Fatal Pharmacy Errors

Man Files Wrongful Death Case Against CVS for Alleged Fatal Pharmacy Error

February 9, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this year in Lincoln County, Kentucky, a father filed a wrongful death suit against a local CVS pharmacy for their alleged involvement in his son’s death. According to one local news source, the lawsuit filed by the man names the CVS in Danville, Kentucky as well as several employees in the store.

Evidently, the man’s son was admitted to the hospital for a pulmonary embolism and upon his discharge was prescribed several medications by his physician. After his discharge, he went to his local CVS pharmacy and filled the prescriptions. The pharmacy gave him the wrong medication. However, since these were not prescriptions that he normally takes, it wasn’t until two days later that he noticed the medications provided by the pharmacy were not the ones prescribed by his doctor.

He was taken to the hospital by a friend of the family and entered into a fatal cardiac arrest 10 days later. The boy’s father is seeking damages for his son’s pain and suffering, death, loss of earning capacity, and medical and funeral expenses. CVS has not yet responded to or made any public comment on the lawsuit.

Massachusetts Pharmacy Owners Facing 25 Counts of Murder for Using Expired Ingredients in Medications

January 15, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Boston, the Associated Press reported on a story of a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy that was under criminal investigation for over 25 deaths caused by medication that the pharmacy created. According to the report, the case is the largest in U.S. history to be brought against a pharmacy and alleges that the owner of the pharmacy and 14 former employees were engaged in criminal conduct in the creation of medication using expired ingredients.

Evidently, the New England Compounding Center employees are charged with knowingly using expired ingredients as well as failing to follow cleanliness standards that ultimately resulted in over 750 cases of illness and 64 deaths nationwide.

According to the article, the federal government recently seized over $18 million in funds that were being transferred into and out of accounts with various owners’ names on them. The seizures spanned 13 financial institutions and dozens of transfers.

Elderly Woman Dies After Being Prescribed Three Times Her Actual Dose

November 17, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in the United Kingdom, an 85-year-old woman died when she took medication that was given to her by her pharmacist that was three times her normal dose. According to a report by one local news source, the woman was prescribed a 25 mg dose of a common anti-depressant medication. However, her local pharmacist admitted to giving her a box of 75 mg pills with a label on the package indicating it contained 25 mg pills.

Evidently, the elderly woman had been taking the same medication without incident since 1984. However, after taking the increased dose of medication for one month, the woman’s family began to notice that their loved one was confused and forgetful. In fact, one of her family members told reporters that they thought she was suffering from Alzheimer’s.

Not long after she began taking the triple dose of medication, the woman suffered a serious fall that caused her to break six ribs, puncture her lung, and caused her internal bleeding. About 10 days after the fall, she died as a result of the injuries she sustained.

British Columbia Woman Dies When Pharmacists Fail to Catch Dangerous Drug Combination

October 16, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a frightening case out of British Columbia, a 76-year-old, otherwise healthy woman died when she was prescribed two drugs that were known to have dangerous interactions. According to a report by one local news source, the error slipped past the physician, two pharmacists, and the computer system that tracks drug interactions.

Evidently, the woman was on maintenance therapy for her colitis with a drug called mercaptopurine, an immunosuppressant. When the woman developed a case of gout, her prescribing doctor sent her to the pharmacy with a prescription for another drug. The two drugs were prescribed by the same doctor.

When she went to the pharmacy to fill her prescription for the new medication, no one at the pharmacy told her that the two drugs could be dangerous if taken together. The woman went home, continued taking her mercaptopurine, and started with the new drug as well.

Woman Dies After Pharmacist Supplied the Wrong Surgical Dye

September 8, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Not too long ago, two sons lost their mother during what was supposed to be a routine two-hour surgery to help deliver soothing medication to her aching muscles and bones. According to a report by the Boston Globe, the woman fell last summer and broke several of her vertebrae. Doctors fused several of the bones together to prevent them from moving, but her persistent pain continued.

Eventually, doctors recommended a routine surgery to put a small pump under her skin to more quickly deliver medication to her spine and the surrounding muscles. As a part of the surgery, the surgeon needed to use a certain type of dye that is to be injected into the spine. However, when he asked the hospital’s pharmacist for the dye, the pharmacist replied that they didn’t carry that dye and provided an alternative.

Not looking at what the dye was, and assuming it was a replacement for the requested dye, the doctor injected the dye into the woman’s spine. After the surgery, the doctor told the woman’s sons that the surgery didn’t go as well as expected, but that the pump should still work.

New Zealand Man Dies Due to Pharmacist’s Error

September 3, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in New Zealand, a man died from a preventable and accidental overdose of rheumatoid arthritis medication, a doctor’s error that went undetected by the pharmacist who filled the prescription. According to a report by a local New Zealand news source, the man had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis for 20 years and had been on this exact medication previously. However, he had to be taken off the medication when his liver function started to decrease. Since then, he had been re-prescribed the medication after his liver function returned to normal.

Evidently, the prescribing doctor made the first mistake, prescribing the medication to be taken daily rather than weekly as it should have been prescribed. When the man took the prescription to his local pharmacy, the pharmacist transcribed the prescription exactly as the doctor wrote it, instructing the man to take the medication daily.

Shortly after he began taking the medication, he noticed severe adverse side effects, such as mouth ulcers, a sore throat, and an abnormal blood count. When he went to have his symptoms checked out, he was diagnosed with methotrexate toxicity, a result of an overdose of the rheumatoid arthritis medication.