Double check your pharmacy

[Redetotry]

My DH had a prescription filled at a local very busy pharmacy. He started to take his evening pill and noticed it was quite a bit larger than what he regularly received. Thankfully he didn't take it but checked the writing on the pill, it said 40, his prescription is for 10mg!

He went back to the store, showed them what he had been given and they just couldn't understand how it could have happened because it was all done ON THE COMPUTER! My DH suggested maybe a person should be double checking the computer. They gave him the correct refill for free. We also did an online report of the error.

With all the generics someone might think, oh just a different brand this time, but be sure to take the time to double check each time you get a prescription refilled. If a new presc. go online and look it up, they will have the picture and any writing on it shown in detail. Then read what the pill is for to be sure it jives with what you are taking it for! I even do this with the dogs meds.

Prescription errors happen a lot more frequently than you might think. I was surprised at all the reports.

[retiredhappy]

One of my daughter's exboyfriends was a pharmacy tech and the stories he would tell would curl your hair. He worked at Walmart and Walgreens.

Always count your pills. At some pharmacies its an unspoken thing to short an order. Only by one or two but when you multiply that by the hundreds of prescriptions they fill, it can be a money maker. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS check as Retrotry says to be sure you have the correct medicine and dosage. So many drugs are named so that they sound almost alike and as busy and most pharmacies are, they can so easily misread the prescription. I once was given a prescription that had MY name on the label but the doctor wasn't mine and the drug was for depression NOT my diabetes. When I showed it to the tech, the answer was, "Oh, sorry" and they changed it. Didn't appear to be particularly upset. It could just as easily have been something like digitalis that could have killed me.

Don't just TRUST - CHECK!!!!!

[Bethers]

Yep, always have been lots of pharmacy errors. Always smart to check.

That said, I'm sitting here laughing about the "It's all done on the computer" comment. One of THEM input the info into the computer. The computer isn't smart enough to do that. They might have put 40 instead of 10. Then it was one of THEM (probably the same person) who went and filled the order. I'm still giggling at the image of a computer reaching out and filling the order, counting the pills, opening the bottles, etc.

No, the error isn't funny- but their reasoning sure is. Blame everything on the computer.

[dpf]

I had this happen not to long ago with my HB medication. I called the pharmacy to have it mailed out and when I received it everything on the label was correct, but they didn't look like the pills I normally received. I called the pharmacy to ask if the appearance of the pills had changed...they hadn't...I received a free refill too.

[Sparkle]

My.friends.grandaughter.works.at.a.well.known.chain.of.drugstores.They.put.her.right.on.filling.prescriptions.Barely.any.training,and.while.she.is.the.nicest.person.you.would.want.to.meet.she.is.a.total.airhead.Even.her.Grandmother.says.she.wouldn't.be.going.to.that.pharmacy.again.You.would.think.you.would.at.least.need.a.college.degree.
No.spacebar...had.to.use.dots.You'll.notice.it.isn't.stopping.me.from.yakking.

[Cedar518]

Good warning. mistakes like that could kill someone!

Sparkle,... dots work just fine.

[Sparkle]

It's.driving.me.crazy.though.Like.talking.after.a.visit.to.the.dentrist.Manana!

[islandmomma]

Yes, this is scary stuff...I am on 13 prescription meds and never knew to check them until I heard a similar story re standard short-shrifting on one of my medical sites....

Unfortunately it is another example of TRUST NO ONE!!!

I find that if you make a personal relationship with a pharmacist (like for me as a Canuck travelling a year or more thru the USA), the care and attention is much improved!! The doc and pharmacist and I have a collusion and supportive documentation that should defeat all the US customs checkpoints' issues...

jan

[Liz]

Your posts look like hiccups, Sparkle, but easier to read than slashes.

[Sparkle]

That.was.Beth's.suggestion.I'm.doing.a.last.quick.read.of.the.Forum.because.this.turkey.is.going.into.the.Doc's!