Pharmacy

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  • LCHIEN
    Internet Fact Checker
    • Dec 2002
    • 20914
    • Katy, TX, USA.
    • BT3000 vintage 1999

    Pharmacy

    My local pharmacy filled a prescription for me for my blood pressure medication.
    I took a few before i noticed that there were two different capsules in the bottle - same size but one was white/dark blue with a letter/number and the other was white/dark green with a letter and different number.

    The bottle actually said it should be a white/green pill and gave the number.
    It took me while but I found via the internet the other number was slightly different strength (stronger).

    So probably it wasn't serious.

    But it seems to me that supplying the wrong medication is potentially very dangerous. I mean, if they gave you totally the wrong thing you would not get the treatment for what ailed you that you thought you were getting and if that didn't kill you then the wrong medication could totally wreck you with possible reactions to other stuff you are taking and kill you.

    It happened to me once before (actually to my wife) when they gave totally the wrong thing and she was pregnant and I let it slide then (different pharmacy many years ago). I caught it before she took any and they replaced it without any comment or apology.

    Do pharmacy medicine mixups occur often and should I make a federal case of it? I really don't think no comment and no apology is enough.
    Last edited by LCHIEN; 01-26-2015, 12:21 PM.
    Loring in Katy, TX USA
    If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
    BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions
  • trungdok
    Established Member
    • Oct 2012
    • 235
    • MA

    #2
    Pharmacy mix ups happen all the time. My friends are pharmacists and they constantly complaining about people mixing things up -- usually by the technicians, but sometimes by the pharmacists.

    Sounds like they didn't have enough pills in one bottle so they grabbed the next available bottle but didn't realized they grabbed the one with the different strength. You don't have to make a federal case out of it, but you should bring it back and let them know. They will rectify it and hopefully be more mindful the next time. They really should at least apologize to you though. I know my friends do no matter if it's their fault or not -- it's just the right thing to do.

    Comment

    • atgcpaul
      Veteran Member
      • Aug 2003
      • 4055
      • Maryland
      • Grizzly 1023SLX

      #3
      You should definitely bring the issue up with the pharmacist. It's likely they didn't even realize it or someone thought they'd save shelf space and inadvertently combined two different strength bottles into one.

      Honestly, I'm surprised we don't hear about more mishaps like this more often since the process is so manual from writing the prescription, to reading it, to getting the right bottle, to counting the right number of pills, etc. IIRC the most recent issue was raised by actor Dennis Quaid and his wife after their twin baby daughters were given several orders of magnitude of medicine than what was prescribed. That was 7 years ago, though.

      The actor and his wife say the labeling of heparin by the manufacturer helped lead to the accidental overdose of their infant twins.



      I work in a lab and you'd be surprised how many of our PhD chemists still mix up SI units or misread units. For example, microgram is abbreviated "ug"--that's supposed to be the Greek letter "mu" in front--and milligram which is abbreviated "mg". Read it one way or another and you're off 1000 fold.

      Comment

      • leehljp
        Just me
        • Dec 2002
        • 8429
        • Tunica, MS
        • BT3000/3100

        #4
        The least you should do is let them know about the mix-up. It does happen and not just there but with Doctors and even their staff also.

        It seems that for some people, mistakes in dosage, diagnosis etc seems to follow them around. . AND some people never seem to have such problems (like LOML and she is diabetic but not on insulin.) I haven't had medicine mistakes dispensed to me, but I seem to get misdiagnosed health problems repeatedly, and when I do and know it, I let them know that something isn't right.

        It isn't necessary to chastize someone but it is good and necessary to let them know that mistakes were made. Accountability is a good thing.
        Last edited by leehljp; 01-26-2015, 03:43 PM.
        Hank Lee

        Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

        Comment

        • Condoman44
          Established Member
          • Nov 2013
          • 178
          • CT near Norwich
          • Ryobi BT3000

          #5
          I have a friend who almost lost his wife because of an Rx mistake. It taught me to verify what I take.

          I just went to Walmart today as a first time Rx fill. I will definitely check out the Rx when I get it Wednesday.

          Being in CT I am going to stick my head in the sand (snow) till the storm passes, hatches are battened.

          Comment

          • TB Roye
            Veteran Member
            • Jan 2004
            • 2969
            • Sacramento, CA, USA.
            • BT3100

            #6
            I would let the Pharmacy and your Doctor know about the issue. My BP pill is pink and so is my long lasting Nitro pill, but it is oval. My Cholesterol Pill is oval but white. if they were all the same color or shape I could be in trouble. Take the BP pill twice a day so once with the pink oval pill and the in evening with the whit oval pill. I belong to Kaiser. I go online to their website and to my page and reorder my meds form there just check off the ones I need and 3 days later they are here. Never had a problem yet. In an emergency I can got the Pharmacy at ER and get a supply there. For all I know they may have robot filling the prescription refills and the refill center is big.

            Tom

            Comment

            • LCHIEN
              Internet Fact Checker
              • Dec 2002
              • 20914
              • Katy, TX, USA.
              • BT3000 vintage 1999

              #7
              I thnk I'm going to have to eat crow on this one. Its my fault.
              I think I had some earlier pills left in a bottle of the other strength I put them in this bottle. Mixing them together and there were just four of five it turned - I know I had changed strength but i thought hese were the same. When I poured out the bottle I saw they were all on top.
              In lwo light the dark green and dark blue are hard to tell apart.

              Sorry i overreacted. Bad judgement on my part.
              Thanks for the comments.
              Last edited by LCHIEN; 01-27-2015, 10:44 AM.
              Loring in Katy, TX USA
              If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
              BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

              Comment

              • TB Roye
                Veteran Member
                • Jan 2004
                • 2969
                • Sacramento, CA, USA.
                • BT3100

                #8
                Been there, done that. When Dr changed pill this time I disposed of old pill before open new one. Took back to Pharmacy and asked them to dispose of them.

                Tom

                Comment

                • LinuxRandal
                  Veteran Member
                  • Feb 2005
                  • 4889
                  • Independence, MO, USA.
                  • bt3100

                  #9
                  The no comment or apology thing doesn't surprise me. It is a legal thing; admission of guilt if there were to be any court case.
                  She couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod, and the bathroom. We had to go back for her.........................Twice.

                  Comment

                  • atgcpaul
                    Veteran Member
                    • Aug 2003
                    • 4055
                    • Maryland
                    • Grizzly 1023SLX

                    #10
                    I asked my coworker whose wife is a pharmacist how often this happens. Not very much according to her. She worked retail for years but is now in a hospital pharmacy. He said the pharmacist is the last line of defense to ensure the correct medication is going out the door. They check every order that gets filled and in the instances where the pharmacist fills it, they have the tech check it, and then the pharmacist does the final sign off. The pharmacist could lose their license since it's ultimately their responsibility.

                    In one of her retail settings, a grocery store pharmacy next to an retirement community, her store had an automated pill filler. The machine was stocked with the common prescription items and would automatically count and dispense pills when an order went in. The tech would retrieve the filled bottle, do a check, slap the label on it, and then the pharmacist would check it again.

                    This page is 5 years old but it lists state by state where pharmacists are allowed to substitute generics for brand name. There are cases where the generic, although identical in active ingredient and dosage, doesn't perform the same as the brand name.

                    Comment

                    • phrog
                      Veteran Member
                      • Jul 2005
                      • 1796
                      • Chattanooga, TN, USA.

                      #11
                      Originally posted by LCHIEN
                      I thnk I'm going to have to eat crow on this one. Its my fault.
                      I think I had some earlier pills left in a bottle of the other strength I put them in this bottle. Mixing them together and there were just four of five it turned - I know I had changed strength but i thought hese were the same. When I poured out the bottle I saw they were all on top.
                      In lwo light the dark green and dark blue are hard to tell apart.

                      Sorry i overreacted. Bad judgement on my part.
                      Thanks for the comments.
                      I think you just moved up a number of notches in the Respect column. It's rare that people today admit their mistakes. Thanks.
                      Richard

                      Comment

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