Should you Trust a Pharmacy?
Imagine that you’re a Pharmacy Technician. It’s an extremely busy day and you have a continuous line of ill, cranky, people who want to go home trying to pick up their prescriptions. Your pharmacy is short handed that day so you are performing three different technicians’ jobs at one time. A patient’s prescription is not being covered for unknown reasons and you must call the insurance company, three people are standing in line impatiently to drop off their prescriptions, and there are twenty prescriptions waiting to get filled. Also, the one Pharmacist on duty still has twenty more prescriptions that have already been filled that must be checked for errors before they are released to the patients. Does this make it okay for them to make a mistake every once in a while?
Running around like a chicken with your head cut off while other technicians yell at you to hurry up was the case a lot of times in the pharmacy where I used to employed. The environment was very stressful due to the volume of customers and lack of employees. Every once in a while there was a possibility that a patient’s prescription got crossed with another’s. Crossing a prescription can be deadly so it is imminent that technicians pay close attention to the prescriptions they give out to the patients.
According to the Denver Post, a six week pregnant woman by the name of Mareena Silva dropped off her prescription at a Safeway pharmacy. She was prescribed an antibiotic by her doctor for an illness. The Safeway pharmacy somehow accidentally mixed up her prescription with another patient’s prescription. Mareena Silva took this Methotrexate thinking that it would cure her illness. Silva was horrified when she realized that it was not the prescription she was prescribed, it was prescribed to someone else. According to Drug Information Online, the prescription Methotrexate is used by patients with rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and in pregnancy for slowing “the growth of rapidly dividing cells, such as embryonic, fetal, and early placenta cells.” Silva was rushed to the hospital in fear that her baby was in grave danger. The results have not been released yet whether or not the baby survived the Methotrexate. Generally, a patient with the prescribed drug is prescribed to take it twice a week for about three months in order to end a pregnancy so it is possible that it had no effect. Hopefully the baby is okay.
It is never okay to give someone the wrong prescription and Mareena Silva is a great example of how giving someone the wrong prescription can be devastating. Even though an environment is stressful, it is important to keep in mind that the prescriptions, if given to the wrong person may even kill the patient. Patients also need to ensure that they look at the information on the prescription to make sure that their name and information is on the bottle. Also, be familiar with the prescription that you are prescribed so if you are given something different by mistake you will notice. Pharmacies are one of those places where it is not okay to make a mistake, but people are only human and from time to time, mistakes will happen. I will not trust a pharmacy when it comes to my drugs, I will always check them before I take them.
Megan,
ReplyDeleteThe thought never crossed my mind about a problem such as this one. I've never question my pharmacist nor have I ever had a mix-up problem ever in my life. That's crazy that that lady was given the wrong medicine! I imagine the thought of a mix-up never crossed her mind either. I do think though, that if you are a pharmacist, you need to be making sure the right medicine is given to the right patient. By giving the wrong stuff to the wrong person it could come with serious consequences. Nobody likes to be sued, but I sure wouldn't want to be the one responsible for somebody's death because I gave them the wrong medicine and it was my job to make sure they had the right medicine. The lady in that story was lucky that nothing bad happened to her or her baby, and the pharmacist was lucky that the lady didn't raise hell about it. I'm just saying, I would have double checked it. I would rather be safe than sorry. I work in a kitchen and if I were to give somebody some bad food just because I was in a hurry then I don't think that customer would be very happy. I'm usually the only cook back there and when there are other cook's back there with me, I'm the one in charge, so not only do I have to make sure the food is cooked and sent out right, I also have to command the chicken coop I'm in charge of. It gets pretty crazy, especially in the summertime, because that is when we are the busiest. My boss puts me in charge back there, because she knows I can do it all better than any person she has working there. I have regulars that come in there specifically because I'm there cooking and they know I'm not going to serve them crappy food. My customers trust me and I make sure to keep that trust intact. I think that if your a pharmicist then it's your job to keep your customers trust by making sure they have the right stuff. Good Story though! I'm glad you brought this to everyone's attention!
Wow, that was an interesting post. I honestly have never thought of that before. After reading our blog and thinking of the times I have had to wait at the pharmacy I will certainly be more patient in the future! I do always try to look at my bottle however, when you think of it, you look at your name and the name of the medication. If it is not a medication you take regularly you may not even notice there is difference in the name of the medication and you wouldn't identify the actual pills. Your blog is very thought provoking and honestly has given me a lot to ponder!!
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