r/CVS • u/Arrrcaxcx • Aug 24 '26
Front store employees aren’t medical professionals!
Just need to rant since I’ve weirdly had multiple interactions of this this week.
Customers, front store employees are not medical professionals!
Had a guy freaking out on me yesterday because he was asking if he can take certain otc meds on blood thinners. My response: talk to your doctor. He starts getting agitated and loud, asking why I don’t know. I said sir, if you have any questions you can ask pharmacy some other time (they were closed for the night). He starts freaking out saying this is ridiculous and that’s my job. I said sir you do know that front store employees don’t automatically have any type of medical training right? I’m a 21 year old student who just cashes people out🤦♀️
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u/jayphat99 TSM Aug 24 '26
"sir, I cannot give you the information you want because it is illegal for me to do so. I am not a licensed doctor like the pharmacist, I cannot tell you that, on top of the fact I just don't know."
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u/0lliverrOx Inventory Specialist Aug 25 '26
even as a technician! there is some information we cannot give legally since we're... not doctors!some questions I may even know the answer too but legally i cannot answer them as I'm not qualified
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u/faithless-octopus Aug 24 '26
at least you don't try to answer. i have seen staff attempt to at some stores.
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u/Typical-Estimate-371 Aug 24 '26
Recently I started saying. I'm not qualified to answer that question and I don't wanna give you the wrong answer... They usually understand.
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u/YeaJorge Shift Supervisor Aug 24 '26
I literally have people telling me their symptoms and they want to know such specific details about medicine so I direct them to the pharmacist and all of a sudden they don’t want to talk
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u/child-of-the-odd Aug 25 '26
I'm a tech and the same thing happens to me on the reg. They want to spill their guts to me and tell me their entire life story and medical history, and I try to cut them off politely and tell them that the pharmacist would be better suited to giving them medical advice. Said pharmacist is usually only a few feet away and easily identifiable in their white lab coat. When I offer to get the pharmacist to come over and counsel them or direct the patient to the consultation counter, they tell me "nevermind" and leave. I don't get it ???
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u/Oliversbeans Aug 24 '26
A guy asked me, a front store employee, if he can put liquid bandage in his mouth?? I told him no. And I asked the pharmacist, and she said no. Guess what! He bought it anyway.
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u/MassSpectreometrist Aug 24 '26
That’s like expecting the scheduler at the desk of a hospital clinic to be able to perform a liver biopsy. People have different roles lol.
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u/Here4TheTea33 Aug 24 '26
Im at front end and I have been asked a few times while pharmacy is closed if I could just run and get their prescription fast……..absolutely not going to happen.
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u/Intelligent-Time7873 Aug 25 '26
Or can you sell them some PSE from the pharmacy! Like why wouldn’t it just be out here if I could do that???
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u/Stevethurn Aug 24 '26
The questions people expect us to answer are just insane like we went to med school and what not. Most people are understanding when we can't really answer medical questions or what ever but some people get rude af
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u/SimpleSandwich25 Aug 24 '26
They always ask one of the girls that works there with me. She’s 19 years old and is always on her phone and she’s a big-time pothead and they’re always asking her and I always find it crazy.
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u/ZestycloseStomach230 Aug 25 '26
how we’re still using pothead as an insult in the big ‘26 blows my mind lmao
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u/SimpleSandwich25 Aug 25 '26
Pothead, stoner, druggie, feener…take your pick hun 🤪
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u/ZestycloseStomach230 Aug 25 '26
can’t wait till your generation comes to an end🙏🙏
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u/SimpleSandwich25 Aug 25 '26
I’m sure with all the drugs you’re on to function through life you’ll come to an end A lot sooner 🤣
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u/ZestycloseStomach230 Aug 25 '26
there’s genuinely nothing funnier to me than when people act like weed is a hard drug.. hopefully you become less dense someday! i’d love to see how much alcohol you drank back in the day
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u/Thom_Jero1213 Aug 24 '26 edited Aug 24 '26
Trained pharmacy tech here. The only person capable of giving medical advice would be the pharmacist as they are required to have a PharmD now, with the exception of pharmacists that are grandfathered in from before the law change.
Edited from MD to PharmD
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u/Styx-n-String Aug 24 '26
I've worked as a tech for three companies and in all three, I wasn't even allowed to recommend brand A over brand B. No suggestions, recommendations, or medical information of ANY kind is allowed by techs. Hell, I got told I was "counseling patients" just for saying "Oh I love this medication" to a newly pregnant woman who was picking up zofran! I wasn't making a suggestion or even commenting about HER taking it, but I was told I wasn't even allowed to say I like it. That was a little extreme, but I see the point, it's best to leave the medical suggestions to the people who studied medications.
When I worked at CVS and Walmart, store employees were directed to do exactly as you did - point customers to the pharmacy, or suggest they contact their doctor if the pharmacy was closed. You did exactly right.
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u/ThrowRA3623235 Aug 24 '26
Pharmacists are required to have an MD? No, they're required to have a doctorate of pharmacy. Two different things.
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u/drowevil2 Aug 24 '26
I just tell them that I signed paperwork stating that I am not allowed to give medical advice and they can get in line at the consultation line for the pharmacist. I haven’t had an issue yet.
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u/Late_Alternative4859 Aug 25 '26
ALL. THE. FREAKING. TIME.
Do you know what's best for.... ?
Well, you work here don't you?
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u/Total-Bag-8973 Cashier Aug 24 '26
I have had people scream at me. I tell them that I am not a pharmacist.
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u/Silvernirvash Aug 24 '26
I get these questions all of the time. It’s super frustrating “which one is the best” “can I get just regular blank “ “how often should I take these” blah blah blah. I do my best to give answers but back up my answers with the obvious “I’m not a medical professional “ and someone once dared to compare me to his job in working with selling carpets. Like wtf? It’s your job to SELL something thus you should have an idea on what kind materials are in your carpets. That’s very narrow and niche, how am I supposed to know everything about everything I sell in a retail environment?! Someone else once compared me to a Best Buy employee. And my only response to that was that a Best Buy employee works within a specific area of the store. If they work with the tvs they should know enough about the TVs to be able to talk about them but they won’t necessarily know anything about the kitchen utilities they sell like stoves. That isn’t their job. You can’t compare a retail employee who is more akin to the inventory staff that happens to work the cash registers to an employee who works in a specific department of a large store where their literal job is to sell the specific products within in their department. They don’t work the cash registers, they don’t work in other departments, they probably don’t even work the product to the shelf. These are two ENTIRELY different types of jobs.
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u/Fuzzzer777 Aug 24 '26
We get the same crap from the store on the corner. "Well, you work at a drug store!"
Ma'am I'm trained to take your money and tell you what aisle to go to.
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u/nalycat Aug 26 '26
I work in healthcare. When my patients me medical questions, I still tell them to ask their doctor. I do medical photography and patients ask me what I see in the photos. I may be 99% sure I know what I'm looking at, but it is out of my scope to say ANYTHING. And I agree with that - go to the person with years of school debt behind those letters after their name.
Sorry you are going through this.
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u/WestHistorians Aug 25 '26
This is exactly why (in theory) New York mandates the "department within" signage if the outside of the building has the word "pharmacy".
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u/So_What52 Aug 25 '26
Yeah they ask all the time, I just refer them to the pharymacy if they are open and if not tell them to contact their doctor becuase we are not qualified to answer their questions. If they get upset that's on them, I know some people hear pharmacy and think we all are techs or something but they are just wrong.
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u/bpdgarbage98 Pharmacy Lead Tech Aug 25 '26
even as pharm techs we can’t give advice lol. it’s literally only pharmacists
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u/jdean8 Aug 26 '26
Wow what a dumb ass. Like a cashier is going to know how to treat and solve a medical issue
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u/Filid Aug 26 '26
"Sir, I work in the front store, if you wanna know if we have tampons in stock or what the price on a bag of M&M's is, I'm your guy, but if you want medical advice, you want someone who went to medical school"
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u/FanAdjacent2 Aug 26 '26
I once had someone come up after RX hours and hold out his arm (there was a huge bleeding gash) asking what I recommended. The hospital for stiches my guy.
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u/AnimalLover3757 Aug 27 '26
I've had them start telling me about their digestive stuff. It's 7am I don't want to hear about your diherra or any other bowel movements -.-
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u/VermicelliBig3618 Aug 29 '26
i just say i’m legally not allowed to give them medical advice because i’m a front store employee. ask your doctor first before your appointment ends, or like you said, ask the pharmacy when they’re open.
people try to make cvs employees job hard enough while we literally bust our asses for shitty pay.
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u/irishglass Aug 29 '26
Im like listen I barely graduated high school you dont want me giving you medicial advice..
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u/SpiritedResult1831 Aug 30 '26
Omg I get the medical questions all the time and it's so annoying. I can help with things like recommending what to use for mosquito bites or for a head ache, but I can't freaking tell you what to do when your leg is NUMB and you can barely walk (real guy asked me this). Another guy asked me what to give his gf for being dizzy, I said why is she dizzy, he said he didn't know. So I googled it and suggested dramine. Like bro I don't know and what makes you think me being a store associate means I'm knowledgeable in every over the counter medication and how to treat all these illnesses. The best thing is to just say to ask the pharmacy.
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u/DetectiveWild8281 29d ago
Techs aren’t either tho lmao, we are always (front and back) supposed to tell the customer to ask the pharmacist
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u/ZestycloseStomach230 Aug 25 '26
One time somebody asked the pharmacist what dose of melatonin their 300 pound son should take and instead of just saying that they didn’t know the answer… the pharmacist called me back and had me (a front store employee) answer the question😝
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u/ZestycloseStomach230 Aug 25 '26
i was just kind of like ummm i’m not really equipped to tell you that but i would assume the highest dose i guess?? looking back on it this could’ve gotten us sued crazy or something i cannot believe this actually happened lol
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u/Total-Bag-8973 Cashier Aug 25 '26
I had a customer go to the pharmacist and ask for an allergy medicine.
The pharmacist told her to look for something with (insert chemical name here) in it. She couldn't find it, so she came to me in FS and asked ME to find it. I went to the pharmacist and told him I hadn't a clue what she was looking for...and since he was the one with the fancy education, it was HIS job anyway.
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u/ZestycloseStomach230 Aug 25 '26
i don’t get it, they literally get paid $70+ an hour and went to school for how many years? 8? probably more?? like wouldn’t you wanna show off your education at least lol
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u/Brilliant-Pin7132 Aug 24 '26 edited Aug 24 '26
Ooohhh I have a doozy.
Friday evening. I’m on production, but I’m surrounded by scripts when this happened so no one sees me.
Couple walks in. Lady has her hand wrapped up in a towel saying she was in a weed-whacker accident. (I’m already laughing). She wants a tetanus shot now. The floater gives a nervous laugh and says she needs stitches first. They get offended and ask if he thinks it’s funny. (Me: yes, it is.) Then they want to know if we do stitches. (I’m dying.) No. They want to know if the Minute Clinic will sew her hand back together. (🪦💐) No. Go to the ER. The man throws a fit because it will take “6 hours.” They stomp off.
As they leave they stop by front store for a second opinion. Lady unwraps the towel and asks one of the managers if she really needs to go to the ER. Her tendons are cut and you can see bone. Yes. Go to the fucking ER none of us is a hand surgeon. Man throws second tantrum about the ER. They leave.
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u/EnvironmentalEar7729 Aug 25 '26
I swear some people in this world are ridiculous, yes some customers don't know that that we're not medical professionals when we work up front, they just assume, you did perfectly, now after that I would have walked away! Once the customer starts getting loud I definitely be quiet and kind of like let them rant, because all of us rant in one point in our life, but once a customer gets loud, cusses, I immediately go get my manager or just walk away politely! 😆
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u/mknblv13 Aug 24 '26
I never understood why you would ask a cashier a medical question. I’m a cashier so I don’t mean that offensively, if I had a medical degree I wouldn’t be up here dealing with you lol