Maryland Accident Law Blog

Prescription errors are a prevalent problem in the United States that too often leads to serious injuries and deaths. A USA Today investigation reports that corporate policies—particularly with the larger pharmacy chains, such as CVS and Walgreens—can lead to unnecessary pharmacy mistakes:

•Too many prescriptions, too few pharmacists. Long shifts and minimal breaks can lead to carelessness, fatigue, and inattention when filling prescriptions.

• A reliance on technicians. Technicians lack the training and experience of qualified pharmacists have and are more prone to unknowingly make mistakes.

• An emphasis on speed. Providing speedy customer service can sometimes take priority over carefully filling a prescription.

• Pharmacist incentive awards. Companies such as CVS and Walgreens provide rewards based on prescription volume.

• Counseling gaps. The occasional failure to provide in-person counseling and direction to customers picking up new prescriptions.

In 2003, an Auburn University pharmacy study estimated that the chances of a person experiencing a serious prescription-related error was 1 in 1000. This can add up to a possible 3.7million pharmacy errors annually.

Common Pharmacy Errors Include:

• Filling the right prescription with the wrong medication.
• Filing the prescription correctly but giving it to the wrong customer.
• Not making sure that the customer understands the instructions for how to take the medication.
• Misreading the doctor’s prescription and filling the prescription incorrectly.

Pharmacy errors and prescription misfills can be grounds for personal injury or wrongful death lawsuits if a patient is injured, becomes ill, or dies as a result. In Maryland and Washington D.C., our personal injury attorneyshave successfully handled injury and wrongful death cases caused by pharmacy mistakes. We would be happy to offer you a free consultation to discuss your case.

Speed, high volume can trigger mistakes, USA Today.com, February 11, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Don't be a victim of pharmacy errors, CNN.com, October 30, 2007

Strategies to Reduce Medication Errors, FDA.gov

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A couple is suing Walgreens for wrongful death. The Missouri couple is claiming that the woman miscarried her baby because a Walgreens pharmacy accidentally gave her a chemotherapy drug instead of the prenatal vitamin that a doctor had prescribed her.

Instead of being given the prenatal vitamin Materna, a Walgreens pharmacy in O’Fallon, Missouri gave her Matulane, which is used to treat Hodgkin’s disease. The Physicians’ Desk Reference and Walgreens.com both say that Matulane can cause fetal harm in pregnant women.

Chanda Givens, who was pregnant at the time, suffered skin rashes, nausea, vomiting, vision changes, neurological symptoms, lightheadedness, dizziness, shortness of breath, and chills after taking the drug that she thought was a prenatal vitamin. She took the drug for a few weeks.

When she went to a doctor, a medical exam revealed that the baby was not developing properly. She later miscarried the baby. Her wrongful death lawsuit says that her miscarriage was “a direct and proximate result of the misfill of the prescription for a prenatal vitamin with a potent and toxic chemotherapy drug. Givens and her husband are blaming Walgreens for failing to properly fill the prescription. They say that the pharmacy should have double checked with her doctor as to why a pregnant woman would even take a chemotherapy drug.

The Givens are seeking personal injury damages, including medical costs greater than $75,000 and punitive damages greater than $75,000. The Givens do not want to settle and want to take their wrongful death case to trial.

Pharmacists have a medical responsibility to provide all patients with the proper prescription medication. Giving someone the wrong medication, the wrong dosage of medication, or someone else’s medication can have grave consequences on a person’s health and can lead to a number of serious injuries, including miscarriage, organ damage, strokes, and death.

Common causes for pharmacy misfill errors include pharmacist inexperience, carelessness, negligence, or misreading a prescription note.

Suit faults prescription mistake for miscarriage, STLtoday.com, October 17, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Materna

Matulane

Walgreens

Continue reading "Couple Sues Walgreens for Wrongful Death When Pharmacy Misfill Causes Miscarriage" »

The family of Keith Scofield, a Frederick man who died 20 days after being sold the wrong drug for diabetes at a local Wal-Mart, is suing the retail chain for $50 million in a wrongful death lawsuit. The documents were filed in Frederick County Circuit Court on December 1.

According to the documents, Scofield died on Jan 2, 2006 after taking a prescription that was five times stronger than the over-the-counter dose he had requested at the Guilford Drive Store on December 13. In the complaint, Wal-Mart is being accused of gross negligence related to insulin poisoning. This includes placing the public at risk and failing to properly train pharmacy employees.

Mr. Scofield’s parents and his brother Kraig Scofield are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Kraig was with Keith when a when a Wal-Mart employee gave Keith Humulin R (u-500) instead of Humulin R (u-100). The brothers were not aware that they had been given the wrong medication.

"Wal-Mart failed to implement a proper practice for training pharmacists how to execute their duties and their obligations under Maryland law," Mr. Quinn wrote in the documents. "Wal-Mart had actual knowledge of the employee's incompetence."

The complaint goes on to say that the employee’s failure to include a warning with the medicine led to Scofield’s wrongful death.

Continue reading "In Wrongful Death Suit, Frederick Man’s Family Sues Wal-Mart For $50 Million" »