Do you take a prescription medication? Popping a pill to treat a health condition may be part of your daily routine; however, double-checking the medicine you received at the pharmacy isn’t always part of that routine. Unfortunately, pharmacists at CVS pharmacies and other pharmacies across Texas make medication mistakes.
Pharmacy Error Prevalence
According to a recent Local 2 Investigates report, pharmacy errors are occurring throughout the state, including these examples:
- A pharmacist gave a Texas man a sleeping medication instead of his blood pressure pills. As a result, he blacked out and crashed his car—which killed his wife.
- A pharmacist gave a woman the wrong medication—meds to treat type 2 diabetes instead of an antibiotic she was supposed to be sent home with. As a result, her blood sugar levels dropped and she became nauseous. Her doctor said she could have gone into a diabetic coma.
- A pharmacist in Plano gave 50 mg of a medication to a customer instead of 5 mg of medication, which resulted in tremors, anxiety, and nausea for the patient.
- A pharmacist in Spring advised a mother to give her baby double the maximum dose of acid reflux meds.
There are many more pharmacy mistakes happening across Texas, but many pharmacy errors go unreported. For example, if a patient didn’t report a CVS pharmacy mistake to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, the board wouldn’t know about it…and neither would the public.
Avoiding Effects of Pharmacist Errors by Checking Your Prescriptions
Because pharmacy errors occur far too frequently, it is a good idea to double-check your prescription before you leave the pharmacy. If you are a victim of a CVS pharmacy error, you should report the incident to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy. To learn more about reporting a pharmacy mistake, read our article “Making a Pharmacy Complaint Against a CVS Pharmacist.”
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