DATE: Wednesday, June 25, 1997              TAG: 9706250515

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   80 lines

CUSTOMERS FIND IT TOUGH TO SWALLOW PRESCRIPTION PROBLEMS STATE REGULATORS ARE DECIDING WHETHER ECKERD'S BUYOUT OF REVCO JEOPARDIZES PATIENT SAFETY.

Howard Sherburne's 4-year-old son, Chucky, cried when he sat on a log, picked up a big splinter and ended up at the hospital.

But it was the next stop - the pharmacy - that really tried the family's patience.

For nearly 1 1/2 hours, the Sherburnes waited for Chucky's antibiotics, joining other pacing and grumbling customers at a former Revco store in Norfolk. A weary pharmacist explained that he couldn't access the family's records, which included everything from their insurance company to their home address.

That story has become a familiar one to state regulators. They say they're investigating whether Eckerd Corp.'s rapid-fire purchase of 114 Virginia Revco stores is compromising customers' safety.

Some customers at the former Revcos are discovering they can't get prescriptions refilled. Still others find that the neighborhood drug store they've used for years knows nothing about them - from their first names to their allergies to certain medications, several local pharmacists said.

``This is a terrible, terrible situation,'' said an Eckerd pharmacist in Virginia Beach who asked not to be identified. ``The people aren't ready for it, and we aren't ready for it.''

The confusion stems from a merger announced last month.

CVS Corp. of Woonsocket, R.I., bought the Revco chain on May 30. But before it could complete the purchase, it agreed to sell 114 of Revco's 234 Virginia stores to satisfy federal anti-trust concerns.

Eckerd, based in Clearwater, Fla., jumped at the opportunity.

But in its rush, Eckerd apparently did not get complete prescription information from Revco, which may be a violation of state law. In addition, local pharmacists accustomed to working with Revco's speedy computer network said they're now expected to search through sheets and sheets of microfiche listing only four months' worth of records.

State officials, who have been swamped with calls from irate customers and pharmacists, say they're investigating CVS' and Eckerd's actions.

``We have been in touch with both CVS and Eckerd, and have informed them of their responsibilities under Virginia law,'' said Robert Nebiker, deputy director of the state Department of Health Professions. ``I cannot imagine any excuse for not complying with this law.''

On Tuesday, Eckerd, a division of Plano, Texas-based J.C. Penney Co., apologized to Virginians.

``We're very sorry it's taking all this time,'' spokesman Dan Pero said. ``We didn't anticipate it taking this long. And we understand why people are this upset.''

Eckerd and CVS officials said they don't believe customer safety is an issue, since pharmacists have been told to verify all information with customers and create new records, if necessary.

``There was no threat to customers,'' said Fred McGrail, a CVS spokesman.

The problems began soon after Eckerd agreed to purchase Revco's Virginia stores, which include 79 locations in Hampton Roads.

First, Eckerd discovered that it couldn't transfer computerized prescription records from Revco's computer network in a timely manner.

Eckerd would have liked to have used Revco's computers, but that was out of the question. Neither Revco nor CVS wanted to give Eckerd access to an advanced computer network that would display everything from prescription information to confidential pricing data, Eckerd spokesman Pero said.

In the end, Eckerd, Revco and CVS made a deal. They agreed that four months' worth of Revco's records would be put on microfiche for Eckerd, Pero said.

That's not enough, according to state regulations governing pharmacies.

State law requires that two years' worth of prescription records must be available to protect customers, said Nebiker of the Virginia Department of Health Professions.

``It would seem to me that if you made a sale, you would do so in a way that complies with state law,'' Nebiker said.

Officials with Eckerd and CVS were discussing the record problems with state regulators, spokesmen for both companies said.

Eckerd stores should have the remaining 20 months of customer prescription records within two weeks, CVS spokesman McGrail said. In the interim, CVS plans to use a ``buddy system'' that will allow Eckerd's Virginia pharmacists to call CVS stores to request information stored in the Revco system. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo of a pill bottle]

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