I am actually surprised that Walmart couldn't handle this. Virtually all pharmacies have processes to make sure prescriptions get out even when systems are down. The last thing you want to do is tell people they should go without their meds. Not good for someone who is servicing in healthcare.

While the pharmacy should never just give someone medication, they can partially fill an Rx and not charge the co-pay. Nothing illegal there. They give you 3 pills of the 30 day Rx without charging you, and when you come back (ostensibly when the systems are up and running), they give you the other 27 and then ring it through the register. Easy peasy.