Don't get a cold if you only have a green card!!!

[JAYKE 0]

Mini Rant ahead.......

So both my husband and I have pretty ugly colds at the moment. We decided to walk around the corner to a Walgreen's Pharmacy to get some sudafed, as it is the only thing that really works for me. Because sudafed is made with Pseudophedrine, it's now all kept behind the counter, per federal law. So, I bring the ticket up to the girl, and she states she needs my driver's license. However, since we walked there, I don't have it - hubby has his wallet, so I tell him to give me his green card. The girl takes one look at it, and says, "I can't sell you this because the card has no address on it." So I tell her I will give her my address. She says no, she needs a state or Federal photo ID. So I tell her the Green Card IS a photo ID and that my husband certainly had his background checked in order to get it, and we obviously are of age, so just please let us buy the cold medicine. She checks with another pharmacist behind the counter, who was VERY rude and says it MUST have an address on it.

So, I ask to talk to the manager. This nineteen year old looking kid comes up and again insists it's a federal law that they have a photo ID with address on it. So, I ask him to show me a copy of the statute. Twenty minutes later, he hands me three pages of paper, which states "A STATE OR FEDERAL ID CARD IS NEEDED FOR ALL PSUEDOPHEDRINE PUCHASES, AS PER FEDERAL LAW". Then it goes on to say, that Walgreens policy is that they need to verify address. So I tell the guy we Have the Federal ID card with photo, birthdate, even FINGERPRINT, and I can verbally verify our address.. He then says, anyone can make up an address. So then I tell him, yeah, and my driver's license still has my old address from two years ago on it. He then excuses himself and calls his district manager, and then comes back and tells us that the district manager "advises against selling it without an address on the ID card". Aaaaaagh!!!!

So, I ask him again, if a new resident of the US has a cold and wants some sudafed, and all he has is a foreign passport, a social security card and a federally-issued green card, how can he buy the medicine. His answer: "He's out of luck".

So, that's my rant. I'm still so irritated. I called the 1-800-Walgreens number and filed a complaint, but I don't think it would do any good.

Grumble.

[HuffyTheSlayer 22]

Sorry to hear that they were so stubborn on it. I managed to get a prescription filed in my local Smith's without a state ID. Maybe you could try somewhere else? Or you could go ahead and get the medicine for him? Is it over the counter stuff?

[Krikit 1,163]

Wow. That is unbelievable.

[Donna A 4]

sudafed is behind the counter now? when did that happen?

[Nicola&Matthew 0]

sudafed is behind the counter now? when did that happen?

Cause stoopid people make meth out of the ingredients .... It sucks having to show ID to get those sorts of med's when back home you could easily drop a few packs in your tesco's trolley when doing your weekly shop! I guess the masses have to suffer for a few stoopid druggies out there with their meth labs....

[internetkafe 0]

Try another store/pharmacy. Or you can import it yourself as a last resort.

[Aymerlu 3]

Try the Sudafed PE. It's phenylephrine, NOT the pseudoephedrine. Working in an allergy clinic I have seen the havic it has caused by sudafed (pseudoephedrine) being behind the counter. As a nurse, I cannot give samples of this out to a patient, however I can suggest they go to a pharmacy and get it. Sudafed PE with the phenylephrine works exactly the same way as the other stuff too.

sudafed is behind the counter now? when did that happen?

Nurse practioners cannot even write scripts for it now which is a crock of poo. Here in Missouri we're trying to get this new law overturned. I'm not sure of the exact date when this all took place, but I'm thinking it was the end of 2005/ first of 2006.

[Ladylethal 12]

That's something I'll trully miss moving there.

I'm used to taking a bunch of meds that I can buy normally here and won't be able to over there.

[rebeccajo 14]

I think you did the correct thing by calling the 800 number.

There's always an exception to every rule, and good managers know that. But you don't know what was 'behind' their response to you. There could be some edict from the home office that not following this rule can cost them their job.

So you did the right thing in pointing out that other forms of ID should be sufficient to satisfy their requirements.

[Marc and Olga 0]

I noticed that when I had to fill a prescription before I flew to Russia! Seemed like most of the cold medecine was behind the counter at Walgreens now!

Does seem a bit odd that a Green Card is not enough to get it though, maybe you need a Green Card AND a letter addressed to the holder!

Hope you 2 are feeling better though!

Edited October 14, 2006 by Marc and Olga

[Reba 2]

pseudoephedrine moved behind the counter about a year ago. In some states its outright banned AFAIK. And all because some eejits are making meth from allergy and cold medicines For a while there, after I moved here and my allergies went completely insane, the only thing that worked for me was Tylenol with pseudoephedrine. Now its just a pain in the ####### to get it...I'm glad my allergies seem to have adjusted to whatever it is here that drove them nutz

Every store has a different policy tho, so shop around.

[CutienPurg 0]

....and so showing I.d. is going to stop people from making meth ? That's just plain idiotic!

I have a friend was denied outright his purchase of Nyquil. He had i.d. , they stocked the product but flatly refused to sell it to him.

....and often times it's not the store policy that is out of line but the way an over-zealous employee chooses to interpret it.

[Cassie 8]

....and so showing I.d. is going to stop people from making meth ? That's just plain idiotic!

I have a friend was denied outright his purchase of Nyquil. He had i.d. , they stocked the product but flatly refused to sell it to him.

....and often times it's not the store policy that is out of line but the way an over-zealous employee chooses to interpret it.

in Oklahoma, it worked very well. I heard a statistic lately that police used to bust about 100 meth labs a month, now it's down to 2 since the new law went into effect. Less access to the drug = less activity it seems.

Now that people are finding ways around it, there are plans to set up an electronic shared registry that will deter people even further.

[l.j./1999 1]

Wow, I'm really surprised to read about this. At least here in New York I've never seen cold meds behind the counter, they're always on the shelf along with the other products. (Maybe it's a Walgreens policy? We don't have many Walgreens in my area so I don't know if they're more strict than other pharmacies)

I buy Sudafed and Nyquil several times a year and so far have never had to show an ID. The last time I had a cold was about two months ago, and I had no problem buying medicine at my local pharmacy.

However, I almost always carry my driver's license on me so it would not be a real problem to present an ID if they required it. But I don't get why they would prefer one ID over another! That's frustrating!

[JAYKE 0]

....and so showing I.d. is going to stop people from making meth ? That's just plain idiotic!

I have a friend was denied outright his purchase of Nyquil. He had i.d. , they stocked the product but flatly refused to sell it to him.

....and often times it's not the store policy that is out of line but the way an over-zealous employee chooses to interpret it.

in Oklahoma, it worked very well. I heard a statistic lately that police used to bust about 100 meth labs a month, now it's down to 2 since the new law went into effect. Less access to the drug = less activity it seems.

Now that people are finding ways around it, there are plans to set up an electronic shared registry that will deter people even further.

Yep, it's the electronic registry that caused the issue. They needed his ID to confirm his birthdate and enter his "unique ID number" (usually a driver's license, but in this case it would have been the A# off the green card). They then needed to enter an address, and instead of letting us verbally verify it as the law implicitly allows, they wanted to SEE it on something.

BTW, we are in Connecticut, and used to be able to get all the cold meds on the shelf till about a year ago. You can still get like Sudafed PE (pseudophedrine free) off the shelf, but not the original.

After this incident, I did talk to my uncle who was here visiting. He is a pharmacist in Florida, and he confirmed that all they need is a photo ID and that the address thing certainly did appear to be an overzealous employee.

Oh well, we are feeling better now anyway....