Do pharmacists have the right to deny service?

Ok, so my dad went to the pharmacist today for a prescription. It's not medicine prescription, but a custom stocking for his leg. He was denied to get it ordered and said that the prescription expired 6 months ago. His prescription is good for one year. The person said that insurance won't cover for it, but my dad said to call the insurance company to confirm. The person ignored him and went back to do his "job". My dad left after getting ignored and denied service. Is this right, can they do this. My dad didn't do anything wrong, he just wanted to order his prescription. What would you do? Do they have the right to do this?

Please be serious about this, i'd appreciate it.
Thanks:D

I forgot to mention in case you want to know. The stocking is to help keep the leg to not get so swollen.

Have your dad call the doctors office and tell them what is going on and ask them to call in the prescription for him at a diff. pharmacists.

It isn't my job to be your insurance agent. You can call your own insurance company, and figure it out yourself. Most pharmacists and pharm techs are tired of being people's insurance agent. If there is a problem with your insurance, it is your responsibility to determine the problem. Pharmacists did not go to school for a minimum of 6 years to help you with your insurance.

It sounds a little fishy to me.

There are some circumstances where a pharmacist can refuse services. And that depends on State laws. There are also circumstances where a pharmacist is forbidden by law from providing service. If the prescription has indeed expired, even for a non-medicine product, the pharmacist is probably not permitted to do anything about it.

The pharmacist owns the pharmacy and he's not obliged in any way to provide a service he doesn't want to.
I'm not saying that he's right, I'm saying that forcing him to provide service would be an infringement on his freedom.

Without government regulations it wouldn't be this way. I'm sure that the pharmacist would be more than happy to sell product for money. That's the reason why he's in the business.

that person was rude & I would of asked for a manger or something in that field what store was it at ?

someone does not like their job as a pharmacist, but then again why did he or she say that it was experied did it say on the bottle ?

if it did it should of been updated to match the new days or should of gotten another prescription from the doctor !

Normally a regular pharmacy does not handle orthopedics, Orthotics, socks, shoe inserts etc. You have to take the prescription to a special place that dispenses them. Have your dad contact the doctor that wrote the prescription to locate the correct place to go.

if his doctor aouthorised his prescription than there would be no problem, but since it was expired ya'll just need to have your doc. order a new one. thats how we try to crack down on people that use prescription drugs :)

Your dad should call his insurance company himself and find out about his coverage.

I would write to the manager of the store and complain.

No, that's not right. He should go to another pharmacy right away.

First of all, a pharmacist has the legal right to refuse to fill any prescription as long as they do not base the decision on race, religion or national origin. In this case there sounds like something is being left out. Custom stocking are not normally paid for at a retail pharmacy in the first place. As they are not considered a medication, they do not have the needed ndc number in order to be billed under someones prescription plan. Most retail pharmacies no not even have the sources to obtain such items from. These normally must be purchased at a medical supplier and billed under the customers major medical. The pharmacist should have told your father simply to go to a medical supplier and they will be able to take care of it for him. I have literally handled several hundred requests over the years like this. It is not a point of denying service but finding someone who can provide the required service.

Prescriptions for different items have different limits on how long they are good before they expire. For example. If my doc orders lab work on a presc pad, it expires in 3 months if not used and 6 months after first time used.

The pharmacist is there to make money. It is not a pleasure sport. It is an income generating job for them. To deny someone with a legitimate script whose insurance will pay would not make sense.

More than likely they are correct about it being expired. And your dad needs to phone his own insurance to pre-verify coverage.

No offense hon, but if it was really important, he would have used the script immediately. I think him putting it off, along with their not willing to go the extra mile (they don't have to) made for a frustrating situation.

All he has to do tomorrow is phone his doc for a new script and phone the insurance company.

Your fathers Doctor probably gave him a prescription for his stocking..Which may be only good for 6 months,usually that is how long prescriptions are good for.1st I would call his insurance company and make sure he covered.Then call his Doctor and ask him to fill another prescription.The pharmacy should honor it. Then I would call the drugstore home office and explain what happen and how rude the pharmacist was because he should have explain all of this to you..The pharmacist also could have called your father doctor to ask for another prescription to avoid all of this ..good luck to you.