Turtle Bay Chemists

My husband and I have been customers for over 3 years. Felt inclined to write a post today after a really nice Saturday morning experience with the woman answering phones. Our insurance recently changed and she troubleshooted with us for over an hour, speaking directly with Oxford and calling us back with updates. Her follow through was notable and certainly the sense of accountability was almost an unfortunate surprise, as it served as a reminder that you rarely get this type of treatment anywhere these days. The level of service has proved consistent time after time. In an area on 2^nd Avenue in NYC laden with Walgreens, Duane Reades, etc. please patron this place, you won’t regret it :)

This is how a pharmacy should be! It’s such a relief not to have to deal with all the chaos at the chain pharmacies.

I have been a loyal and regular customer of Turtle Bay Chemists (TBC) for over a year, but unfortunately have recently had a bad experience with this pharmacy. The state issued driver’s license (DL) I had when I first started getting my prescriptions filled here expired a few months ago. At the time, I obtained my renewed DL back home California and for a few months continued getting my prescriptions filled at Turtle Bay with no changes.
In June of 2013, my wallet was stolen and I was getting by on a color photocopy of my current DL (which was in the wallet that was stolen) as well as my passport (set to expire at the end of June, 2013 thanks to Murphy’s Law). When I went to fill my prescription in July, the pharmacist called me up and asked me to provide my updated ID since he had noticed the ID they originally copied YEARS AGO when I became their customer was expired. I showed him the original expired DLd, my passport (which I think was set to expire in a few days at that time), and explained the issue. He said he would fill the rx this time but would not do it again without an updated photo ID.
I have to fly home to CA to get my new DL and will be there next week, however this week I had to have my rx filled. I went into the pharmacy and was very sternly told that «there is nothing to discuss!» and a photocopy of my current, unexpired driver’s license (again, original was stolen) would not suffice — not even for a week’s worth of prescription until after I could fly to California to obtain a new DL. The pharmacist sniped at me about the legal requirements for him to obtain this information from me, however I was sure that 1) a photocopy of my unexpired state issued ID card, 2) an original expired state driver’s license, and 3) my original passport (expired less than 30 days ago) probably meets any legal requirements that pharmacists must adhere to.
I returned to work and looked up the regulations (NYS code section 80.73): «A pharmacy shall make a good faith effort to verify the identity of any person accepting delivery of a dispensed prescription for a controlled substance by requiring such person, if unknown to the pharmacy, to present appropriate identification.» I printed this out, highlighted it, and returned to TBC to ask the pharmacist to explain what legal regulation was preventing him from filling my prescription, as this reg. was all I could find He pointed to a sign above the counter that says only «We ID: It’s the Law» and told me — quite rudely, actually yelling at me in front of the whole shop — that there was nothing to dispute and that he must be given the actual physical ID card (not a photocopy) in order to legally fill my rx, and not to come back unless I had it.
I went right down to Duane Reade and had my rx filled within a few minutes without any issue. I still wanted to know whether there is in fact any regulatory or legal requirement that the pharmacist at TBC was properly obeying — I really prefer to support small businesses! Back at my office, I googled the «We ID: It’s the Law» poster. This ultimately resulted in me calling and speaking to a staff pharmacist at the NY State Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement seeking help in deciphering the meaning of the phrase «appropriate identification» cited in the regs.
The NYSBNE staff pharmacist explained that since I was not a brand new customer, but rather a person who was already known to this pharmacy, that there is NO requirement that the pharmacist seek or obtain any repeat or renewed proof of my identity in order to fill my rx. Not only is it not necessary at all to get updated identity documentation, but also the term «appropriate identification» is purposely non-​specific. with the intent of allowing the pharmacist to use his or her discretion to rely on whatever ID a person may be able to provide to satisfy the pharmacist that this person is who they say they are. Under normal circumstances, if I was a brand new patron of the pharmacy, the pharmacist should make a good faith effort to verify my identity before releasing a controlled substance to me, but in this case, the original, recently expired passport AND DL along with a photocopy of the new DL (stolen with my wallet) would serve as more than acceptable proof of my identity and count as «appropriate identification» under the law.
This is a shame because as mentioned, I prefer to support small business. TBC would be a lovely place to get my medication if not for this debacle and the inappropriate way I was treated. I hope the pharmacist will see this review and revise his practice accordingly, or contact a pharmacist at the NYS Dept of Health: 866−811−7957 to ask questions he may have regarding compliance BEFORE refusing to dispense medication to a loyal customer. I sincerely hope and want to believe this was simply based on the pharmacist’s misunderstanding of the laws he must follow in his profession rather than discrimination on some other basis

I was asked to buy Nature Bounty’s production for my friend, so I checked their homepage and found this small pharmacy shop near my office. They are so many health products with lower price. I’d like to go there later.

excellent customer service, quick prescriptions (i’ve never had to wait more than 10 mins) and they have just above everything one would need in a quick hurry… and their hosery section is unrivaled.

I love these guys, I really do. It’s a small pharmacy loaded with stuff. As the previous reviewer noted, an enormous amount of leg ware, but I think, more importantly, they’re great at filling your prescriptions. Quickly.
And this is why I am pretty much committed to them forever — I have a regular monthly prescription with them. I picked the place because it was close to my office. But it’s 30 blocks from my apartment. I was laid up with a bad injury. I called to see how I could transfer it to somewhere closer to my home because I knew there was no way they could deliver that far. They delivered. Over 30 blocks. It got there in 90 minutes.
Having had nightmare experiences with the CVS by my house just days earlier, this pretty much sealed the deal with me.
Prescriptions are ready when they say it will be. They’re nice. They take most insurance. And they’re not some soul sucking chain. Just a nice little place stacked with really cool stuff that does their job well.