Pharmacy Error Injury Lawyer Blog

Use of “Performance Metrics” May Increase Total Number of Pharmacy Errors

March 16, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Pharmacies are businesses. And, like all businesses, the number one goal of a pharmacy is to remain profitable. Of course, most pharmacists are good people and truly care about their patients. However, the pharmacists are rarely the ones making the staffing policies that can lead to pharmacy errors.

It has been argued by some sources that many, if not most, of the prescription errors that occur today are caused by overworked pharmacists. An understaffed pharmacy is much more likely to send out a prescription with an unprescribed medication, an incorrect dose, or a wrong number of pills.

This trade-off between the profit and safety has caused some concern over the past few years in the field. However, one new trend that is appearing in pharmacies across the country threatens to worsen the already imperfect system by applying another set of pressures on already overworked pharmacists.

Woman Forced to Abandon IVF Attempt After Pharmacist’s Error

March 9, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, one woman in New Zealand was forced to abandon her in vitro fertilization (IVF) attempt when she was provided the wrong dose of a necessary medication by her local pharmacy. According to a report by a New Zealand news source, the woman was undergoing a frozen egg transfer as part of her IVF treatment. As a part of that procedure, she was prescribed oestradiol valerate.

The medicine was faxed to her pharmacy. The receiving pharmacist typed in the first few letters of the medication, and the computer automatically populated the result: oestriol. The pharmacist filled the prescription for oestriol rather than oestradiol valerate.

When the woman went to pick up her prescription, she didn’t notice the mistake. She accepted the medicine from the pharmacist and began taking it according to the label’s instructions.

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.

New Report of Pharmacy Errors Points Out Lack of Accountability

January 29, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A recent report by one local Canadian news source points out that, despite there being thousands upon thousands of prescription errors in Canada each year, there is little in the way of accountability for pharmacists who make the errors. According to the report, Canada has about 38,000 pharmacists who fill about half a billion prescriptions each year. But the error rate is unknown.

One woman told reporters that she was provided a double dose of her anxiety medication when she went to have her prescription filled. Another woman told her story about how she was not told by her pharmacist that a prescribed anti-seizure medication would interfere with her birth control. She ended up getting pregnant.

Another man was provided blood-pressure medication instead of the anti-inflammatory his doctor prescribed. He was in such pain that he had to take time off from work, and he eventually lost his job of 30 years as a result of the error. Now he is on permanent disability.

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.