While many pharmacy errors are the result of an overworked or distracted pharmacist who provides the patient with the incorrect drug, there are a certain number of errors made each year due to prescription drugs being mis-labeled or mis-packaged by the drug’s manufacturer. In these cases, it is likely that the pharmacist…
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…
Chances are most people have heard of or read about someone being provided the wrong prescription or the wrong dose of a medication when they go to pick up their prescription from a retail pharmacy. In fact, these errors are quite common, with some estimates of the number of errors…
When most people think of a pharmacy error, they think of a retail pharmacist providing the wrong drug to a patient who then takes it up to the register, checks out, and goes home to take the medication in their own home. However, this only accounts for a portion of…
Earlier this month, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided a case reinforcing the laws surrounding whom the manufacturer of a medication must warn about the potentially dangerous side effects of the medication. In the case, Yates v. Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharma., Inc., the Court ultimately determined that the duty to warn…
Pharmacy errors occur at an alarming rate across the United States. In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control, there are approximately 1.3 million people who are injured each year by an error made in the pharmacy setting. These errors range in both severity and cause, but the bottom…
Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a warning regarding the confusing packaging on the intravenous antibacterial drug Avycaz. According to one industry news source, the announcement was made after there were several reports of errors made in the dosing of the drug to patients. Evidently, the…
Earlier this month in Auburn University’s Harrison School of Pharmacy, students and professors put on a mock trial, mimicking a real criminal law trial that alleged criminal negligence on the part of a pharmacist who signed off on an improperly diluted medication that was given to a young child. According…
Medication errors are a serious problem in today’s health care world. In fact, it is estimated that there are over 65,000 medication errors that occur across the United States each year, many with disastrous consequences. According to one article published by Modern Healthcare, some are suggesting that the industry shift…
Earlier this month, a local Virginia pharmacy was shut down by state regulators after myriad safety violations were discovered. According to one news source, not only was the pharmacy shut down and its ability to operate suspended, but the lead pharmacist’s license was suspended. Evidently, the pharmacy was the subject…