Pharmacy Error Injury Lawyer Blog
As our Baltimore, Maryland pharmacy error injury attorneys reported in a recent blog, pharmacy errors or misfills can happen in every step of a prescription’s path in a pharmacy. Many factors can lead to prescription error, including misunderstanding a doctor’s handwriting, making mistakes with prescription codes or abbreviations, and misreading a patient’s medical conditions or medication list, among others.
In a recent pharmacy mistake lawsuit, filed last month, Charles Stevens, 70, was given a prescription for Lomotil, an anti-diarrhea medicine that he dropped off to be filled at his local CVS Pharmacy in Santa Barbara, CA in 2009. When Stevens picked up his prescription, he was allegedly mistakenly given a prescription for Warfarin Sodium, a medication prescribed for blood-thinning. Stevens was reportedly already taking blood-thinning medication, and after taking the prescription misfill, he suffered major bleeding, and was immediately taken by his wife to the hospital.
Stevens and his wife are reportedly suing CVS for pharmacy negligence, and pharmacy malpractice, claiming that the pharmacy failed to read the prescription correctly, misfilled his medication bottle with incorrect drugs, and failed to properly analyze Stevens’ medication profile, which could have prevented the medication mistake.
CVS reportedly has a patient profile mechanism that is used to protect patients from such dangerous drug errors as well as dangerous drug combinations, or repeat or double-diagnoses. According to Stevens’ attorney, CVS reportedly admitted to the pharmacy mistake and Stevens’ lawyers are asking for over $200,000 in damages.
Our pharmacy misfill attorneys always stress the importance of getting to know your pharmacists, as reported in a recent blog—and how discussing your medication lists and prescriptions can help prevent pharmacy misfills, mistakes, personal injury, or even death.
Man Files Lawsuit Against CVS, The Santa Barbara Independent, July 28, 2010
Related Web Resources:
U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Medication Error Reports
National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention, (NCCMERP)