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Chronic Illness

Sarah Hyland Claps Back at Pharmacies Who 'Screw Over' People With Chronic Illnesses

Erin Migdol
 • 
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For people with chronic health conditions, medications aren’t a luxury that can wait a few days — they’re a necessity, and unfortunately your local pharmacy’s policies, organization and customer service can affect how easily you’re able to access it. If you’ve dealt with a pharmacy preventing you from picking up your much-needed medication, you may be able to relate to Sarah Hyland’s frustration.

Hyland posted a tweet on Monday night calling out CVS Pharmacy for not telling her that her medication was ready before the store closed. The “Modern Family” actress has kidney dysplasia and received a kidney transplant in 2012.

“F**king do it before you close. People like me can’t afford to go without medication,” she wrote.

She followed up that tweet with a screenshot of a search she did of her local CVS on the Maps app of her phone, which shows that the hours of the store are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Hyland had posted her first tweet at 9:15 p.m and it turns out the pharmacy in the store closes earlier than the store itself.

“Maybe put the correct time you close on the internet. Just a suggestion from a long time customer who needs medication for the rest of her life,” she wrote.

Hyland also expressed her outrage on Instagram, posting an Instagram story explaining what happened.

sarah hyland talking about cvs on instagram story

“So, CVS Pharmacy screwed me tonight. Screwed me real good,” she said. “Doctors called in medications today twice, still haven’t gotten them, they’re closed now so can’t get it till tomorrow.” 

“Now I’m going to lie in bed the rest of the night in pain,” she added. “Thanks CVS, you’re the best.”

In response to a Twitter follower who asked why she doesn’t get her medication delivered directly to her, Hyland revealed another complication of getting prescriptions — this was a medication that was just called in for pickup that day, so she didn’t have the option of mailing it.

Update: CVS has responded to Hyland. The CVS account tweeted, “Your health is so important to us, Sarah & we understand how upsetting this experience must have been. We’d like to follow up w/ you offline to learn more & do whatever we can to improve your experience in the future.” 

Hyland responded, “To whomever runs this account. Is this just a copy/paste situation?”

On Wednesday, Hyland posted a video explaining that she had talked to someone from CVS and shared all the stories people had been tweeting her about their challenges with the pharmacy. “I tried to take this opportunity and make CVS a better place for their patients because you all reached out and told me your stories and it moved me so much, I felt like I had a responsibility to say [it] to someone higher up on the ladder at CVS than just a manager at a store,” she said.

Hyland has been outspoken about the challenges of chronic illness before. She shut down body-shamers earlier this year, revealing that she had a difficult year with her health and was taking prednisone. She also spoke out against a Life & Style magazine article that suggested her face had changed due to plastic surgery, and explained that she was actually on life-saving medication.

Erin Migdol
 • 

Erin is the former senior editor and chronic illness editor of The Mighty. She joined The Mighty in 2015 and previously worked at Inside Weddings magazine, Mic, and The Huffington Post. She was also the features editor at The California Aggie, UC Davis' student newspaper. She is honored to be a part of the Mighty community!

erin-migdol
Originally published: December 19, 2017
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