I was standing in a pharmacy line yesterday waiting to pickup my prescription.  The woman at the front of the line was talking with the pharmacist and then proceeded to have a literal breakdown.   There wasn’t much about her story and her problem that those of us in line didn’t get to know by the time she was finished.   I don’t particularly care about her mental condition, her anti-depressants, and her suicide attempts.  I know it made me very uncomfortable and before she could finish her story I found myself roaming around the pharmacy “browsing” until she was gone.

Today’s pharmacies all seem to have signs asking people to wait behind them until it is their turn at the window.  I’m sure this is an effort to preserve patient confidentiality but really, how effective is it?  At this particular pharmacy the first person in the line was perhaps 4 or 5 feet from the woman at the window.  The sign was clearly for show and was absolutely NOT effective!

How important is patient confidentiality in a public location like a pharmacy?  What if anything could or should the pharmacist have done in the situation described above?  I’m not familiar with the patient confidentiality laws of our state but the whole situation just seemed wrong.

Your thoughts?