Pharmacy Error Injury Lawyer Blog

The Delaware Secretary of State’s Office has suspended the Controlled Substance Registrations of two medical doctors and a nurse practitioner because of allegations that they overprescribed a number of controlled substances in unreasonable and excessive amounts. Complaints filed against the the three, who all worked in the pain management field, further allege that they disregarded evidence that some of the prescribed medications were being abused or even diverted. The suspension immediately halted their legal authority to write prescriptions. One physician and the nurse practitioner reportedly also surrendered their Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) registrations to federal authorities. The doctors may face further disciplinary action beyond the Secretary of State’s investigation.

One of the physicians, Dr. Mohammed Niaz, worked with the nurse practitioner, Jean Binkley, as her supervisor. The Secretary of State alleges that Dr. Niaz wrote prescriptions for over 57,000 tablets of various controlled substances during the first seven months of 2011. This amount included 42,000 tablets of the Schedule II narcotic Oxycodone. Binkley is alleged to have separately written prescriptions for over 89,000 Oxycodone tablets.

The state further alleges that one patient, using prescriptions obtained from Niaz and Binkley, obtained 360 Oxycodone tablets and 90 tablets of Alprazolam within a two-week period earlier this year. This is considered an unreasonable amount for one person for such a brief period of time. Alprazolam is the generic name for the drug Xanax, a Schedule IV controlled substance used to treat anxiety, but also highly prone to abuse. Both types of drug can be highly addictive and dangerous if abused, and their distribution is strictly controlled. The state alleges that many of the drugs obtained through prescriptions written by Niaz and Binkley ended up in the hands of people who did not have a prescription and did not have guidance on how to use the drugs safely.

Dr. Patrick Titus allegedly wrote an even greater number of irregular prescriptions. One pharmacy’s records reportedly showed 3,941 prescriptions written by Dr. Titus between January and November 2011, accounting for almost 750,000 pills of seventeen Schedule II narcotic pain medications such as Oxycodone, Oxycontin, and Morphine.

The Secretary of State launched an investigation with the assistance of the Delaware Attorney General’s office and the Division of Professional Regulation. Delaware law empowers the Secretary of State to revoke a medical professional’s license to prescribe medicine if “continued registration would be inconsistent with the public interest.” The Secretary of State’s reasoning in this case seems to be that these three medical professionals have established a sufficiently questionable prescription history, and that they would constitute a threat to the public interest if allowed to continue writing prescriptions.

Continue reading "State Revokes Three Professionals' Licenses to Prescribe Medication" »

Our Prince George’s County, Maryland pharmacy error lawyer blog recently reported on the important role communication plays between patients and their healthcare providers—in order to reduce the risk of medication errors or pharmacy misfills, and to promote the safe and effective use of drug therapy.

Every year, 1.5 million Americans experience medication-related injuries, according to a study by the Institute of Medicine. In order to prevent medication errors, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) reports that it is important for patients to keep accurate health records with them when visiting the doctor and pharmacist, including current prescription medication lists detailing the dosage information along with all health conditions that the medication is treating.

Patient medication lists can reduce the risk of pharmacy misfills, incorrect dosages, medication duplication, allergy interaction, and any harmful side effects from potential dangerous drug interactions. The APhA also states that by keeping drug lists with them at all times, patients can prevent medical error by providing emergency staff and hospital pharmacists with important information that could saves lives in an emergency.

According to a recent Chicago Tribune article, doctors are now recommending that individuals turn the medication lists into a comprehensive health journal, to keep healthcare providers informed and to prevent medication error injury.

Continue reading "Reducing Medication Error Injury by Keeping Health Record Journals " »

According to a recent study discussed in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), that our Baltimore medication error lawyers have been following, hospitalized patients are more likely to have medication errors than non-hospitalized patients—when drugs used to treat chronic conditions are unintentionally discontinued in hospitals, especially if the patients are in a hospital’s intensive care unit.

The study reportedly showed that transitions in healthcare can increase a patient’s chances for medical errors that stem from inaccurate or incomplete communication between the hospital staff, the primary care physician, and the patient—causing an interruption or discontinuation of medications that aim to help treat patients’ chronic diseases on a long term basis.

According to the authors, the problem of medication errors and the unintentional discontinuation of drugs can happen during hospital stays, transfers and discharge. Treatment in intensive care units can also increase the risk of medication errors of omission as the healthcare providers are focused on emergency care and may engage in the practice of discontinuing a medication used for chronic illnesses during a time of critical illness.

The medication error study followed nearly 400,000 patients who were older than 65, and who had over one year of experience continuously taking one of the following five drug classes: respiratory inhalers, gastric acid suppressors, statins, anticoagulant or antiplatelet agents, and levothyroxine, used to treat the thyroid gland.

Continue reading "Report Finds Medication Errors in Chronic Drug Therapy After Seniors Leave Hospitals" »

Our Baltimore medication error injury blog recently reported that according to the Institute of Medicine, 1.5 million medication error injuries occur every year around the country that are preventable, and as many as 98,000 deaths due to medical errors.

When Nelson Bailey decided to have elective surgery for diverticulitis, a condition causing him abdominal discomfort, he was told that he would be out of the Good Samaritan Medical Center in around four days. What Bailey didn’t expect, according to a recent article in the Sun Sentinel, was that he would suffer from two different and equally serious medical errors at the hospital that would change his live completely.

Bailey, a Palm Beach County judge, underwent the intestinal surgery in October 2009, where the surgeon made a medical error by mistakenly leaving a surgical sponge inside Bailey’s body—that was reportedly as big as a washcloth, and was left to fester for five months.

When Bailey was recovering from surgery he then experienced a hospital pharmacy error, after the pharmacy prepared the incorrect medication. The doctor had reportedly ordered blood pressure lowering medication, but when the wrong medication was sent from the pharmacy, the nurse gave him the drug without double checking the drug label.

Continue reading "Medical Error Leaves Judge with Surgical Sponge in Body" »

Our Hartford County, Maryland pharmacy error injury attorneys have been following the latest healthcare technology introduced by New York University’s Langone Medical Center, in an effort to reduce the amount of time it takes to check patients in to the hospital, and to eliminate medical errors.

As our lawyers have discussed in a previous Maryland medication error injury blog, according the Institute of Medicine, there are 1.5 million medication error injuries every year that are preventable, and as many as 98,000 deaths due to medical errors.

The new biometric technology aimed to improve patient safety is made by Fujitsu, the technology services company, and works with the concept that like fingerprints, every patient has an individual and unique palm-vein configuration. The technology uses near-infrared waves to take an image of a patient’s palm veins, which the software then links to that patient’s medical records in about a minute. Other reported benefits of the technology is that a patient does not have to be conscious during the check-in process, and the system eliminates the need for a patient to fill out any forms, unless the patient's insurance has changed since the last palm scan.

The hospital reportedly experiences around 1.7 million patient visits per year, and is in the process of converting as many patients as possible to the new palm scanning system, to prevent medical errors and patient injury. Since 250 scanners were installed in June, over 25,000 patients have received palm-vein scans that have been registered in the system. The palm scan does not appear in the patient’s medical records, and it is not stored as an image. After the palm is scanned, the image is converted into special numeric code.

Continue reading "New Palm-Vein Scanning Technology Introduced to Reduce Medical Errors in Hospitals" »

According to a recent report in Medical News Today that our Baltimore medical error injury attorneys have been following, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson has been appointed as the new Envoy for Patient Safety for the World Health Organization (WHO). Donaldson recently stated, in an effort to highlight the fact that healthcare safety around the world needs to be improved, that going to the hospital is far more dangerous than flying on an airplane, as the WHO reports that millions of people die annually from medical errors associated with healthcare—far more, according to Donaldson, than accidents on planes.

In his striking comparison, Donaldson claimed that if a patient entered the hospital he would have a 1 in 10 chance of experiencing a medical error, with the chances of wrongful death due to medical error being 1 in 300. Donaldson then stated that in comparison, the risk of dying in a plane crash is far less—approximately 1 in 10 million.

Donaldson reportedly stated that in an effort to reduce the growing number of hospital related infections resulting in patient injury or harm that happen every year, patients need to ask questions and make sure that hospitals maintain the basic hygiene standards and conform to the WHO’s healthcare checklist to prevent medical error or patient illness or injury during surgical procedures.

According to the WHO statistics, 7 in 100 patients in the hospitals throughout developed countries experience infections linked to healthcare, whereas in developing countries this number increases to 10 patients in every 100. The risk of infection is directly tied to the length of time a patient stays in the hospital's intensive care unit. The WHO figures show that risk of infection is lower in the United States than in Europe, but the death from hospital-acquired infection is higher. In the United States, 1.7 million hospital acquired infections reportedly happen every year, resulting in 100,000 deaths, and in Europe, 4.5 million hospital acquired infections happen every year, resulting in around 37,000 deaths.

Continue reading " WHO Claims Hospitals Are More Dangerous Than Airline Travel" »

In a recent Baltimore County pharmacy misfill injury blog, our attorneys discussed a tragic medical error that caused the death of an premature infant, after a pharmacy technician accidentally entered the wrong information into the computer, causing the intravenous solution prepared buy an automated machine to contain a lethal dose of sodium chloride. This pharmacy error has reportedly brought the issue of electronic medical health records safety concerns back into the forefront of patient safety.

As our attorneys have reported in a related Hartford County medication error injury blog, the medical industry is shifting toward electronic medical records and computerized systems that make medical processes and prescription orders automatic, in an effort to reduce pharmacy error injury or wrongful death.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the federal government is also currently helping the digital shift by giving $23 billion in incentives to healthcare providers who purchase the electronic systems, with the hopes that these medical technologies will help increase access to patients' medical information, help healthcare providers communicate better with each other, help doctors to see test results more quickly, and implement electronic safeguards to remind doctors about recommended medical practices, or to alert them about harmful drug interactions before prescribing.

With all of the benefits that come with electronic medical records and computerized systems, potential problems are also taking place, like crashing of hospital computers, or software bugs that interfere with important data, or even delete information from computerized records. Computerized systems also reportedly can produce data about patients that is disorganized or difficult to read, especially when a doctor is quickly looking for critical patient information.

Continue reading "The Benefits and Problems of Electronic Medical Records Systems" »

A recent Chicago Tribune article, that our Baltimore pharmacy misfill injury attorneys have been following, looks closely at electronic medical record safety, after a tragic medication error occurred, stemming from a computer mistake made at the Chicago-area Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, that caused the death of a newborn infant.

According to the article, Genesis Burkett, an infant born 16-weeks premature, was given a fatal overdose of sodium chloride last year, receiving over 60 times the dosage ordered by the physician. The hospital pharmacy error was reportedly made after a technician from the hospital pharmacy misread and inaccurately typed the doctor's handwritten prescription orders into a hospital computer—a common source of pharmacy misfills and errors, as attorneys have discussed recently in a Baltimore pharmacy error injury blog.

The data entry mistake then caused a pharmacy misfill, as the automated machine prepared an intravenous solution containing a lethal overdose of sodium chloride that caused the infant’s heart to stop. Advocate Health Care’s chief medical officer, Dr. Lee Sacks stated that the pharmacy error could have been prevented by the automated alerts on the IV compounding machine, but at the time that the customized bag was prepared for the infant, the alerts were not activated and connected to the main pharmacy information systems at the hospital. The family’s attorney reportedly blamed the pharmacy error and wrongful death on a mislabeled IV bag.

After the medication error led to the infant’s tragic death, Advocate has since added electronic alerts to the IV compounders and initiated other medication safety measures to prevent this kind of pharmacy error from happening in the future.

Continue reading "Safety of Electronic Medical Records Questioned After Pharmacy Error Leads to Death of Infant" »

Our Talbot County, Maryland pharmacy error injury lawyer blog recently discussed a series of recalls drug maker Johnson & Johnson made last year, in an effort to maintain the health and safety of consumers—after complaints of an unusual smell causing nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and gastrointestinal pain were reported, due to trace amounts of 2, 4, and 6-tribomoanisole (TBA), a chemical used to preserve wood necessary in the construction of pallets used for transportation and shipping of the product packaging materials.

In related news, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceutical, the drug manufactures of Risperdal (risperidone), an antipsychotic drug used for the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and irritability associated with autistic disorder in adolescents and children, recently voluntarily recalled 16,000 bottles of the brand name drug and 24,000 bottles of the generic drug—also because of an unusual odor.

The Risperdal drug manufacturers found that the unusual smell was also caused by trace amounts of TBA, used to preserve wood pallets for the transportation and storage of product materials. While not considered to be toxic, a small group of patients have reported gastrointestinal symptoms when taking products with this offensive odor. The drug maker claims that the presence of TBA has not caused any reported serious adverse events, but the company has instituted a series of actions to reduce the potential of TBA contamination in the future, to avoid personal injury or harm to any consumers.

This is the second medication error warning surrounding Risperdal this year. Last month our attorneys discussed another warning involving Risperdal in a Baltimore pharmacy error injury blog, issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, discussing potentially dangerous medication errors associated with Risperdal and Requip, a drug used for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and Restless Legs Syndrome, with 226 reports of patients receiving the incorrect medication.

Continue reading "Risperdal Recalled by Manufacturer Due to Drug Contamination" »

In a previous Baltimore medication error injury blog post, our attorneys discussed a recent investigation by Consumer Reports Health that found evidence of inconsistency among prescription drug labels for warfarin, a blood thinner. The report found that important safety warnings and medication guides that are required by the federal government in order to prevent medication errors, were often omitted or left out of patient’s warfarin prescriptions.

As our Maryland pharmacy mistake lawyer blog has reported previously, every year, according to research by the Institute of Medicine, there are 1.5 million preventable medication error injuries, one third of which take place outside of hospitals, where consumers must make their own decisions about following medication instructions. Consumer Reports Health suggests that these medication errors happen because consumers are confused by the material that is included with prescriptions, and that they rely heavily on the medication bottle label—a problem if there are omissions or inconsistencies with the drug label.

The report found the following discrepancies:

• Four out of five pharmacies neglected to provide the medication guides that are required by the FDA for certain drugs, including warfarin.
• All of the pharmacies provided their own materials for the patients, but these conflicted with the guides for warfarin approved by the FDA. The FDA recommended that patients abstain from alcohol while taking the drug, while two pharmacies warned patients that they should just limit or avoid alcohol usage.

Continue reading "Report Warns Consumers to Take Precautions With Drug Labels and Instructions" »

A recent investigation that our Hartford County pharmacy error injury attorneys have been following found evidence that drug labels are often missing the important safety warnings necessary to prevent medication error and that many pharmacies neglect to include the proper medication guides that are required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The investigation was performed by Consumer Reports Heath, by filling warfarin prescriptions at five different New York drugstores. Warfarin is a blood thinner used for stroke prevention that is one of the most frequently prescribed drugs in the country.

The results found that four out of the five pharmacies neglected to provide the FDA-approved medication instructions that are required for specific drugs, warfarin included. Although the pharmacies reportedly provided their own medication materials, they were different from the warfarin drug information approved by the FDA, in that the warnings about the usage of alcohol were different. Warfarin can reportedly cause life-threatening internal bleeding if used incorrectly, and is the second in line for drugs that cause emergency room visits in hospitals across the country, due to medication error.

Another goal in the investigation was to see how certain drug labels, consumer drug information sheets, and medication warning stickers differed in each pharmacy. Although a certain degree of variation was expected, as various drugstore chains use different software to print labels and drug instructions, the findings raised significant concern.

Continue reading "Consumer Reports Health Investigation Finds Drug Label Warning Inconsistency" »

In a recent Baltimore pharmacy error injury blog, our attorneys discussed a pharmacy misfill and medication error that lead to a 94-year-old nursing home resident's wrongful death in New York, after she received the incorrect medication for nearly twenty days as a result of a pharmacy misfill.

In a related news report, a patient in a nursing home, also in the State of New York, has recently died, after medication errors allegedly led to her wrongful death.

The patient reportedly entered the Lake Ridge Care Center on the 10th of January in 2010, due to congestive heart failure and low potassium. Her doctor reportedly ordered that the she receive three doses (two-tablets) of potassium every day. According to the New York State investigation, the staff of the home failed to properly administer twenty-six of the medication doses to the patient over a period of eight days.

On January 23, 2011, the patient was reportedly sent to the hospital emergency room, where she suffered a severely abnormal heart rhythm and died the same day, from cardiac arrest. Her potassium levels were found to be extremely low, due to medication errors that led her to miss her prescribed potassium doses to help blood pump through the heart.

Continue reading "Medication Errors Linked to Death of Patient in Nursing Home" »

In recent news that our Pharmacy error injury attorneys have been following, a new study from the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association found that prescriptions sent electronically to pharmacies by doctors are almost as likely to have errors as the prescription medication orders handwritten by doctors.

The study examined 3,850 electronic prescriptions that a commercial pharmacy retain chain received over a period of four weeks in 2008. Out of the 3,850 e-prescriptions studied, researches found that 12%, almost 500, contained a total of 466 prescribing errors.

The researchers noted that their findings on e-prescribing error rates are consistent with their earlier study and research for error rates on handwritten prescriptions. Out of the 466 electronic prescribing errors discovered, only one-third of them could have caused patient harm or personal injury.

According to Bloomberg, the results undermine the safety benefits expected from e-prescribing, especially as the federal government paid over $158.3 million to doctors and hospitals in the beginning of 2011 to encourage doctors to switch over to electronic health records, as a way to reduce healthcare costs and eliminate medical and medication errors. The report found that although many providers are rapidly adopting electronic health records and e-prescribing, many of the expected benefits of the electronic computerized prescribing will not take effect if the electronic prescribing applications are not able to catch medication errors, or in fact cause medication errors.

Continue reading "New Study Finds Electronic Medication Error Rates Consistent with Handwritten Prescriptions" »

The Food and Drug Administration recently issued a warning about the potentially dangerous medication errors occurring with the drugs Risperdal (risperidone) and Requip (ropinrole)—with 226 reports of patients accidentally receiving the wrong drug, causing sickness and at least one death.

Risperdal (risperidone) is an antipsychotic used for the treatment of schizophrenia, autism side effects and bipolar disorder, and is reportedly being confused with Requip (ropinirole), a drug used for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and Restless Legs Syndrome, that acts in place of dopamine.

According to the Food and Drug Administration report, the medication errors are happening as a result of the drug name similarity as well as the similarity in generic drug labels and packaging, with overlapping drug characteristics such as the drug strengths, and dosing intervals. Other errors have reportedly stemmed from illegible handwriting on prescriptions.

Patients who were victims of the medication errors have reportedly experienced confusion, tiredness, hallucinations, and an altered or changed mental status, among others health problems.

The FDA warns patients who are taking the generic versions of Requip or Risperdal to notice the name and appearance of their medication, to know exactly why they are taking the drug, and to ask any questions and to report any difference in medication appearance to their pharmacists—to avoid pharmacy misfills or medication errors.

Continue reading "FDA Warns of Confusion between Risperdal and Requip, Leading to Medication Error" »

In a recent pharmacy misfill news story that our Maryland pharmacy error injury lawyers have been following, a pharmacy customer has received an apology from a local Walgreens pharmacy, after receiving refills of a medication that contained a dosage that was ten times stronger than what the doctor had prescribed.

The pharmacy misfill reportedly took place repeatedly for around a year, where Larina Helsom took a 50mcg tablet twice a day instead of a 5mcg dose. The medication reportedly caused the Helsom to suffer from chest and esophageal spasms that were so painful she couldn’t talk or breathe. When they first started happening, Helsom thought that she was dying.

After months of taking the prescription misfill, Helsom reportedly went through several hospitalizations for the spasms, along with other prescribed medications to control the symptoms. Once the drug misfill was discovered, her doctor advised that Helsom stop taking the drug immediately.

The Arizona State Pharmacy Board is reportedly now investigating Walgreen’s pharmacy misfill, to decide whether negligence was a factor in the mistake. Last year, the pharmacy board reportedly received 131 complaints about pharmacies statewide. Walgreens claims that the prescription dose at issue was within the normal range of dosing for this drug.

Continue reading "Walgreens Pharmacy Misfill Causes Dosing Error" »

In a previous Washington D.C. medication error injury lawyer blog, we covered the recent guidelines announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) aimed to prevent medication errors and overdoses with children’s over-the-counter (OTC) medications.

According to the FDA, accidental medication errors and overdoses in young children are a common health problem, but a problem that is entirely preventable. The new guidelines are aimed to reduce frequent medication administration errors that happen as a result of confusing label instructions, inconsistency with the drug measuring devices, and confusion over the exact units of medication measurement—to prevent harm or injury.

Along with the new medication error prevention guidelines, the FDA also outlined tips for parents and caregivers, to reduce administration error when giving medicine to a child or infant.

According to the FDA, always:

• Know the active ingredients in the medicine that you are giving to your child.
• Read and follow the drug facts label on all medicines that are OTC.
• Use the tools for dosage administration that come with the medicine. Never use tools from other medication.
• Be aware of the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon.
• Know your child’s weight exactly.
• Check the medicine three times.
• Make sure to give the right medicine in the exact amount that is directed.
• Ask your doctor, nurse or pharmacist to make sure which medicines can be used at the same time.
• Store your medicines in a safe place that is out of reach for children.
• Make sure to use caps on all medicines that are child-resistant.

Continue reading "FDA Tips for Administering OTC Medication to Children—to Reduce Medication Error Injury" »

In recent news that our Rockville, Maryland medication error injury attorneys have been following, twelve Los Angeles-area hospitals were hit with administrative penalties this week by the California Department of Public Health, ranging from $25,000 up to $75,000, after the facilities were found to be non-compliant with requirements that were likely to cause serious injury or death to patients.

One medical center, Promises Hospital, was reportedly fined $50,000 for a medication mix-up that caused a patient with a heart condition to require emergency response.

According to the Los Angeles Times, a medication error was reported in 2010 that led to the inspection of Promises Hospital. The inspectors reportedly found that a patient was given a dose of Cardizem, the drug used to treat irregular heart rhythms, that was 10 times the ordered dose—causing the patient’s heart rate to drop so quickly that the nurse was unable to get a blood reading for almost 10 minutes.

According to the department, when problems are found in facilities, hospitals must take corrective actions to prevent any similar medication errors or other problems from happening in the future, and causing injury or death to patients.

Promises Hospital reportedly claimed that it has initiated an investigation into the drug error, and has taken the necessary steps to prevent this medication mix-up for happening again in the future.

Continue reading "Hospital Fined $50K in Medication Mistake" »

In a recent Baltimore, Maryland pharmacy error injury lawyer blog, our attorneys discussed an FDA panel’s recent recommendation that dosing instructions be based primarily on children’s weight, and not age—as studies found that many parents administer the wrong drug dosage to their children because of confusing medication label instructions.

The FDA has recently released new guidelines that are expected to reduce the prevalence of medication error and overdoses with Children's liquid over-the-counter (OTC) medication, which is administered and dispensed with cups, spoons and droppers.

The guidance was reportedly developed after past reports of medication errors revealed that labels often cause confusion with administration, the measuring devices provided in drug packages are often inconsistent with the labels, and parents often used devices from other drug products to dispense the medication that do not match the label instructions—leading to medication error.

According to the FDA recommendations:

• Dosage dispensing devices (cups, spoons, droppers) should be included with all OTC medications that are liquid and taken orally.
• Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs will reportedly now come with dispensing devices that are calibrated to match the exact units of measurement specified on the drug label—to avoid drug error or injury.
• Companies should make sure that the liquid dispensing devices are used only to measure the intended drug products.
• The markings on the dispensing devices should be visible when the liquid medication is added for measurement.

And as our Maryland medication mistake attorneys discussed previously, the FDA is also advising that liquid acetaminophen products will be changed to one concentration only, with age-appropriate dosages, to reduce medication dosing errors.

Continue reading "New FDA Guidelines to Prevent Children’s OTC Medication Errors" »

In recent pharmacy error injury news that our Hartford County, Maryland attorneys have been following, a panel advising the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that dosing instructions for children’s acetaminophen be based primarily on a child’s weight and not age, and be changed to include children under two years—to reduce the risk of medication error.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a majority of dosing information for over-the-counter (OTC) children’s medicine containing acetaminophen have instructions based on age, with only some information on dosing by weight, causing confusion in dosing that could lead to error or injury. Acetaminophen is the most commonly used OTC medication to lower fevers in children and relieve pain, with the best-known brand being Children’s Tylenol.

The federal advisory panel has recently recommended that all acetaminophen products should contain a standard label with updated weight tables to reflect average weight increase among children over the past 20 years.

According to the FDA reports from 2000 to 2010, there were 14 fatalities and 74 non-fatal adverse events that were related to acetaminophen drug errors in infants and children from the age of 13 and younger. Some of the medication error fatalities were due to incorrect usage of the more-concentrated infant drops that were meant for older children, but used on infants.

The FDA panel reportedly recommended a single infant and children’s medication formula in 2009 that is slated for release this summer. The panel also recommends that the FDA should consider a single concentration of acetaminophen in solid forms, to avoid possible drug errors or overdoses with children.. The panel also voted to add dosage instructions for children from six months to two years onto liquid products. Currently on acetaminophen formulations for children, the dosing information is for children from 2-12 years old, with instructions to contact your doctor for children under 2 years.

Continue reading "FDA Panel Looks to Prevent Drug Error by Changing Children’s Acetaminophen Product Labels" »

Our Maryland pharmacy misfill injury attorneys have been following the recent developments in the tragic Walmart prescription error incident from 2008 that caused a teenager to suffer a pain medication overdose that led to paralysis.

When Jessie Scott was 18, and suffering from strep throat pain, his doctor prescribed a low-dose of the pain reliever, oxycodone hydrochloride. After receiving the prescription from Walmart, Jessie’s mother administered one dose to her son.

In a grave prescription drug error, the Walmart pharmacist reportedly failed to dilute the drug, and the prescribed dosage of 5 milligrams was actually around 100 milligrams, causing a prescription drug overdose. Jessie went into a coma, suffered organ failure and paralysis.

Scott, who is now 20 years old, has reportedly experienced some remarkable changes physically and psychologically, making incredible strides since the horrific incident that caused his disabilities. Thanks to a court prescription error lawsuit settlement with Walmart, Jessie’s parents were able to build an area in their house with special accommodations that allow him to be transported from room to room. He can now raise his arms, hold his head upright, wiggle his toes, and even kick. Although the odds seem to be against him, Jessie holds out hope that he will walk again.

Continue reading "Prescription Error Overdose Leads to Paralysis, Victim Hopeful for Recovery" »