University of North Carolina Study Shows Consumers Wait for Prescriptions.

Byline: Kristi E. Swartz

Oct. 18--Consumers are having to wait longer to get a drug prescription filled in a grocery store or pharmacy, according to a year-long UNC Chapel Hill study released this week.

Waiting, as well as lack of information about potential adverse reactions from drugs, is becoming more common as retail pharmacists find themselves swamped with prescriptions, the study shows.

Many pharmacists say they are overworked and frustrated and leave the job for more research-based work, according to the study conducted by UNC's Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.

"It's clear that the supply of retail pharmacists has …