When a person goes to their pharmacy to get a prescription filled, they hope that it is accurate. However, if there is a problem with the prescription—whether it be the dosage, the instructions, or the drug itself—the patient has an opportunity to review the prescription before ingesting the medication. However, this…
Recently disclosed federal court filings have revealed settlement agreements between the U.S. Government and PhyAmerica Corp, a Louisville, Kentucky company that is the nation’s second-largest operator of institutional pharmacies. One of the lawsuits focused on the company’s widespread misuse of Depakote, a seizure drug. According to one news source, the…
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…
Pharmacies are businesses. They exist to make money. When a pharmacy wants to pad the proverbial “bottom line” this usually means cutting corners elsewhere. In a frightening news report out of Houston, reporters spoke to several former pharmacists and pharmacy experts who told them that the public has no idea…
From coast to coast, pharmacy errors have been on the rise lately. While some pharmacy errors are harmless, and many are caught before the patient actually ingests the medication, others can result in serious injury or death. One recent article from a local news source in Oklahoma City discusses the…
Pharmacy errors are a serious problem in the American healthcare system. With nearly four billion prescriptions nationwide, and only 240,000 pharmacists, the ratio is not a favorable one for the patient looking to get his or her prescription filled. In fact, by some estimates, there are 2.2 to 3.7 million…
The United States is one of only three countries in the world that does not use the metric system in practice. While the official system of measurement in the States is the metric system, in reality, no one really uses it. However, this can cause a problem when children are…
A national pharmacy chain has partnered with a medical school and a pharmacy school to open a store that will explore a new model for patient care. The “Walgreens at UCSF” store, located on the University of California, San Francisco campus, is reportedly designed to enable extensive communication between pharmacists…
A new study, conducted in Irish hospitals and published in a British journal, reviewed the effectiveness of a “collaborative” model of managing hospital patients’ medications. The model, known as the Collaborative Pharmaceutical Care in Tallaght Hospital (PACT), involves close involvement of clinical pharmacists in all stages of patient care during…