Conversations with a Target Pharmacy Team

Conversations with a Target Pharmacy Team:
GREG WYATT·FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016

Conversations with a Target Pharmacy Team:

Because I have a lot of extra time on my hands... I decided to have a little consultation with the pharmacists at Target this afternoon. Here's a recap.

I approached the pharmacy technician and said, "Do you have any of the mercury free flu shots available?"

He says, "All of our vaccines are preservative free."

Me: "No, I don't think that's likely."

Tech: "We only carry preservative free flu shots."

Me: "That's weird because the state of California claimed there was a huge shortage of Thimerosal free flu shots this year. Apparently you guys must have an inside supplier."

Tech (obviously irritated with me): "You can talk to the pharmacist. He'll be with you shortly."The pharmacist, who looks to be about 25, approaches me and says, "How can I help you ma'am?"

Me: "I was wondering if you have any Thimerosal free flu shots?" The tech interrupts and says, "I already told her all of our shots are preservative free." Pharmacist says, "No, that's not right. We have the Quadrivalent shot that would be good for you. And we have the Fluzone that would be good for your kids.  The rest of the flu shots we offer have preservatives. But, I need to tell you that our policy prohibits us from vaccinating children under 4 years old."

Me: "Oh, I'm not interested in getting the shot, I just want to ask you a few questions." (Now the tech is shaking and looks really mad.)

Pharm: "What's your question?" Me: "I was wondering what would happen if you broke a vial of the thimerosal shot here in your pharmacy?"

Pharm: "Wow. No one has ever asked me that. Luckily, we've never had to deal with that."
Me: "If it did happen, what would you do? EPA insiders have said they would shut their building down and have a Hazmat team clean it up."

Pharm: "To be honest, I'm not sure. We have a number we are supposed to call and they tell us how to handle it. But yes, our management team would get involved and we would close the area until we could implement a cleanup plan."

Me: "So, doesn't it seem weird that we have to go to those lengths to clean it up, but we are comfortable injecting it into babies aged 6 months and up? I mean, that is really scary to me. "It was like a light went on in this pharmacist's head. He said, "Wow, yeah, I have never thought about it like that. Thank you for asking me this tonight. Thank you for making me think. That is pretty scary. It never occurred to me."

Me: "So, is that the Fluzone shot in your hand?"

Pharm: "Yes, the mercury free shot."

Me: "Do you also have the Quadrivalent mercury free shot in stock?"

Pharm: "We do."

Me: "That's weird because state health officials claimed there was a shortage this year so that they could get an exemption to the law that prohibits them from giving shots containing mercury to children under 3 and pregnant women. Have you had any problems getting those mercury free shots this year?"

Pharm: "Nope. No problems at all."

Me: "Hmmm... That's weird."

Pharm: "Yeah, that is strange."

So much wrong on so many levels....

1. Why was the pharmacy technician so ill informed? And so defensive of his ignorance?

2. Why does a pharmacy have a policy limiting age of administration for vaccines if vaccines are perfectly safe, as we are lead to believe?

3. If Thimerosal is so safe, why are special cleanup up policies in place to ensure the safety of people who are potentially exposed?

4. If Thimerosal requires special cleanup procedures in the event of a spill, how can it possibly be safe to inject into our babies?!

5. How does a pharmacist make it through his education and never question the ingredients known to be toxic in vaccines?

6. If Thimerosal is so safe, why is there a law banning the administration of vaccines containing Thimerosal to children under 3 and pregnant women?

7. How were our health officials granted an exemption to the law banning mercury containing vaccines based on a shortage that does not exist?

8. Isn't the health of our children more important than the haphazard treatment we are giving in regards to our vaccination program?

Greg Wyatt shared Stefanie Duncan Fetzer post.