person who picked up her medicine. According to the Texas-based nurse, the manager told her that her medication was picked up at “12:32 yesterday” and that it was paid. Gracie supposedly reiterated that she was not the one who received the medication.
Gracie said the manager had asked if she wanted to check the security footage, but claimed the manager’s tone sounded “like threatening.” She said she agreed to view the footage immediately and stressed that she didn’t receive her medication and that they gave it to the wrong person.
Gracie claimed the manager kept treating her terribly by being condescending and “automatically assuming that I’m drug-seeking.” After 20 minutes of reviewing the footage, Gracie said the manager asked if she or her companion had driven to Walgreens in a white Toyota pickup truck, to which Gracie denied. “Oh, it must’ve been like a ‘lookalike and soundalike’ situation, ‘cause these meds have been picked up by this man we saw on camera,” the manager allegedly said.
Reflecting on the incident, Gracie claimed that a complete stranger now has her personal information, on top of not having her medication and getting accused of drug-seeking. According to Gracie, the pharmacy didn’t refill her medication that day to rectify the mistake and was told she needed a new prescription instead.
This mistake is a HIPAA violation
As a nurse, Gracie claimed she understands that mistakes could happen. However, the way she was treated by the staff was what bothered her the most, she said in her caption. She asked viewers if a similar situation had happened to them and asked for input from those with legal and medical malpractice experience.
Concerns for a HIPAA violation was also raised when a woman found a CCTV camera by a door at the gynecologist’s office. According to the National Institutes of Health, those that fall under HIPAA are healthcare providers, insurers, and organizations that handle sensitive patient data. The Institute noted pharmacy chains are included in a list of organizations that are being investigated for HIPAA breaches, and that pharmacies ranked fifth in commonly required to take corrective actions.
Gracie’s viewers claimed that a fraud was committed on her, and urged the TikToker to build a case. “Call your insurance, since they pay for it, it’s also considered fraud since they sold a prescription to another person,” one comment said. “As the daughter of a former DEA agent who did prescription compliance and fraud, call their compliance office and report it!! 1-877-792-2873,” another user said.
Another pharmacy technician weighed in on the issue and claimed this was a major error on the pharmacy’s side: “Former pharmacy tech here – this is an insane mistake as 2 patient identifiers are needed to pick up, which means this person either had to have given them your name and birthday or someone working there really messed up when pulling up info. Definitely report this to Walgreens corporate!” This isn’t the first time Walgreens’ pharmacy has had an issue, as they were reportedly denying customers contraception.
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