Woman Couldn't Buy Inhaler During Asthma Attack

MYFOXNY.COM - Just after seven o'clock Thursday morning, Katherine O'Connor and her boyfriend were walking home from a McDonald's in Garwood, New Jersey, when she suffered an asthma attack.

"It has been happening every day for the past four or five days," she said.

Her inhaler was at home. The couple was near there, but a CVS on North Avenue, near Cedar Street, was closer. They went in and found the pharmacist on duty.

"I had exactly a twenty-dollar bill. It came to twenty-one and change," Jack Brown said. "I offered him my cell phone, my wallet. I said i live right around the corner. I come in here all the time."

He was told the inhaler with tax would cost just over $21. He was short a dollar and change.

"I said 'Can you just give her the pump. She's on the floor wheezing," Jack said. "I didn't know if an ambulance would get there on time. He said there was nothing he could do for me."

"He said there's nothing I can do. I was just blown away," Katherine said.

When the couple left the store empty-handed, they didn't know what to do, they told Fox 5. Remember, Katherine was still having an asthma attack. Jack remembered he has a friend who is a paramedic.

"He did have an inhaler. She used two pumps, waited a little while," Jack said. "She started to come through a little quicker than if she didn't have it."

Fox 5 went into the store looking for answers, asking about what happened. A store manager said: "no comment."

CVS corporate offices sent Fox 5 a statement: "The well-being of our customers is our highest priority and we are looking into this matter."

Katherine is now feeling fine. But she and Jack are unhappy with how they were treated.