Pregnant woman accidentally given abortion pill by Safeway pharmacy

[Hayabusa Rider]

You must be slow. Try reading the article again, it said nothing about birth control pills.

True, but methotrexate comes in small tabs. Regardless, the patients should always know what they are taking and why. Won't matter in court, but it's to their benefit anyway.

 

[Murloc]

that was stupid from both the pharmacist and her.

I mean, how can you take a med without reading the leaflet or at least the box first? That's just dumb.

 

[dpodblood]

I'm not saying the lady new what she was taking in hopes for a major payday, but what I'd like to know is if she was prescribed an antibiotic wouldn't there be many pills versus only one abortion pill? That should have been red flag number one, right?

I think you have misread the article. In this case there would have been a full bottle of pills. The old lady which was supposed to receive this medication wouldn't have been using it for abortion. It would have been used for chemotherapy, or arthritis.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

birth control pills

regular pill bottle

i don't understand how the pt could have made the mistake

Except Methotrexate doesn't come in a blister pack like birth control.

 

[Homerboy]

whoah whoah whoah

"The methotrexate was intended for a 59-year-old woman "

Excuse me?

 

[Capt Caveman]

whoah whoah whoah

"The methotrexate was intended for a 59-year-old woman "

Excuse me?

Do you know what it's prescribed for?

 

[Homerboy]

Do you know what it's prescribed for?

I read more after I posted. You beat me to my edit. 🙂

 

[shortylickens]

that was stupid from both the pharmacist and her.

I mean, how can you take a med without reading the leaflet or at least the box first? That's just dumb.

Yeah I always check the label on everything before it goes inside me. Food and drink, just in case its gross or makes me gag. OTC medicine cuz theres a huge difference between daytime and nighttime Sudafed.
And prescription meds this is a must. ALL bottles look exactly the same. You have to read the freakin label. Thats just silly, the idea someone would pop a pill without knowing for sure what it was.

 

[Exterous]

Hell, even if you read the bottle you can't always trust it. I got ear drops for my middle ear infection and the directions on the bottle said 'Two drops in eye per day'

 

[BrokenVisage]

So she accidentally the whole thing.

 

[chuckywang]

What is the usual payout for negligent homicide? She shouldn't get more than that.

 

[thegimp03]

wft is a 59 year old taking an abortion pill?

Yeah I was thinking the same thing...I didn't know 59 year old women could get pregnant.

 

[Mark R]

And prescription meds this is a must. ALL bottles look exactly the same. You have to read the freakin label. Thats just silly, the idea someone would pop a pill without knowing for sure what it was.

Believe me. A huge proportion of people do exactly that. Certainly in some areas where I've worked as an MD, the majority of people have no idea what they are taking. They simply know they're taking some 'heart pills' or some 'blood pressure pills'.

The fact that pill bottles tend to look exactly alike, is one reason why, over here at least, MDs are encouraged to prescribe in amounts that exactly match one box (not always possible, but regular meds like blood pressure, etc. can be). This way the pharmacist just dispenses a sealed box. Of course, the problem was then that the boxes looked similar. Now, the pharma companies have redesigned their packaging so that different drugs look totally different. E.g. Lasix might come in a green box with a pink and a blue stripe, but Losec might come in an orange box with a blue and a green stripe.

I've certainly had a patient come back to me refusing to take the drugs the pharmacist dispensed because they came in a different box. The drugs were the correct ones, the manufacturer had just changed the box design, but the patient needed a lot of convincing.

 

[preCRT]

Happens all the time, even in hospitals - doctors/nurses giving the wrong medication. Heck they even operate on the wrong arm, leg, etc...

Before I was sedated for surgery, I met with the surgeon to clearly mark where he was going to cut & what he was going to do. I even had to sign off that I saw him delineate the area with a sharpie & sign his initials.

Mistakes do happen. Another time I was hospitalized for a severe asthma attack, a nurse woke me up at 3am, tried to give me a med I was severely allergic to, one that was duly noted in my chart. I was half asleep, yet still aware enough to catch her error & ream her out for trying to kill me.

Only a moron totally shirks responsibility and blindly takes meds, especially when pregnant. Most pregnant women examine every single thing they ingest or consume to make sure it is safe for the baby.

If she's this careless when pregnant, imagine what kind of idiotic parent she'll be.

This is why we have a nanny government, too many morons who won't take care of themselves.

 

[alkemyst]

This thread is proof most need to skip some topics they are clueless on.

First, not everyone is going to check on what they are getting. Wrong or right...it's really up to the prescriber to make sure the right stuff is handed out.

Second, chances are this was not the pharmacist's fault at all, but the tech/cashier whose job is to grab the bag from the bin with the customer's name on it.

The second is where it broke down. It's up to the cashier to verify who is getting the meds. Sure the customer should check on their own, but clearly it doesn't always happen, they may have simply thought their name was misspelled.

Still I would say there is no fault on anyone in this. Clear and unmalicious mistake on all parties.

 

[preCRT]

Still I would say there is no fault on anyone in this. Clear and unmalicious mistake on all parties.

You really believe lawyers & a jury are going to think that way?

 

[alkemyst]

You really believe lawyers & a jury are going to think that way?

It's a lawyer's job to 'create' fault. That is how they make their money, so on the first item no they will not think that way.

A jury is going to side with the best story. It's a charisma game, but in most cases a jury will find 'big business' accountable and deem a reward bestowed.

 

[TheNinja]

Making a million dollars is harder than making another baby. Hell, making 10,000 grand is harder than making another baby. Honestly when all the pros and cons are weighed, I might have done the same exact thing if I could get away with it. Why not? Sucks, but giving up your potential babies life for a better life yourself and for any future kids you can have doesn't seem like that bad of a deal.

I'm guessing you are not a woman and I'm also guessing that if you are a man you don't have kids.

That is a horrible story....wow. Plus you have no idea how hard it was for this woman to get pregnant. Some people try for years.

 

[wischeez]

Methotrexate: A drug that acts as an antimetabolite and specifically as a folic acid antagonist that inhibits the synthesis of DNA, RNA, and protein.

Methotrexate (MTX) is used to treat diseases associated with abnormally rapid cell growth such as certain tumors and psoriasis. Tumors treated with MTX include acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), acute myelocytic leukemia (AML), hydatidiform mole and choriocarcinoma, breast cancer, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, mycosis fungoides, and osteosarcoma.

Aside from psoriasis, methotrexate has also been found helpful in treating autoimmune diseases such as dermatomyositis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Methotrexate, especially in higher doses, can cause adverse reactions. The most frequent reactions include mouth sores, stomach upset, and low white blood counts. Methotrexate can be toxic to the bone marrow and liver.

 

[wischeez]

Metronidazole

Generic Name: metronidazole (me troe NI da zole)
Brand Names: Flagyl, Flagyl 375, Flagyl ER

What is metronidazole?


Metronidazole is an antibiotic. It fights bacteria in your body. It is thought to work by entering the bacterial cell, acting on some components of the cell and destroying the bacteria.

Metronidazole is used to treat bacterial infections of the vagina, stomach, skin, joints, and respiratory tract. This medication will not treat a vaginal yeast infection.

Metronidazole may also be used for other purposes not listed here

 

[Engineer]

Every pharmacy that I go to and pick up stuff requires the item to be scanned and then birth date given to verify that it's the right person(at least Kroger and Walmart). I thought that this was pretty much standard practice. Guess not.

 

[Phokus]

Funny, we had a fight in ATPN about private healthcare delivery vs. public healthcare delivery. It's a shame this lady wasn't part of the VA Healthcare system

http://www.businessweek.com/magazin...gy_technology+index+page_best+of+the+magazine

And while studies show that 3% to 8% of the nation's prescriptions are filled erroneously, the VA's prescription accuracy rate is greater than 99.997%, a level most hospitals only dream about.

Private systems have a 1000 to 2666 fold error rate to the VA.

The VA has a vertically integrated healthcare system where the IT system almost completely eliminates mistakes like this. The VA doctor gives you a prescription, gives you a barcoded wristband, you go to the VA pharmacy, they scan your wristband (or ID card if you're not staying), and the right prescription gets scanned before being given to confirm it's going to the right person. Unfortunately, private healthcare is still too fragmented, but some of them are starting to use the VA IT system which they started giving away years ago.

The pharmacist didn't screw up at all here people. The lady walked up and said her name was Mareena Silva and the tech reached into the bags and found one for "Maureen Silva" and no one noticed the difference.

Happens more than you might think. Normally the tech should ask for the phone number or date of birth to make sure they match, but who knows what happened in this care.

And since Mareena is pregnant for the first time she is probably taking stuff that she has never taken before so wouldn't even know what it looks like etc etc.

In the end the lady is getting a lot of money for this screw up. Could easily turn into a million plus, especially if the baby dies or has permanent damage done to it. If the baby comes out with serious problems and needs medical attention for the rest of its life Safeway will most likely be paying for all those needs.

And that's why the VA system is superior, you eliminate human error like this with technology.

Edit: I've never had a tech at my CVS pharmacy ask for my DOB/phone #, fuck them.

 

[Anneka]

OMG. I am still amazed how stuff like this can happen, when now awareness is learned from childhood

 

[Capt Caveman]

Edit: I've never had a tech at my CVS pharmacy ask for my DOB/phone #, fuck them.

You live in MA right? I've always had at CVS, Walmart and Rite-Aid.

OMG. I am still amazed how stuff like this can happen, when now awareness is learned from childhood

How do pharmacist fill a prescription with the wrong medication? A doctor operate on the wrong body part? Called human laziness and error.

 

[uclaLabrat]

You live in MA right? I've always had at CVS, Walmart and Rite-Aid.



How do pharmacist fill a prescription with the wrong medication? A doctor operate on the wrong body part? Called human laziness and error.

If you read the article, they didn't fill the wrong prescription, the names of two patients were nearly identical and she was given the wrong bottle.