Who's at Fault When Patients Get the Wrong Prescriptions?
Americans have the luxury of picking up their prescription drugs without a second of thought. Healthcare providers can phone in prescriptions and we simply drive up to the local drugstore to grab our neatly stapled paper bags.
We assume that what is in the child-proofed bottle is what we need, but what we do not know is that every year, two million prescriptions are filled incorrectly. The result can be as annoying as a headache, or as serious as death.
According to the May issue of Medical Malpractice, over 10 percent of prescriptions are misfilled, and for every case that is reported, another 96 go unreported.
How does this happen? How is it that someone can easily go home with an anti-depressant instead of an antihistamine?
Several reasons have been suggested by the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Medical Sciences Bulletin. One is the similarity between names of drugs; for example, Prilosec (for acid reflux) and Prozac (for depression).
Yet, while it may be difficult for consumers to tell the difference between two almost identical-sounding drugs, pharmacists are our most trusted professionals, and it is their job to ensure that we get the medication that we need. When this fails to happen, someone is at fault, and just who is accountable is now being litigated.
In the Texas case Vasquez v. Albertson's Inc., the family of a man who died as a result of an incorrectly filled prescription took the drugstore to court. The state jury found the doctor and the pharmacist equally responsible. Why?
Thomas Updyke, the pharmacist, stated that the reason for the error was that he could not read the physician's handwriting, and instead of giving the man Isordil he gave him Plendil. Under the federal Drug Utilization Review, there is no excuse for a misfilled prescription. If there is any question at the pharmacy as to exactly what pill should be funneled into a bottle, the pharmacist should contact the doctor without hesitation.
The Drug Utilization Review requires a pharmacist to do a thorough check on every patient filling a prescription to look for possible negative interactions or complications. If any problems arise, the pharmacist is required to notify the physician and make any modifications.
While Updyke should have contacted the doctor's office for a clarification, a certain amount of fault has now been laid upon the shoulders of the physician. This is the first time that a medication prescriber has been found negligent for "illegible handwriting," but may not be the last until steps are taken to prevent such errors from happening.
In the meantime, open up that paper bag and check what is inside before you drive away from your neighborhood drugstore.
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