Recently, a New Zealand boy was admitted to the hospital three times after he was provided a prescription that was 10 times stronger than prescribed by his physician. According to a local news report covering the error and the subsequent investigation, the boy suffers from cerebral palsy and is prescribed Baclofen,…
Earlier this month, a court in Nevada heard a case involving an interesting legal issue that has recently come up in courts across the nation. In the case, Burton v. Walgreen, the issue was whether a pharmacy had a duty to preserve evidence of an error made by one of…
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…
In order to reduce pharmacy errors, a hospital in Japan has adopted quality control procedures developed and used by Toyota, according to a recent article. The new procedures are intended to improve workflow among the hospital’s 30 pharmacists, who work in staggered shifts among racks and racks of prescription medications.…
Medical errors account for a huge number of serious injuries and deaths across the United States each year. In fact, according to a recent report, medical errors are the third-most common cause of death in the United States. Included in the term “medical errors” are mistakes made by doctors, such…
Prescription drugs are controlled by the government for a reason. They are often very powerful medications that can be dangerous when taken at the same time as other medications, they may be easily abused, and they may have very sensitive dosing instructions. However, when a doctor prescribes a patient a…
When most people think of pharmacy errors, they think of a busy pharmacist behind the counter at a grocery store or retail pharmacy. However, pharmacy errors occur in all shapes and sizes and at all locations, including errors in medications that are administered in the hospital by medical professionals. Many…
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…
Prescription drugs are controlled by the government for a reason. Often, prescription drugs are dangerous if they are taken in conjunction with other medications, can more easily lead to an inadvertent overdose, and may easily lead to abuse because of their addictive qualities. Over the past few years, the court…
As you may recall reading on this blog a few weeks ago, back in early June of this year, an eight-year-old Colorado boy passed away after he was given 1,000 times the correct dose of his medication. The news of this tragic accident shocked the nation, and reporters have been following…