Pharmacy Errors in the News

Lax Reporting Requirements May Be Behind the High Number of Maryland Pharmacy Errors

December 27, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

After a patient is prescribed a medication by their doctor, they assume that the medication provided by the pharmacy will help their condition. However, statistics show that there are a frightening number of pharmacy errors each year. Indeed, according to the World Health Organization, it is estimated that nearly 50 percent of all patients will experience a pharmacy error at some point in their life.

As is the case with most accidents, there are several causes of pharmacy errors. One cause that has garnered significant attention over the past few years is the lax reporting requirements following a pharmacy error. In most states, including Maryland, a pharmacist who discovers that he made an error is not required to report the error. It is only in certain, limited situations that the error must be reported. Experts believe that implementing stricter reporting requirements may bring to light common errors, as well as ways to improve patient safety.

Some states are working to create stricter pharmacy error reporting requirements. According to a recent news report, Ohio lawmakers recently passed a law requiring pharmacists to report prescription errors that harm or kill patients because of reckless behavior or unprofessional conduct. In determining whether to pass the law, lawmakers reviewed data suggesting that there were two deaths and 31 cases of serious injuries in the state over just the past four years. Under the new law, a pharmacist’s failure to report an error could result in disciplinary action, a suspension of their license, required additional coursework, monetary fines, and potentially the revocation of the pharmacist’s license.

Is There a Risk to Getting the Flu Shot in Maryland?

November 26, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

With flu season approaching, many individuals across Maryland are headed to get their flu shots to try and protect themselves, their families, and their communities. Indeed, getting a flu shot is typically one of the safest and healthiest things you can do. Unfortunately, however, getting any shot, including the flu shot, always comes with some risks. Sometimes medical professionals may make a mistake, or pharmacy mishaps can happen, leading to individuals getting injected with the wrong medicine.

For instance, ten individuals were hospitalized earlier this month when they were given the wrong shot. According to a local news report covering the incident, a group home for developmentally disabled individuals brought in health professionals to give flu shots to residents and staff, to protect the home from the flu as much as possible. However, the vial containing the flu vaccine actually contained insulin, and the insulin was mistakenly injected into patients. As a result of the mix-up, ten people had to be transported to the hospital.

This tragic story highlights that, unfortunately, even well-trained medical professionals can make, or be a part of, a pharmacy mistake. According to the police, the person giving the shots at the group home had been practicing pharmacy for 40 years. Authorities are still not sure how the mix-up happened, but as of right now believe it to be a terrible mistake.

Common Issues in Maryland Pharmacy Error Cases

November 12, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

When a pharmacist incorrectly fills a patient’s prescription, the pharmacist may be liable to the patient for any injuries that occur as a result of the medical error. However, in a Maryland pharmacy error lawsuit, a patient must be able to prove not just that an error was made, but that the pharmacist’s error caused them harm. While this may sound simple in theory, in practice the issues of causation and damages often raise significant hurdles.

Take, for example, a recent pharmacy error. According to a recent article, a patient was given a prescription for “Potassium Citrate ER 10 MEQ (1080mg) CR-TABS” after having a procedure to remove several kidney stones. The hospital printed out the correct prescription, and the patient took the prescription to be filled at a satellite location of the hospital pharmacy. However, upon taking it to the pharmacy, the patient was provided with “Potassium CL 10 MEQ 120.”

According to the man’s claim, the hospital’s pharmacy later called a local Rite-Aid to transfer the prescription, at his request. However, rather than calling in the correct prescription, the hospital pharmacy called in the Potassium CL 10 MEQ 120 pills. The man continued to take the medication for seven months, refilling the prescription each month. In total, the patient took the wrong medication for 10 months. During this time, the patient continued to form kidney stones, requiring additional treatment.

Are Patients Who Use Mail Order Pharmacies at Greater Risk for a Maryland Pharmacy Error?

November 5, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Most people fill their prescriptions at a local pharmacy. However, over the past decade, more patients have begun to use mail-order pharmacies to fill their prescriptions. For many, mail-order pharmacies offer convenience and, for some patients, medication may be available at a lower cost. However, mail order pharmacies also present certain risks to patients. Indeed, there are hundreds of Maryland medication errors resulting from the negligence of mail-order pharmacies.

Not surprisingly, given the seriousness of the substances they deal with, pharmacists have a legal duty to their patients to accurately fill prescriptions and provide sound advice regarding the provided medication. Common types of errors include giving patients the wrong medication, dose, or incorrect instructions for how to take the medication. When a pharmacist makes an error that adversely affects a patient’s health, the pharmacist may be liable for the patient’s injuries.

Recently, the family of a woman who died as a result of taking unprescribed medication filed a lawsuit against the mail-order pharmacy that filled the woman’s prescription. According to a recent news report, the error occurred back in 2013, when the 74-year-old patient was sent medication she thought to be for her various conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney dysfunction and a history of strokes. However, as it turns out, the pharmacy sent the woman six prescriptions that were meant for another woman.

Maryland Pharmacies’ Failure to Warn Patients of Side Effects Can Result in Serious Injuries

October 22, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

When a patient picks up prescription medication from a pharmacy, they assume that the instructions given to them on the medication are correct, and that the medication won’t harm them. But unfortunately, far too many Maryland patients are harmed each year as a result of a pharmacy error. One common type of error is failing to warn the patient about potential side effects that may occur, and when the patient should stop taking the medication because of those side effects.

Pharmacies have a duty to warn their patients about the common side effects of drugs and can be held liable in some instances for injuries sustained if they fail to warn. For instance, if a drug causes drowsiness and patients taking the drug are advised not to drive while on it, the pharmacy must warn patients of this. If not, they could be held liable for injuries resulting from a motor vehicle accident if it was caused by the side-effect of the drug. Plaintiffs bringing a negligence suit in these cases can recover monetary damages if they can prove the elements of a negligence suit: that the pharmacy had a duty to warn their patients, that they breached this duty, that the breach was the proximate cause of the injury, and that real damages were suffered as a result of the injury.

Recently, a state appellate court considered a case arising from this very type of accident. According to the court’s written opinion, the patient had purchased a prescription drug product at her local pharmacy. The bottle given to her with the product had instructions to “Finish All Of This Medicine Unless Otherwise Directed By Your Doctor.” The bottle did not include any warning to stop using the product if the patient developed a skin rash or other adverse reaction.

Maryland Medical Errors in Pharmacies and Clinics Remain a Leading Cause of Death

September 5, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Although the Center for Disease Control (CDC) does not currently list medical errors as a cause of death, medical errors claim more than 250,000 lives per year. If listed among other causes of death, this figure would be the third leading cause of death in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer. Not surprisingly, Maryland pharmacy errors are among the leading causes of death in the state.

While there are many types of medical errors, one of the more common types is a prescription error, or pharmacy error. A pharmacy error occurs when a patient brings a prescription to a pharmacy to get filled and the pharmacy provides the patient with something other than what they were supposed to receive. Most commonly, prescription errors involve one or more of the following errors:

The wrong medication;

Medical Errors in Maryland Nursing Homes

July 12, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

People who have family members in Maryland nursing homes should closely monitor the health of their loved ones. While many nursing homes offer quality care that is provided by compassionate and caring staff members, that is not always the case. Too often, nursing home management tries to cut corners on staffing costs by keeping the number of nurses and other employees at a minimum.

Not only does this mean that there are fewer staff members to help care for residents, but it also places a heightened burden on employees. In turn, this increases the chance that staff members will forget to give a staff member mediation or provide them with the wrong medication when they are in a hurry to move on to another task.

According to a local news article, a nursing home recently agreed to pay the family of a resident who died while in the facility’s care $11 million after reports emerged that the home failed to provide the resident with necessary antibiotic medication. Evidently, the wife of the deceased resident received a letter in the mail six weeks after her husband’s passing, explaining that “there is some information that was not shared with you in regards to the death of your husband.”

Can a Pharmacy’s Overreliance on Technology Put Maryland Patients at Risk?

July 4, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As the population increases, more people are filling prescriptions. This results in an increased burden on Maryland pharmacists. Indeed, many experts believe that this increased workload is the leading cause of pharmacy errors. To help pharmacists efficiently fill prescriptions, many pharmacies rely heavily on technology, including e-prescribing, electronic databases, and software designed to bring pharmacist’s attention to potential adverse interactions.

For the most part, technology makes it possible for pharmacists to do their job. However, there is a concern that an overreliance on technology may put patients in jeopardy. According to a recent news report, all patient records were inadvertently deleted after an IT error at a university pharmacy. Evidently, the lost data included prescription and refill history and insurance information for all customers. Pharmacy staff estimate that the affected number of patients is somewhere around 50,000.

As a result of the error, the pharmacy’s databases must all be rebuilt. This requires pharmacists manually enter in all patient data, including insurance information and prescription history. Patients are being asked to call their physician and have them reorder all necessary prescriptions. For now, there have not been any reported pharmacy errors that have occurred as a result of the loss of patient data.

Will a Pharmacist’s Fear of Criminal Prosecution Increase the Risk of a Maryland Pharmacy Error?

April 17, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It is estimated that Maryland medication errors are responsible for up to a third of all preventable deaths in the state. Thus, encouraging safer prescription practices is a paramount concern among lawmakers. According to a recent news report, there is currently ongoing debate on whether imposing criminal sanctions against medical professionals who were found to be negligent would decrease the total number of errors.

Earlier this year, we covered a tragic case involving the death of a hospital patient after he was administered the wrong medication by an attending nurse. The nurse is alleged to have disregarded hospital protocol and overlooked several errors, ultimately resulting in the patient’s death. Although the state health department decided not to revoke the nurse’s license, the local prosecuting authority recently filed reckless homicide charges against her, claiming that her conduct was criminal. If convicted, the nurse could face years in prison.

The local prosecuting authority’s decision to pursue criminal charges against the nurse has triggered a discussion regarding the possible effects that imposing criminal liability against negligent nurses or pharmacists could have on Maryland pharmacy error rates. On the one hand, patient advocates argue that more accountability would increase the amount of care that nurses and pharmacists would provide to each patient. Because the leading cause of pharmacy errors is distraction or inattention, in theory, this would decrease the number of pharmacy errors.

ISMP Hopes Maryland Pharmacists Will Take Extra Precautions After Fatal Pharmacy Error

February 4, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Recently, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) issued a report asking that Maryland pharmacists, as well as pharmacists across the country, take additional precautions in the wake of a fatal 2017 pharmacy error. The ISMP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the number of pharmacy errors across the United States. In furtherance of that goal, the ISMP operates a voluntary error-reporting system. The ISMP then uses this data to work with pharmaceutical companies to eliminate the root causes of common errors such as similarly named drugs, confusing packaging, and dangerous device design.

The Error

According to the ISMP report, a patient was admitted into the ICU with a headache and vision loss. An MRI was conducted, and it was determined that the patient had a hematoma of the brain. The patient was transferred, and a full-body scan was ordered. While the radiologist was explaining the procedure to the patient, the patient indicated she had claustrophobia. The radiologist requested the patient be given a dose of Versed to help with her claustrophobia.

Evidently, the patient’s primary nurse requested that a radiology nurse provide the patient with the medication. The radiology nurse declined, stating that the patient would need to be monitored after administration of the drug. The primary nurse indicated she would send another nurse to the radiology department to monitor the patient after she was given the medication.