Pharmacy Errors in the News

Maryland Pharmacists are Overworked and Understaffed, Leading to a Potential Increase in Pharmacy Errors

March 26, 2021 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It is no surprise that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a major toll on the United States’ health care system. All areas of the system—from hospitals to local clinics and even pharmacies—are struggling, as staff are overworked, underresourced, and overly stressed one year into the pandemic. Of particular concern to Maryland residents are the potential impacts on pharmacists and pharmacy errors. When pharmacists are struggling, they are more likely to make careless errors and cause significant harm to patients, who may not realize the mistake until it’s too late. And, according to a recent NBC News article, pharmacists across the country are voicing concerns about the current state of their work, and what it might mean for patient safety. The most important part? These concerns started before COVID-19, and are likely to continue even once the virus is behind us as well.

According to the NBC News article, the past decade has led to an increase in work for pharmacists across the country, but fewer staff members to complete it. An estimated 155,000 pharmacists working at chain drugstores over the last decade have found themselves pushed to do more—work faster, fill more orders, and juggle a wider range of tasks—with fewer and fewer staff members. The pace expected from them is not only unmanageable but dangerous, as patient safety may suffer from pharmacists too exhausted or distracted to follow all safety protocols. NBC News spoke specifically to 31 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in 15 states, who reported on 12-hour shifts so busy they didn’t have time to go to the bathroom and on rushing to complete their job but making mistakes along the way. The pandemic has made things even worse, as pharmacists now have additional duties with COVID-19 testing, deep cleaning constantly, and vaccinating patients.

Pharmacy errors can range from small, like miscounting the numbers of pills in a bottle, to potentially deadly, such as combining drugs with dangerous interactions or administering the wrong medication at too high a dosage. Maryland residents should be on the lookout for these errors to avoid any potentially harmful consequences. Specifically, those picking up prescriptions should always make sure that the medicine is the correct one, that the dosage matches the labeling in the instructions, and that they understand when and how to take the drug. But, if an accident does occur, patients should not presume it was their fault for not checking thoroughly enough or catching it themselves. Maryland state law allows patients to hold negligent pharmacies responsible for the harm they’ve caused, and patients can recover significant monetary damages through a Maryland pharmacy error lawsuit.

What Does Amazon’s Entrance into the Pharmacy Market Mean for Maryland Pharmacy Errors?

December 11, 2020 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Amazon is one of the most valuable companies in the United States, and is getting even more and more utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Americans order an increasing amount of things online, from groceries to pet supplies, books, and décor. Now, Maryland shoppers may be able to get one more thing from this giant retailer: their prescriptions. Last month, Amazon announced the launch of Amazon Pharmacy, a delivery service for prescription medications. The service would allow Amazon customers to purchase prescription drugs with or without health insurance, which Amazon claims will save them money, up to “80 percent off generic and 40 percent off brand name medications when paying without insurance.” Is is unclear, however, how Amazon Pharmacy could impact the prevalence of Maryland pharmacy errors.

While the potential savings on drug prices sound great, experts say that Amazon Pharmacy is likely not going to be a game-changer when it comes to the high cost of prescription medications. Customers may enjoy some savings, but this online option is likely to work similarly to other online pharmacies and cannot solve the large and complicated problem of U.S. drug pricing. Still, professionals are watching to see what impact Amazon Pharmacy has and how many Americans utilize it for their medications.

Maryland pharmacy errors are a persistent problem, sometimes causing severe injury or illness. And, unfortunately, anyone who has ever ordered something online can tell you that online shopping does not always go off without a hitch—sometimes the wrong product or item can be sent, items can be swapped with others, or a package could get lost or never arrived. Pharmacy safety advocates should watch closely to see whether or not Amazon Pharmacy falls prey to the same errors that occur in pharmacies every day. It’s very possible that pharmacy errors continue to plague Maryland patients, regardless of where they get their prescription.

What Can Maryland Pharmacists Do to Decrease the Chances of an Error in the Time of COVID-19?

September 15, 2020 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The COVID-19 pandemic had changed the lives of almost every American in too many ways to count. Among those who have been the most impacted by the pandemic are medical workers, including pharmacists. Pharmacies have seen surges in volume as more people are more frequently visiting doctors and obtaining prescriptions for all types of health conditions. As the demand on pharmacists increases, so does the risk of a Maryland pharmacy error.

The Institute of Safe Medication Practices has released a list of tips that pharmacists should follow to decrease the risk of error during these challenging times. The tips are broken down into three categories:

Preventing Pharmacy Errors

When it comes to preventing Maryland medication errors, the Institute of Safe Medication Practices recommends pharmacists take the following steps:

Keep certain IV infusions standardized to a single concentration or dose, when possible.
Use visually identifiable premixed solutions for common infusions.
When dispensing a nonstandard concentration or a paralyzing agent, be sure to clearly label these infusions.
Implement frequent safety meetings and create processes for pharmacy members to double-check solutions before administering infusions.

COVID Testing Result Errors and Delays Raise Questions of Under Staffing at Maryland Pharmacy

August 27, 2020 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

COVID-19 tests are now available for free at many Maryland pharmacies throughout the state. Maryland pharmacies conducting COVID-19 testing include CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, and Walmart, as well as some local independent pharmacies. However, the use of testing at these pharmacies raises questions about adequate staffing, particularly after such issues were raised prior to the pandemic.

According to a recent news source, Walgreens Pharmacy reported a coding error that resulted in incorrect COVID-19 testing data. The error meant that around 59,000 COVID-19 test results would be added to the state’s statistics that were not previously reported. It was not clear how many of those tests were positive and what brought about the error. According to the Department of State Health Services, there were previous issues with reporting that have caused additional issues with the state’s statistics. The state said that additional data was being reported from July when a private testing lab did not correctly report about 250,000 positive tests. The state was trying to separate the data and send the information to the appropriate county. The state reported a delay in reporting due to the errors.

The report of the pharmacy error comes just a month after CVS was fined for medication errors and under staffing. The Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy fined the company last month after a report earlier this year that the company understaffed its pharmacies, putting patients at risk. The state pharmacy board subsequently launched an investigation and imposed $125,000 in fines. The COVID-19 testing being carried out by the pharmacies may be further burdening pharmacies and overworked pharmacists, potentially leading to medication errors and putting patients at greater risk.

Can a Maryland COVID-19 Test Report a False Negative?

August 19, 2020 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Testing for COVID-19 has ramped up in recent months. While initially, tests were hard to come by, today most Maryland pharmacies are conducting tests, making them widely available. However, the surge in testing has resulted in a corresponding increase in the number of experts who are concerned that tests are providing people with false-negative results. Given the highly contagious nature of COVID-19, false negatives have the potential to cause a resurgence in the virus, putting everyone at risk.

According to a recent news report, 12 people who were tested at a Walgreen’s pharmacy were initially told that they were negative for COVID-19, only to learn later that was not the case. Evidently, the erroneous results came out of Delaware, where the local government had an agreement with Walgreen’s. In all, Walgreen’s collected over 2,900 samples at drive-up testing sites.

The tests appeared to be accurate, and the problem was not with the reliability of the test. In fact, the state Department of Health reviewed each of the Walgreen’s tests for accuracy and confirmed that “no patients who tested negative were given incorrect results.” However, 12 patients were called and told that they tested negative when, in fact, they had tested positive. The report notes that the error did not occur at the local Walgreen’s stores, implying that the lab may have been responsible for the errors.

The Potential Risks of a COVID-19 Vaccine for Maryland Residents

August 13, 2020 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Maryland residents may rush to get a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available. Yet, as companies race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, questions about the risks of a vaccine have been raised. All vaccines carry some risk for residents of a Maryland medication error, and according to a recent news report, many experts have speculated on the heightened risks of a COVID-19 vaccine in light of a condensed development timeline.

Experts in the public health field worry that a condensed timeline for developing and testing the vaccine might mean that it is approved without proper data and analysis. Some of those fears appear to have merit. One vaccine testing candidate did not test in animals. Another experimental vaccine was approved for China’s military before trials were even completed. A significant number of people in one vaccine trial experienced a “medically significant” adverse event. Creating a vaccine in the span of a year is “unprecedented,” according to one expert working to develop a new vaccine platform.

Some experts worry that the vaccine will not be safe or effective. A vaccine might produce unintended side effects, for example. One adverse event that had been seen with vaccines for other viruses is an antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). An ADE is an immune reaction to the vaccine that makes subsequent exposure to the virus more dangerous by generating antibodies that encourage the virus to replicate instead of neutralizing it. One scientist said that the rare side effects of a vaccine likely will not be discovered until after the vaccine is approved.

Many Maryland Patients Use CVS to Fill Prescriptions—The Pharmacy Chain Was Just Cited for Inadequate Staffing and Pharmacy Errors

August 5, 2020 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In this blog, we write a lot about Maryland pharmacy errors and the harms that can result from them. A lot of the time, Maryland pharmacy errors might not even be caught right away, and when they are, the individual affected may just decide to go deal with it individually with the pharmacy. Even if they decide to file a personal injury lawsuit due to the injuries they suffered, the case might not make the news or raise public awareness because the plaintiff is just focused on receiving compensation for their own individual injuries. Because of this, it is rare that there are public discussions about the errors that pharmacies make, and even rarer still that large retail pharmacy chains face consequences.

However, according to a recent news report, state regulators cited and fined CVS—the nation’s largest retail pharmacy chain—for conditions found at four of its pharmacies, including inadequate staffing and prescription filling errors. CVS was fined $125,000, a relatively small amount for the multi-billion dollar company. The fine, however, validated concerns that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have about the risks of understaffing and pharmacy errors.

One of the errors found at a CVS pharmacy in the past year occurred when a developmentally disabled teenager received only one-fourth of his prescribed dose of an anti-convulsant medication. He ended up taking this incorrect dose for 18 days, during which he had uncontrollable and violent seizures. In fact, the seizures were so bad that he fell down and hit his head.

Are Punitive Damages Available After a Maryland Pharmacy Error?

July 14, 2020 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Most cases of pharmacy error involve negligent conduct and generally include careless mistakes. For this reason, punitive damages are rare in Maryland pharmacy error claims. Punitive damages are typically imposed to punish a defendant for their wrongful conduct and serve as a warning sign for others to dissuade them from engaging in such behavior.

In Maryland courts, to award punitive damages, a plaintiff has to show that a defendant acted with knowing and deliberate wrongdoing. A plaintiff must prove this by clear and convincing evidence—a higher standard than the preponderance of the evidence standard, which is generally applicable in civil cases. Thus, in many pharmacy error cases, punitive damages are not awarded because a plaintiff is unable to establish the defendant’s knowing and deliberate wrongdoing. The deliberate or intentional administration of the wrong drug is not a common occurrence. However, as a recent news report illustrates, it does occur.

Pharmacist Suspended After Purposely Giving Patient Wrong Drug

A pharmacist was recently suspended from practicing and fined after she purposely gave a patient the incorrect drug, according to one news source. Evidently, the pharmacist was working alone on a Saturday night, and a customer came in to fill a prescription for Suboxone for the patient’s opioid addiction. The pharmacist had already closed the safe where the drug was held and could not open it. The patient reportedly did not want to wait, and threatened to call the police. According to a report, the pharmacist became stressed and took some Apo-Prednisone pills and crushed them. Apo-Prednisone is commonly used to treat allergic reactions, arthritis, and severe asthma, among other conditions.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Poses Increased Pharmacy Risks to Maryland Patients

July 7, 2020 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As people across the United States and throughout the world have made adjustments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and, likewise, Maryland pharmacies have done the same. For many pharmacists, they communicate with patients through masks and plastic barriers—if they communicate with patients at all. Medication pickups over the counter have also decreased, as many patients have shifted to other forms of delivery.

As in many other fields, pharmacies face new challenges pertaining to patient care and safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been an increase in prescriptions made over the telephone, as well as an increase in prescriptions being delivered by mail and through curbside pickup. These changes and others, implemented to maintain distance between people, can also lead to an increase in medication errors.

According to a recent industry news report, the new protocols can limit a pharmacist’s ability to identify and educate a patient, and it may make it easier to mix up patients with similar biographic information. Indeed, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices received regular reports of mistakes at pharmacy drive-throughs, even before the onset of the pandemic. For example, some prescribers use a pharmacy’s voice response system to call in prescriptions, which may not convey all information accurately. Additionally, physical barriers, such as masks and plastic barriers, when combined with an increased distance between pharmacists and patients, can also increase the chance of miscommunication.

A Maryland Pharmacy Error Can Happen Just About Anywhere

June 25, 2020 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

During the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people have been relying on delivery services and online retailers such as Amazon to supply them with their everyday needs and wants. Some popular products, such as face masks have even been on back order, as many individuals quarantined at home attempt the order them online. But Maryland residents may be surprised to hear that, in rare cases, the Amazon package left on your front porch may not be what you ordered at all. It could, instead, be the result of a major Maryland pharmaceutical error or package mix-up, like the package left on a California woman’s door earlier this month.

As reported by one local news source, a woman in California was recently excited to see an Amazon package on her front porch. As many of us would, she thought it was her order, which had been on back order and took a while to be delivered. Instead, when she opened it, she found something else entirely: seven bottles of powerful narcotics, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine, along with an invoice from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Of course, the woman wants to know how all of these powerful pills—literally hundreds—ended up in her Amazon package.

A DEA Special agent stated that he believes a pharmacy that was attempting to dispose of the drugs used a third-party shipper to send the package to Texas for proper disposal. However, the shipping labels may have been switched, leading to the unfortunate mix-up. Amazon, in a written statement, said it thought that perhaps the seller made the error, and instead of shipping the requested product they incorrectly included the drugs. Whatever the case may be, the DEA is investigating the incident. The drugs in the package are extremely dangerous, so the DEA wants to make sure there’s nothing more sinister going on.