Young Pharmacists Frequently Commit Errors When Dispensing Drugs
Posted: Monday, July 25, 2011
by Gerry Charbonneau
http://nibblednews.typepad.com
"I feel that nasal spray is a wondrous medical achievement, because it's supposed to relieve nasal congestion, and by gadfrey, it relieves nasal congestion." -- Dave Barry (Dave Barry's Greatest Hits).
A pharmacist is first and foremost a human being subject to the same stresses, fatigues, weaknesses and distractions we all suffer from at one time or another. They are however also engaged in a demanding profession rife with legal responsibilities and medical consequences.
- Receiving the wrong prescription with your own
- Crushed or damaged pills concealed in bottle
- Being short changed on the overall pill count
- Unknowingly received two pill brands in one pill bottle
A family pharmacist is after all a university trained professional dedicated to ensuring the safe and effective use of the prescription medications and pharmaceutical drugs they dispense and provide to their customers.
Their extended professional training enables them to have a familiarity with the many notions, potions and lotions available on the market. They are aware when a patient’s medications might conflict with one another.
Their reference manuals when combined with their close and ongoing associations with doctors in a community setting enables them to keep a fairly up to date record of a patient's medical and prescription history over time.
They have effectively graduated from the classical "lick, stick and pour" dispensary role of earlier times. They are now an integrated member of a health care team directly involved with patient care. Patients should not have to doubt and question their pharmacist's skill and competence each and every time they go to pick up their medicines.
The incidents listed above happened to me within the past twelve months. Each time I brought in my order from the doctor a recent pharmacy graduate filled my order.
This past weekend I noticed that a 5 mg pill of one medication that should have had the capital letter P had instead the letter N and the same 5 mg dosage. The color of the correct pill was white while the other pill was a deep green.
I brought the bottle to the drug store and spoke with the owner of the store. At first she had a difficult time understanding how the transaction could have happened. She examined the bottles she had in her cabinet and was baffled for a few minutes.
After she examined the prescription description on her computer screen in the dispensing area she noted that whoever filled the order for me had used two different types of meds. Apparently the dispensing pharmacist at the time had run out of the correct brand and substituted another in its stead.
The owner of the store was furious that one of her staff would mix and match prescriptions in such a manner. The correct thing to do would have been to merely replace the white pill with the green one. The dosage and the overall effect of both drugs were the same. They were a generic product costing the same amount of money.
She was very apologetic and told me that she would talk to her staff and inform them that they cannot mix and match any medication like they did. They should have claimed a shortage and then ordered more of the medication for me.
In this instance no serious damage had been done. The different color of each pill offered me a handy visual clue that something was amiss with the order.
Checking out the content label on your prescription bottle is one way to ensure that you have been given the correct medication and dosage. Also be sure to visually check the color of your pills and report any discrepancies immediately to your pharmacist.
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