In a frightening story out of North Houston earlier this month, an eight month old child was given painkillers instead of cold medicine by a local pharmacy. According to a report by a local news source, the child’s parents took her to the doctor complaining of a persistent cough and cold. The prescribing doctor called in a prescription to a local Walgreen’s pharmacy for the infant’s condition.
Upon picking up the prescription from Walgreen’s and giving it to her daughter, the woman’s mother noticed that the infant fell asleep immediately, one time with her eyes rolling back into her head. It wasn’t until about a week later that there was a knock on the door by a Walgreen’s pharmacy technician explaining to the mother that they had accidentally provided her daughter with adult-strength codeine instead of the cold medication prescribed by the girl’s doctor.
Walgreen’s acknowledged the mistake, taking ownership immediately. In fact, the company issued the following statement regarding the error:
Cases like this are rare and we take them very seriously. If a prescription error happens, our first concern is the patient’s well-being. We’re sorry this occurred and we apologized to the patient’s mother. As soon as we learned of the incident, we contacted the child’s mother and instructed her to stop administering the medication.
Child Patients and Pharmacy Errors
Taking an unprescribed medicine is always dangerous. However, never is it more dangerous than when the patient taking the drug is a young child. Children are much more sensitive to many medications due to their small size and inability to accurately convey what they are feeling.
The young girl and her family are incredibly lucky that this pharmacy error did not result in more serious immediate consequences. However, that is not to say that the infant is free of all potential long-term side-effects of taking such serious medication at a young age. It is possible that there can be delayed onset side-effects that may not be apparent for months, or even years after a medication is taken.
For these reasons, it is best to consult with an attorney if you or a loved one has been the victim of a pharmacy error. Your attorney can consult with medical experts to make sure that there are no long term side-effects that may come up later in life. If it turns out there is a likelihood of some kind of future adverse effect, your attorney can help advise you on what to do to ensure you preserve your right to recover from those responsible for the mistake.
Have You Been Given the Incorrect Medication?
If you or a loved one has recently been provided the wrong prescription drug by a pharmacy in your area, you should speak with a dedicated pharmacy error attorney as soon as possible. Depending on the drug ingested, you may be at risk fro developing future conditions, if you have not already suffered the consequences of ingesting the drug. To learn more about the laws regulating pharmacies and how the victims of pharmacy errors can recover for their injuries, click here or call 410-654-3600 to speak to an experienced pharmacy error attorney.
More Blog Posts:
Hospitals Beginning to Place Pharmacists in the Emergency Room to Cut Down on Medication Errors, Pharmacy Error Injury Lawyer Blog, June 25, 2014.
Drug Manufacturers Consent to Oversight by Federal Agency Following Increased Scrutiny, Pharmacy Error Injury Lawyer Blog, June 4, 2014.