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Troubleshooters Investigate Pharmacy Prescription Errors
If you fill prescriptions at your local pharmacy, listen up. The NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters are looking into prescription- and pharmacy-related medical mistakes investigated by the state.
Hundreds of thousands of prescription medications are filled at pharmacies all across Connecticut every week, but what happens when there is something wrong with the pills prescribed to you?
There are roughly 3,500 practicing pharmacists statewide and the Troubleshooters have learned less than three dozen pharmacists have reached settlement agreements with the Department of Consumer Protection in recent years.
Prescription errors impact families and pharmacies and West Hartford Attorney Kerry Wisser has worked with a number of affected individuals in his 30-year career.
“This one relates to a newborn baby. Newborn babies often suffer from something called thrush, which is just an infection in their mouth, It’s a yeast type of infection from breast feeding,” Wisser said.
Wisser said his client wasn’t given the prescribed liquid steroid needed to make her baby healthy.
“In this instance, the pharmacy gave the medication to the mother of a liquid Phenobarbital. Phenobarbital is utilized for epilepsy or other seizure disorders, so the baby was given that for, I think a period of seven days, twice a day. The baby was very lethargic; the baby had constipation and other issues like that,” he said.
Fortunately, the child is OK.
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Attorney Comment:
Right-drug-wrong-dose mistakes are not unique to Connecticut! Pharmacy mix-ups happen all across the country everyday, putting patients at risk for serious and permanent injuries. Prescription errors, medication mistakes and drug defects can result in a patient suffering additional health problems, longer hospital stays, and in some instances, even death.
What Kinds of Errors Happen in a Pharmacy?
- Putting the wrong drug into the patient’s prescription bottle;
- Putting the wrong dose of a medication into the patient’s prescription bottle;
- Giving a patient a different patient’s medication;
- Failing to advise the patient how to take the medication properly;
- Failing to advise the patient of potential side effects or drug interactions;
- Failure to call the ordering doctor for clarification if a prescription note is illegible; and
- Improperly filling the prescription for a patient.
If you believe you or a loved one has suffered an injury as a result of a prescription error, medication mistake or drug defect, please call us directly at 844 RX ERROR (844.793.7767) or email Aaron Freiwald at ajf@freiwaldlaw.com or Diane Danois at dld@freiwaldlaw.com.
Please join this conversation about prescription errors, medication mistakes and drug defects, by visiting RxErrors.com and by following me on Twitter @RxErrorLaw.
