Errors in local pharmacies

Numerous Errors Made in VA Pharmacies, Yet Little Discipline Seen

March 6, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The VA is getting some heat for the negligent filling of veterans’ prescriptions. According to a recent report by the Washington Times, one VA employee was terminated from his employment and in response filed an appeal, claiming that any errors he may have made were made by others in the Administration. Be that as it may, he then claimed that he was targeted for other, impermissible reasons.

The terminated employee pointed to several errors made over the course of the last few years, specifically a 2001 incident when a chemotherapy patient was given a fatal dose of his medication. To be exact, it was a dose that was five times what it should have been. The dismissed employee also submitted interviews with other VA employees, one of whom claimed that “errors might be pointed out, but in a global sense, nobody is going to be publicly identified and held out to dry for a mistake.”

This has led to a strong public reaction against the VA for failing to adequately discipline those employee’s who were negligent in the performance of their duties. However, even if the VA is unwilling to reprimand these employees, any victim of a pharmacist’s error may hold the responsible party liable by bringing a civil suit for damages.

Woman Hospitalized for “Poisoning” After Pharmacist’s Error

February 23, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in the Orlando, Florida area, a woman was hospitalized after she was provided the incorrect medication by her local Walgreen’s pharmacy. According to one local news source, the woman had been prescribed an antihistamine for her allergies, a drug that she had been prescribed on-and-off since 2011.

Evidently, the woman was prescribed a generic form of Zyrtec by her doctor, but she was provided medication designed to lower patients’ blood sugar. After taking the medication, she began to feel extremely lethargic and was slurring her words. She was a piano teacher by trade, and the woman’s students called their parents telling them that something was wrong with their instructor.

The woman was hospitalized for “poisoning.” Her blood sugar, which is usually up in the 90s, was down in the 30s. She thanks her students for catching the problem and calling their parents. Otherwise, she says, she likely would have ended up in a coma.

Infant Suffers Morphine Overdose Due to Pharmacist’s Error

February 16, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Edmonton, Canada, a family with a child almost lost him to a morphine overdose that was caused by a pharmacist making an error in the prescription given to the young child. According to one local news report, the baby was prescribed a very low dose of morphine by the family’s doctor. However, when the family took the prescription to get filled, it was filled at a much larger dose.

When the young child’s grandmother began to give him the medication, she noticed that after about three suckles of it he began to drool. His eyes rolled back into his head, and both of his arms went limp. The family called 911, and the baby was taken to the hospital.

Once at the hospital, emergency workers confirmed that the child had suffered an overdose of morphine. As it turns out, the compound provided to the child by the filling pharmacy was 100 times more potent than prescribed.

Man Files Wrongful Death Case Against CVS for Alleged Fatal Pharmacy Error

February 9, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this year in Lincoln County, Kentucky, a father filed a wrongful death suit against a local CVS pharmacy for their alleged involvement in his son’s death. According to one local news source, the lawsuit filed by the man names the CVS in Danville, Kentucky as well as several employees in the store.

Evidently, the man’s son was admitted to the hospital for a pulmonary embolism and upon his discharge was prescribed several medications by his physician. After his discharge, he went to his local CVS pharmacy and filled the prescriptions. The pharmacy gave him the wrong medication. However, since these were not prescriptions that he normally takes, it wasn’t until two days later that he noticed the medications provided by the pharmacy were not the ones prescribed by his doctor.

He was taken to the hospital by a friend of the family and entered into a fatal cardiac arrest 10 days later. The boy’s father is seeking damages for his son’s pain and suffering, death, loss of earning capacity, and medical and funeral expenses. CVS has not yet responded to or made any public comment on the lawsuit.

Eighteen-Year-Old Novice Pilot Provided the Wrong Medication By Local Pharmacy

February 2, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in British Columbia, Canada, an 18-year-old young man was given blood-pressure medicine by his local pharmacy instead of the acne medication prescribed by his doctor. According to one local Canadian news source, the error was harmless in that the young man’s mother caught the error after being on high alert after reading about the increased frequency of prescription errors in an earlier article.

Evidently, the woman picked up her son’s medication at the pharmacy, and all seemed normal. However, when he opened up the bottle, he noticed that the pills didn’t look the same as they usually did. His mother, who was luckily right there at the time, told her son not to take the medication despite his insistence that the medication must have been the right one because it was provided by the pharmacist.

Thankfully, the young man did not ingest any of the blood-pressure medication. Had he done so, the results could have been catastrophic, since he is a novice pilot and is in the air flying solo much of the time. Had he taken the medication and passed out while flying, the results could have been tragic.

California Costco Pharmacy Mis-Fills One Patient’s Prescription Twice in One Year

January 22, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, a man and his mother spoke with reporters about their experience having prescriptions filled at their local Costco pharmacy. According to the report, Costco incorrectly filled the man’s mother’s prescription not once but twice over a one-year period.

Evidently, back in September the woman noticed that the pills she was provided by the pharmacist were larger than they normally were. She had her son call the pharmacist, who told him that they were indeed the wrong pill. In fact, the pill she was provided, had she taken it, would have resulted in her taking a double dose of the prescribed medication. The pharmacist instructed the woman to cut the pills in half and then take the proper dose.

Just three months later, the woman noticed that, again, the pills she was provided by the pharmacy were the incorrect size. This time, they were too small. Again, she called the pharmacist, who asked her to bring the pills in. After double-checking them, he confirmed that they were indeed the wrong pill and apologized to the woman before refilling her prescription with the proper pills.

Massachusetts Pharmacy Owners Facing 25 Counts of Murder for Using Expired Ingredients in Medications

January 15, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Boston, the Associated Press reported on a story of a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy that was under criminal investigation for over 25 deaths caused by medication that the pharmacy created. According to the report, the case is the largest in U.S. history to be brought against a pharmacy and alleges that the owner of the pharmacy and 14 former employees were engaged in criminal conduct in the creation of medication using expired ingredients.

Evidently, the New England Compounding Center employees are charged with knowingly using expired ingredients as well as failing to follow cleanliness standards that ultimately resulted in over 750 cases of illness and 64 deaths nationwide.

According to the article, the federal government recently seized over $18 million in funds that were being transferred into and out of accounts with various owners’ names on them. The seizures spanned 13 financial institutions and dozens of transfers.

Error-Prone Pharmacist Gets License Reinstated by Judge

January 8, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Just a few weeks ago, a Superior Court judge in Rhode Island reinstated the license of a pharmacist and state senator who had been found responsible for several serious pharmaceutical errors. According to one local news report, the pharmacist had committed several errors, including providing morphine to two children back in early 2012.

Evidently, one of the two children provided morphine was an 11-year-old girl who was prescribed medication for her acid reflux. Upon getting home and taking the medication, the girl’s parents noticed that she became extremely lethargic. They took her to the hospital, where they found out that she had ingested morphine that was in her acid-reflux medication.

In an initial determination, the Department of Health revoked the pharmacist’s license for fear that another error may result in the loss of human life. However, the Board of Pharmacy recommended a mere 2.5-year suspension.

Grandfather of Eight Killed in Medication Accident

December 22, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this year in November, an 83-year-old grandfather of eight died after he was provided the incorrect medication by a pharmacist. According to a report by one local news source, the man attempted to fill a prescription for paracetamol to help with the pain that an ulcer on his foot was causing him. However, he was provided with Verapamil, a medication used to treat high blood pressure.

Evidently, after the man phoned in his prescriptions, the delivery driver for the pharmacy came to the man’s home to deliver the medications, but the man was not home. Later, the head pharmacist himself delivered the medication to the man’s home on his way home from work. However, on his way out the door he grabbed the wrong prescription.

When the pharmacist delivered the medication, the man took the medication without reading the labels. When the pharmacist realized the mistake he had just made, he drove back to the man’s home to tell him that there should be no adverse effect from taking the wrong medication. However, hours later the man woke up complaining of shortness of breath and was taken to a nearby hospital.
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CVS Pharmacy Mixes Up Prescription, Man Sent to Hospital

December 15, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier last month in Oklahoma City, a man was admitted to the hospital after taking another person’s medication that he was given at a local CVS Pharmacy. According to a report by one local news source, the man had just gotten his wisdom teeth taken out and was prescribed antibiotics and a strong dose of Ibuprofen. However, when he went to get the prescription filled, he was given someone else’s medication.

Evidently, after taking the wrong medicine for a couple days, the man’s wife noticed that he was acting different. He was sick and acting as though he was drunk each time he took the medication. As it turns out, he was taking anti-depression medication that was prescribed to another customer. He took a hefty dose of 300 mg, which was the prescribed dose of the ibuprofen he thought he was taking.

After he was admitted to the hospital, doctors determined that he would be fine. However, he was suffering from heart palpitations and extremely high blood pressure for those few days when he was taking the medication. A CVS representative told reporters that they have “comprehensive policies and procedures in place to ensure prescription safety and errors are a very rare occurrence,” and offered to pay for all the medical expenses the man incurred.