Complaint Review: CVS - Knoxville, TN 37923 Select State/Province

Fool me once, fool me twice...okay I'm a fool. I thought a clinic was a place where one went when they don't have or can't get to their primary doctor. Minute clinic's own website boasts "We provide high quality healthcare".

I made a call to Minute Clinic's only number (a national number) where I was told by a nice lady (possibly following a scripted response) that the clinic does not treat swimmer's ear, only inner ear infections. What? Okay, lets back up to what prompted this call.

My wife visited the Knoxville clinic on Middlebrooke Pike because of an ear ache that extended in a line across her face from her ear to her sinus area. The Nurse Practitioner, who seemed to be taking her title too literally and only seemed to be practicing, examined my wife, noticed inflammation behind the ear, noted a history of swimmer's ear, noted my wife had been to the dentist and had xrays a week earlier (non related)- then made this great diagnosis: "I don't know. Take Advil." (After she read the handbook).

What? Now this is the same Practicing Nurse whom told me two weeks earlier that she "had not been in Family Practice in many years" as she rifled through books attempting to discover what could be causing my, uh... chest congestion.

So my wife was sent away with a list of doctors (real ones, I guess) that she could call and make an appoinment, or of course she could go to the emergency room. Both options obviously defeating the purpose of a clinic, open on the weekend.

After calling the national number to complain and being told it would take 2 days for a supervisor to call back, we called the clinic again to see if this practicing nurse would realize she missed an easy diagnosis and give my wife a prescription. (note: my wife did not ask for narcotics. The standard accepted cure for swimmers ear is an antibiotic ear drop or oral antibiotics, neither of which she has had recently, or more than a couple times in her life).

At this point the practicing nurse told my wife that she said she did NOT have inflamation in her ear and she called her supervisor Gary Lechoto for permission to prescribe an antibiotic. Wait...you need permission to do your job? My wife then asked the practicing nurse why in the office she said "take ibuprofen not tylenol because it will help the inflammation". Hmmm. Lucky for Sharon that her computer was broken and unable to provide my wife with any of her notes.

Finally, completely aggravated my wife asked Sharon, the practicing nurse, how long she had been in family practice? Maybe that question was a bit provocative. But the surprise answer was "it's none of your business how long I've been in medicene". Again...what? Then she said that she was done with this conversation and said we could not have her supervisor's name or phone number. She did concede on the name.

CVS /Caremark/ Minute Clinic seems to basically be running a referral service. I understand and applaude the medical communities desire to reduce the over prescription of antibiotics. Sharon the Nurse Practitioner, is probably a victim, as my wife was with the opposite problem we now have: the knee jerk reaction of no antibiotic prescriptions.

So why does it seem CVS/ Caremark/ Minute Clinic does not trust its own medical professionals to make a decision on a simple antibiotic? Why did the nurse change her inflammation diagnosis on the second phone call? Why does the clinic's medical professionals feel it is not the public's right to ask questions about their medical education and background? Especially, considering the amount of time the practicing nurse takes reading about chest congestion and ear aches in the office. CVS, please pay back my co pays and pay back my insurance company for the grossly incompetent service you are providing.

In the future if I get sick on a weekend I plan to 1. Stay away from Minute Clinic 2. CHeck WebMD 3. Go to emergency room if necessary 4. Bear and pain or discomfort until a real doctor can be contacted on Monday and 4. Stay away from Minute Clinic.

Added Note: Another clinic (Walgreens) another co-pay and a diagnosis: External otitis, or swimmers ear. Wow, and not even a word about having already been to CVS. Thats some smart people over there.