Sobeys-owned pharmacies struggle to fill prescriptions due to computer problem
CBC
A computer problem at Sobeys and Lawtons pharmacies across the country is making it difficult for customers to get their prescriptions filled.
Calls by CBC News to several Sobeys and Lawtons pharmacies throughout the Maritimes on Sunday confirmed the system-wide outage has been happening for at least two days.
Pharmacy staff at some locations said they were not able to access their computers, but could supply customers with a few days worth of pills if they presented their empty bottles.
Staff said they could not be certain when their systems would be fully operational again, but were hoping for later Sunday or Monday.
Claire Shea received a text message Friday from Lawtons Drugs on North Street in Halifax that her migraine prescription was ready. But when she went to pick it up on Sunday, staff told her it wasn't ready.
A frustrated Shea said she was told there was a system issue and staff didn't know when it would be fixed.
"If you can send me a text saying it's ready, you can also send me a text saying it's not ready and then tell me why," she said.
Shea said if the problem wasn't rectified by later on Sunday she was going to ask pharmacy staff to manually give her a prescription she could take somewhere else to have filled.
Wasi Rhman of Halifax tried to refill his eight-year-old's prescription at the same location and was also told the system was down.
Rhman said he is lucky his child's prescription is for eye drops and not a life-saving medicine, but other people might not be so lucky.
Some of the chain's pharmacy locations were completely closed with signs indicating that they could not open because of technical difficulties.
The company has not yet posted any information about the outage on its corporate site or on social media.
CBC News requested information on Saturday and Sunday from Sobeys, the parent company of Lawtons, and is awaiting a reply.
MORE TOP STORIES
A 36-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly trying to set a fire outside Vancouver City Hall late Friday night, police say.
Calgary city council reversed its decision to close the Inglewood Aquatic Centre Friday.
The Vancouver Police Board says its vice-chair has resigned following statements she posted to social media that were inconsistent with its code of conduct.
Hundreds of people showed up outside Queens Park Saturday afternoon to push back against the Ford government's controversial bike lane bill that would remove certain Toronto bike lanes to help address congestion.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has joined federal cabinet ministers and other politicians in condemning Friday night's anti-NATO demonstration in Montreal, calling the protesters' actions "appalling."
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Gary Anandasangaree has formally apologized to Inuit in Nunavik for the federal government's role in the mass killing of sled dogs in the region in the 1950s and 1960s.
High winds and rain caused power outages to hundreds of homes and businesses in Prince County on Saturday.
Northerners will soon see RCMP officers with cameras on their person, as training for the body-worn cameras roll out for Mounties across the country.
Dozens of Indigenous women with a desire to learn how to hunt and to use traditional methods to prepare the animal will meet this weekend for the first-ever all-female deer hunt on Oneida Nation of the Thames territory.
A disgraced real-estate lawyer who this week admitted to pilfering millions in client money to support her and her family's lavish lifestyle was handcuffed in a Toronto courtroom Friday afternoon and marched out by a constable to serve a 20-day sentence for contempt of court, as her husband and mother watched.
A provincial child-care advocacy group says governments need to commit to pushing $10-a-day child care forward in Canada, but a conservative think tank says data shows it isn't working as intended in Newfoundland and Labrador.