Posted by Susan J on November 18, 2003, at 12:06:32
In reply to Bad Refills, posted by vanessa33 on November 18, 2003, at 11:24:41
Hi,
> Someone on this board is concerned he might have gotten a bad refill on a prescription - that all was working for his son until he refilled and suddenly it either wasn't working anymore or was having weird side effects.
> He's not positive that this is the problem, but it might be helpful to see from others' input whether this is something that happens from time to time or whether it's so rare that it must have been something else.
>
> Anyone ever had a bad refill or know what the chances are?
>
>
<<I don't know actual statistics on medication errors (incorrect prescription drug fills or refills), but I did a study on it in Maryland a couple of years ago, and the incidents that were *reported* were a concern to me.In 2001, in Maryland, 87 medication errors were reported to the Pharmacy Board, up from 31 in 1996. But that statistic is only errors that were reported. I have no idea how many actually occurred.
It's an issue that's hard to track because pharmacists don't want to report the medical error due to liability issues. But there were documented incidents of filling an anti-seizure medication for a person with another drug. The other drug was harmless, but since the person didn't know she wasn't getting the anti-seizure med, she eventually had a seizure.
There was another case where the doctor's writing was so bad, the pharmacist typed out a dose about 10x too high on a baby's med, and the baby actually died.
The industry is trying to cut down on these types of errors, using standard, printed Rx pads instead of relying on the doc's handwriting. Using automated drug prescription machines that precisely count out pills, and which have computer software to kick back *unlikely* dosage recommendations, etc. But since the error could happen in a variety of places (doc, pharmacist, pharm tech, non-english reading/speaking patient, even manufacturer) it's hard to prevent entirely.
But, as a heavy drug user, myself, I try to make sure my refills contain the proper drug (Rx book at home with markings), make sure the dose is the same. And on a new drug I get, I really scrutinize it, especially regarding proper dosage recommendations.
Pharmacists are human, too, and make mistakes. Most mistakes aren't that harmful, but it's scary how bad the problem can be. Each person in the chain needs to be as vigilant as possible, including the consumer to the extent possible.
I hope it never happens to anyone. :-(
poster:Susan J
thread:280843
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031116/msgs/280853.html