Pharmacists are human, and like all other humans they are susceptible to making mistakes. The range of pharmacy errors is vast, from incorrect medications to improper dosing instructions, but the effects are always the same. The patient is put in grave danger of either not receiving their prescribed medication or…
Articles Posted in Common Errors
Recent Study Links Medication Errors to Sound-Alike Drug Names
It should come as no surprise that pharmacists are busy professionals. Often filling thousands of prescriptions a week for hundreds of clients, keeping everything straight can be a difficult task. However, it is one that pharmacists take on willingly. It is also a task that they are legally obligated to…
Fatal Pharmacy Errors and the Parties Responsible for Preventing Them
Pharmacy errors are an unfortunately common phenomenon across the United States. Most often, these errors stem from a single problem: a lack of oversight. Often, serious pharmacy errors occur due to a busy pharmacist or pharmacist technician filling an order in haste, rather than taking the proper amount of time…
Customer Service at Specialty Pharmacies May Be an Issue for Some Patients
As business practices across the board evolve, so does the pharmacy industry. And with brick-and-mortar pharmacies requiring high month-to-month operating costs, mail-order pharmacies are becoming more common as a way for some patients to save money on their costly prescriptions. With the increase in popularity of mail-order pharmacies, more and…
What to Do if the Pharmacist Gives You the Wrong Medication
Ideally, pharmacists would always provide their patients with the correct medication and dosing instructions. However, that is not the reality we live in. It seems as though each week several new reports of prescription errors arise, some with serious or fatal consequences. While the duty to prevent these errors lies…
Pharmacists’ Reactions to Reported Medication Errors
Mistakes happen. Despite the best efforts of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, sometimes an error will occur, and a patient will be provided with the wrong medication, or provided with the right medication but with inaccurate instructions on how to take it. In these cases, patients will almost always first reach…
Statutes of Limitations in Pharmacy Error Cases
Almost all personal injury cases must be brought within a certain amount of time. The laws that set forth the specific amount of time in each type of case are called statutes of limitations. A plaintiff’s failure to bring a suit in the applicable amount of time under the statute…
Woman’s Depression Worsens after Being Provided the Wrong Medication
Earlier this month in New Zealand, a woman who was traveling throughout the country suffered worsening depression and potentially other long-term side effects after a pharmacist provided her with the wrong medication. According to one local news source, the woman went to see a general practice doctor who refilled her…
Pharmacists’ Performance Evaluation Metric Acts Like a “Quota System” to Reward Speed Over Precision
Pharmacies, like other businesses, are operated for profit, and labor is one of the main expenses for a pharmacy. Therefore, a pharmacy that hopes to remain profitable will likely try and provide only enough pharmacists who will be able to fill the prescriptions for the patients who come through the door. Excess…
Pharmacist Mistakenly Provides Chemotherapy Drug to Elderly Patient and Then Tries To Cover Up His Mistake
Earlier this month in New Zealand, a pharmacist was reprimanded by the governing professional board after it was discovered that he made an error in providing a patient with the wrong medication and then tried to cover up his mistake. According to one industry news source, the pharmacist accidentally provided…