In probably one of the most egregious incidents that have occurred in pharmacy error news lately, a young woman was intentionally given the incorrect prescription medication in order to induce a miscarriage. The 27 year old Florida woman was apparently deceived by her boyfriend who colluded with a local pharmacy…
As previously discussed on this blog, one of the most common errors made by prescribing doctors, or in those who input values, is accidentally increasing the dosage, such as in the entering of “10.0 mg,” when the person should have input “1.0 mg.” Even though the error is only a…
A woman who was given a prescription for medication to help ease her anxiety before a dental appointment now has good reason to be skeptical of pharmacies. The woman was given a prescription by her dentist to take prior to a dental appointment for 0.25 milligrams of Triazolam. When she…
Johnson & Johnson recently made the decision to make some changes in the way it labels Tylenol, specifically in regards to adding additional warnings of the potential dangers the drug may pose. The warning will make it explicitly clear that the over-the-counter drug contains acetaminophen, a pain-relieving ingredient that’s the…
A Harford County jury recently awarded nearly $1 million to the estate and surviving family members of a woman who allegedly received excessive pain medication following a leg ulcer surgery. According to reports regarding the case, the plaintiffs alleged that the doctors at the Harford County Hospital administered morphine, oxycodone,…
Individuals in Ireland with diabetes may be at a serious risk of injecting themselves with dangerously high levels of insulin, due to an error in glucose monitoring kits recently discovered. According to the authorities, some 4,100 boxes of test strips, which are directly used to measure glucose levels in the…
A mother is reportedly suing her longtime pharmacy, claiming that a dosage error led to her daughter’s death. The woman claims that her 6 year old daughter died after taking a dose of morphine 10 times higher than what she was prescribed. The little girl had been taking the liquid…
Ontario hospitals recently released a new report detailing some 36 incidents that occurred last year where medication-related mistakes led to patients suffering severe harm or even death. Among the reported incidents, patients were harmed when given incredible overdoses of narcotic painkillers, received the incorrect drug, or were administered an additional…
Of all of the types of pharmacy and medication errors that are made, some of the most frightening to think about are those that occur with children. One recent study (registration required) focused on errors made with pain medicine, specifically opioid infusions in children. The researchers in the study analyzed…
A recent article in Pharmacy Practice News discussed ways in which updated labeling standards for Heparin Sodium Injection and Heparin Lock Flush Solution may not eradicate the problems associated with overdose completely. One major reason being that some of the older problematic versions of the label remain in pharmacy stocks.…